The Silver Chair Chapter 10 Summary

Travels Without the Sun

  • The three learn that they are surrounded by about a hundred Earthmen who are part of the army of the Queen of the Deep Realm.
  • They march Scrubb, Jill, and Puddleglum through some very tight, dark, and suffocating places on their way to see the queen herself.
  • Jill has a fear of tight spaces, so she has to be helped by Scrubb and Puddleglum just to complete the march to the water.
  • As they march on, the company encounters sleeping mythical creatures, like dragons and Old Father Time, who have fallen down from the Overland and haven't been able to get back.
  • Finally, they reach the water and board a boat. The darkness makes them sleepy and stupid, so that they don't know where they are or how much time has passed.
  • After a time, they come to a port in a large city, where they disembark and make their way to the queen's dwelling.
  • The company learns that the queen is away on business, and just as the Warden of the Earthmen is deciding to throw the three into prison, a young man appears and beckons them.
  • This dude is the Black Knight that Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum met on the giants' bridge—and apparently the Lady of the Green Kirtle is the Queen of the Deep Realm.
  • This is a human young man, and he seems nice, but Jill thinks there is something a little strange about his face; his way of talking is also really weird and irritating.
  • The young man speaks glowingly of the Lady, and Scrubb, Jill, and Puddleglum are immediately on their guard—after all, the Lady sent them to Harfang to be eaten by giants.
  • Jill blurts out their true mission, and they tell the Black Knight that they came to his realm because they saw "Under Me" etched on the pavement above.
  • The Black Knight dashes their hopes by telling them that those words were merely part of a longer sentence, carved there as an epitaph on some giant king's sepulcher.
  • This plants a seed of doubt in their minds, but Puddleglum reminds them that there are no accidents, especially where Aslan is concerned.
  • The three learn from the Black Knight that the Lady is immortal, and that the Black Knight suffers under a "strange affliction," which he will tell them all about.