Caldron Pool

Caldron Pool is the deep basin beneath the Great Waterfall, where a party fleeing toward the edge of the old world must swim directly into the torrent. Its calm, unexpectedly pleasant water becomes the threshold between the familiar landscape and the perilous passage beyond it.

Setting and Appearance

The Pool lies before the high, unclimbable cliffs from which the Great Waterfall pours. Thousands of tons of water fall every second; the torrent flashes like diamonds in some places and appears dark, glassy green in others. Its thunder is already audible as the travelers approach, making the Pool a place defined at once by the beauty and overwhelming force of the water.

The Plunge Toward the Waterfall

When Eustace recognizes what lies ahead, he calls for the others to stop. Farsight instead tilts his flight upward and urges them onward, while Jewel echoes the command to go further up and further in. Jewel then plunges into the Pool, and the others follow in a rush of splashes. Their expectation of biting cold gives way to water that feels deliciously foamy and cool.

Narrative Significance

The swimmers discover that they are heading straight for the Waterfall itself. Eustace calls the course absolutely crazy, and Edmund acknowledges the apparent danger without finishing his thought. Against that hesitation, Jewel's insistence on continuing carries the group forward: the Pool is not a refuge from the roaring water but the approach to it, and crossing it makes the journey's movement onward a literal plunge into danger.