Tash (Narnia)
| Tash | |
|---|---|
| Narnia character | |
| Race | Deity |
| Nation | Calormen |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | |
| Children | The first Tisroc (Claimed) |
| Family | the Tisrocs and Tarkaans and Tarkheenas (claim descendants) |
| Major character in | |
Tash (Turkish for "Stone" or "Rock") is a fictional deity found in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. He is an antagonist in the novels The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle.
Tash is the patron god of the ruling class of Calormen. The Calormene capital is named Tashbaan, and the Tisrocs and Tarkaans and Tarkheenas all claim descent from Tash. The worship of Tash is the only formal religion depicted in the world of Narnia, except that the people of Narnia honour the memory of Aslan, a great lion who was killed and returned from the dead many generations before. There are temples to Tash, Calormenes regularly use ritual phrases such as "Tash the inexorable, the irresistible" and "Tash preserve us", and he is the only being referred to by any character in the books as a god. At the end of the series, Tash is revealed as the antithesis of Aslan (who represents Jesus), and appears as a terrible demon, with a skeletal, humanoid body, a vulture-like head, and four taloned arms.
In The Horse and His Boy, which explores Calormene society in some depth, the name of Tash is frequently used in oaths and exclamations. (Two other Calormene gods are mentioned, Azaroth and Zardeenah, Lady of the Night and Maidens, but only briefly.) However, Tash is not described at all, and his worship plays little part in the proceedings. Near the end, the principal antagonist Rabadash, frustrated and maddened by defeat, tries to call on Tash to inflict vengeance on the Narnians and Aslan—such as "lightning in the shape of scorpions". But this results in nothing but mockery and pity from his captors, because Aslan, after repeatedly warning Rabadash to repent of his anger, turns Rabadash into a donkey. Aslan tells Rabadash that his transformation will be lifted when he visits the temple of Tash in Tashbaan during the middle of a festival (meaning he'll be seen changing back by thousands of people), and that afterwards he must never stray more than ten miles from the temple or he will be transformed again, this time with no ability to return to his human self.
...
Wikipedia