- "When they got used to it they thought they could make out a river of fire, and, on the banks of that river, what seemed to be fields and groves of an unbearable, hot brilliance—though they were dim compared with the river. There were blues, reds, greens, and whites all jumbled together: a very good stained-glass window with the tropical sun staring straight through it at mid-day might have something the same effect."
- ―Chapter Fourteen: The Bottom of the World[src]
Bism was the nation/state six thousand feet beneath Underland at the bottom of the World of Narnia, also called the Really Deep Realm.
History[]
Bism was the home of all Narnian gnomes where crystals, diamonds, and gold grew and thrived, in a similar way to plants, and whose "juices" could be harvested for food and drink. Once the gemstones died, they fossilised and became the hard gemstones that humans are used to collecting on the surface of the earth.
Bism was also full of great lava rivers that were inhabited by salamanders and dragons; Bism was nearly visited by Prince Rilian during the Fall of Underland. There was at least one volcano where Bism's lava erupted out onto the surface, which was Mt Lagour in western Calormen.
Jill, Eustace, Puddleglum and Prince Rilian were attempting to escape from Underland when they encountered a gnome named Golg who told them about the land of Bism. Rilian initially wanted to visit the land of Bism because his father Caspian X explored lands to the end of the world and he thought it would be fitting if he explored lands to the bottom of it. However, the four could hear a salamander speak to them from far below, saying "the chasm, it closes!" A few minutes later the entrance to Bism had slammed on itself.
The caverns of Bism were presumably flooded and darkened when the world came to an end. Since the dragons and salamanders made their way to the surface, via newly created tunnels, consumed the vegetation, died and rotted into skeleton structures, the gnomes presumably made their way through these tunnels to the Overworld and entered Aslan's Country through the stable door.
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