Ramandu's daughter

[metonomia]

Sorry, I refuse to call her 'Liliandil.'  She's never really needed a name, in my head.  Which is probably bad on one level - it shouldn't be okay for yet another Narnian queen (I'm thinking of Lune's wife, here) to be nameless, pop out a kid, and then die.  But...it never really mattered, to me.  I've fluctuated over the years between just accepting her mindlessly as I did everything in the Narnia books when I first read them, then kind of hating her because she edged out Lucy, then really coming to like her and the possibilities for character building she represents.  And through it all, she's never needed a name.  And I think that's mostly because it's how she was written originally - she has always, always been defined by her connection to the various male characters of her father, her husband, and her son.  Also, it was always so romantic that it was never bothersome for her to be unnamed - she's a star's daughter, and therefore has an air of mystery to her, and so it's always been fine to me that she not have a name.  So despite my growing annoyance that she's so sidelined, I don't like the name Liliandil for her - it's pretty, certainly, and I've come to wonder if maybe it's not linked to the sea of lilies or something, and Douglas Gresham picked it so I have to respect that to a certain extent, him being the one who would be most likely to know something extra about Narnian nomenclature etc. But, the thing is - that name maybe fits the glowy ghost-thing that we saw in the trailer, but it doesn't at all fit my vision of Ramandu's daughter.  

And I think this is maybe why the whole defined-by-the-men-around-her thing has never bothered me - because in my head, she is the most beautiful, gracious, wonderful queen, and so while I do wish she could have a name and could do a bit more than be palfrey-lady and wife and mother, she IS just a filler.  She doesn't really have a personality; she's your typical Romance trope - otherworldly, beautiful, kind, helps our hero on his quest, and his ultimate marriage to her completes the story, signals the success of his adventure.  She's the girl on the palfrey, riding out to give the knight advice, to help him gain entrance to the otherworld, to bless him on his journey.  If he can live up to his chivalric ideals of honor (which Caspian ultimately does when he successfully reaches the end of the world, having found all the lords and completed his quest, and then also listens to his lord - Aslan - and returns to his duty as king), then he gets the girl.

So, while in fic I would LOVE to see her developed more, given a name, given an actual personality, a backstory (good lord, the poor girl, growing up on that island with just her dad!), etc...I prefer filler-queen Ramandu's daughter of the book to this glowworm Liliandil.

I'm talking myself out of hating her.  I'm really worried that this movie is going to re-spark fandom hatred of her, because that's just not cool.  I'm very much expecting though that this will be one part of the movie that I'll need to just block out and fill in with book-canon.

Comments

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Seriously, what's with the fandom hate? THERE IS NOTHING THERE TO HATE.

I am ambivalent about the name...lolz, Liliandril.

Obv her role is perfect in the mysterious pretty girl/reward thing, and if Lewis had some other actual women doing actual things with names, then I would be so much less upset with RD. But it just is--one more lovely grown-up woman who is hot but nothing else and then dies. (and seriously, where is her mother?! LEWIS.) So I'm glad she's got a name (even, lolz, if it's this one) and I hope she has a personality too.

[metonomia.livejournal.com]

I am hoping that she will not glow all the time? I would be really really happy if I can come out of the movie liking her.

Fandom needs to like her mooore.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Maybe she only glows when she's happy?

[cap-red.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you in wishing that she was unnamed, but not for the reasons you gave. For me, a name is supposed to define you in some way, and the biggest thing about her is that she is a star's daughter. She may be more than that, but Star's daughter is her defining characteristic and th name given, whilst as you said beautiful, does not in any way give a hint to her personality or being. Plus, as you said, it takes away the mystique of her. It's rather like trying to define Tom Bombadil. She is what she is -a star's daughter, and what use is it for a star's daughter to have a name?

Plus, I just know it is going to mean a character called Liliandil is going to be added to the fanfic list, and Liliandil is not the same as Star's daughter. She glows!