Bism is the deep homeland of the gnomes, lying beneath the Witch’s country, which they call the Shallow Lands. Its sudden appearance through a chasm opened during the Witch’s defeat turns a journey toward the surface into a glimpse of a still deeper world: a place of living precious stones and extraordinary light, but also a tempting detour from the travelers’ return to Narnia.

Definition and Setting

Golg describes Bism as the Really Deep Land, roughly a thousand fathoms below the travelers’ position. The country where the Witch had kept him and the other gnomes is, by contrast, too near the surface for their liking: they call it the Shallow Lands, a place they compare unfavorably with life outside. Bism is not simply another level of the Witch’s domain. It is the gnomes’ own country, where they belong and hope to return.

The chasm gives the travelers their first view of Bism. It is about a thousand feet long and perhaps two hundred feet wide. Looking down, they initially find the brightness so intense that it dazzles their eyes. Once they can make out more, the depth seems to contain a river of fire and nearby fields and groves in brilliant colors—blue, red, green, and white. The contrast between this luminous depth and the cold country above makes Bism alluring while also marking it as a world apart.

The Gnomes’ Homeland and Release

The gnomes did not come to the Shallow Lands of their own choosing. Golg explains that the Witch had summoned them from Bism by magic and set them to work for her. For years they had labored sadly and silently, unable to remember their identity or their home, and unable to think or act beyond what the Witch put into their minds. Their gloom was part of that enchantment, not an essential trait.

The great crash associated with the opening chasm breaks the spell. The gnomes suddenly remember that they had once enjoyed songs, dances, and fireworks; they also recognize that the work and burdens they had been carrying belonged to the Witch, not to them. They drop their loads and turn toward the red glow. As the sea begins to rise and the crack opens, they hurry down toward their own country. Golg points out gnomes celebrating near the opening, releasing rockets and expressing their joy in physical antics.

The travelers’ reaction makes the release’s significance explicit. Jill is glad that, in defeating the Witch, they freed the gnomes as well as themselves. She compares their return to their former selves with Rilian’s recovery: neither the gnomes’ former gloom nor the Prince’s apparent identity represented who they truly were. Golg’s account makes Bism the destination of a collective homecoming, not merely a spectacular place beneath the ground.

The Invitation and the Temptation to Descend

After Golg leads the travelers toward the chasm, the party hears cheering spread through Underland. Golg calls out that the Witch is dead and that the four travelers are not dangerous; those who hear him pass the news onward. Hundreds and then thousands of gnomes gather around the horses, celebrating, while Rilian is asked to tell the story of his enchantment and deliverance repeatedly. Their reception turns the opening of Bism into a public moment of liberation as well as a possible route onward.

At the chasm, Golg invites the travelers to come down to Bism, either to stay or to visit briefly. He argues that they would be happier there than in the exposed country above. He presents its treasures as unlike anything familiar to surface dwellers: gold, silver, and diamonds are alive and growing there, and he offers to show them rubies that can be picked in bunches and diamond juice. Jill dismisses the comparison with mines, but Golg distinguishes the living treasures of Bism from the dead precious stones found in the shallower mines.

Rilian is genuinely drawn to the possibility. Remembering that his father went to the world’s end, he imagines that it would be a marvelous thing for a son to reach the bottom of the world. The invitation therefore places curiosity and exploration against the party’s immediate purpose: the chance to discover an unknown depth competes with the need to get back to the road and return to the living King.

Narrative Significance

Bism expands the story’s vertical geography at the moment when the travelers might expect only to escape upward. The chasm exposes a lower country beneath the Witch’s realm, and Golg’s account revises the travelers’ understanding of the gnomes: their servile gloom was imposed by enchantment, while their home and customary pleasures lie elsewhere. The disclosure makes the Witch’s defeat consequential beyond the rescue of Rilian and the travelers, since it restores the gnomes’ memory and direction of life.

At the same time, Bism functions as a final temptation to delay the return. Rilian’s wish to follow his father’s footsteps is understandable within the scene, but Puddleglum reminds him that his father is still alive and argues that it is time to take the road to the diggings. The episode leaves Bism as a real destination and an uncompleted possibility: the gnomes go home, while the travelers turn back toward their own urgent obligation.