Once Upon a Wardrobe

George privately reflects that his sister’s storytelling abilities are improving as she resumes the story. At the age of 13, Lewis attended Cherbourg Preparatory School in Malvern, near the Devonshires’ home. Meanwhile, Warnie was a student at Malvern College. Lewis disliked Cherbourg but found a copy of The Bookman magazine in the library, where he read the lyrics to Wagner’s opera Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods, based on Norse mythology. The experience gave Lewis the same “joy” he felt when he first read about Squirrel Nutkin or saw Warnie’s miniature fairy garden in a biscuit tin. Lewis was inspired to read other books on Norse mythology. He also discovered the works of Irish poet W. B. Yeats that drew on Irish folklore. Around this time, he lost faith in God and became an atheist.

When Lewis fell ill, Cherbourg’s headmaster sent him home, fearing that he would infect the other students. As his recovery was slow, he had more time to read. Walking in the garden at Little Lea, Lewis envisioned scenes from Norse mythology taking place there, seeing the landscape through new eyes. He also developed a love of nature.

At the ages of 14 and 16, the Lewis brothers were sent to stay with their aunt Helen for the summer at her cottage near the Wicklow Mountains.