Peter Kills the Wolf

Peter Pevensie's first battle is a decisive moment of violent initiation, transforming him from a cautious elder brother into a warrior and a knight. The encounter occurs at the camp near the Stone Table, immediately after the children and the Beavers have met Aslan. Susan Pevensie, fleeing a wolf, has climbed a tree but can only reach the second branch; her foot dangles inches above the snapping teeth of the beast. Peter, who has just been shown a vision of Cair Paravel and told he will be High King, hears Susan's horn and rushes to the pavilion to find the Naiads and Dryads scattering in terror. He does not feel brave—he feels he is going to be sick—but he rushes at the monster anyway. His first slash misses, but the wolf, too angry to attack immediately, howls, giving Peter time to duck and plunge his sword between the brute's forelegs into its heart. The struggle is a confused, nightmarish moment of blood, heat, and hair, but when it is over the wolf lies dead. Peter straightens his back, rubs the sweat from his face, and meets Susan as she climbs down; they kiss and cry together, though in Narnia no one thinks the worse of them for it. Aslan, who has been watching, tells Peter he has forgotten to clean his sword. Peter wipes it clean on the grass and then dry on his coat. Aslan then commands him to kneel and strikes him with the flat of the blade, saying, "Rise up, Sir Peter Fenris-Bane. And, whatever happens, never forget to wipe your sword." This act of knighthood is also a practical lesson: the wolf's blood on the blade is a mark of the kill, but a knight must keep his weapon ready. The killing of Fenris Ulf has immediate strategic consequences. Aslan spots a second wolf in the thickets and sends the swiftest creatures—centaurs, eagles, and others—after it, knowing it will flee to the White Witch and lead them to Edmund. The battle thus serves as both a personal rite of passage for Peter and a tactical turning point in the war against the Witch.