On Narnia's Secret Service

It was kind of interesting to see headlines that uncovered C.S. Lewis' wartime work with the British intelligence agency sometimes called MI-6.

Although different actors, authors and others served in a variety of capacities in World War II, the role played by the creator of Narnia and famed Christian apologist was not known. Alas, it was limited to his giving a talk on the cultural commonalities between the people of Iceland and England, meant to help turn popular opinion away from the twisted version of Germanic culture preached by the Nazis.

This talk was recorded and then broadcast via radio to Iceland's cities and towns as a way of easing Icelanders' tensions over British occupation of their land. Iceland's strategic importance in the North Atlantic theater was great, but the Allies could spare no troops to hold it. Thus Lewis' recorded lecture (he was a well-known pop culture figure of the time in European radio) as one of the many moves made to help Icelanders identify with the Allies and stay on their side of the fight.

"Agent Aslan" would have been much cooler, of course, but we can't have everything when we stick with reality.