Dawn Trader question

[UpNup]

Why is the Dawn Treader depicted in media images as not having a bowsprit? The book by C S Lewis describes a storm that destroyed the single mast. They had to use the bowsprit to make a jury mast.

 

[Kimosubby]

I expect that they have not read the book!

 

[UpNup]

Could be. Ha! I bought the book yesterday and have already learned a few new things:

1. DT had one boat onboard that in two trips could get all the crew to shore.
2. There were 30 men in the crew that could “wield swords.”
3. Shields with the coat of arms of each man were included on the voyage and could be displayed along the side rails and in sub-deck windows.
4. The ship carried sails (plural) that had to be repaired after the storm that had also broken its only mast.

Thanks for following along!

 

[Pepite 1/60]

As is true with almost all ships of early explorers, no one really knows what the real Dawn Traeder has looked like. So, in recreating her, the film crew did as good a job as they possibly could, more after some educated guesswork than from any hard historical and/or archaeological evidence. If they decided to leave away her bow sprit, it was probably only because they had to build her on a tight budget.

 

[UpNup]

True and I think they also built the boat by the movie script and not by the book.

 

[AllanKP69]

The book by C S Lewis describes a storm that destroyed the single mast.

Pauline Baynes should have read the book as well. She did the illustration for Mr. Lewis or maybe he should have caught the mistake. By the same token maybe he did see it but did not care as it was all fiction anyway . She did many illustrations for Mr. Lewis but they mainly did it via mail as they only met two or three times in person. Fun stuff
Allan

First edition book cover

 

[UpNup]

Allan—Thank you for mentioning Pauline Baynes. I guess if you just pay £100 per book, the author couldn’t get too huffy. I enjoyed reading about her and had no idea she was a very strong woman who wasn’t all that much concerned with literary accuracy, such as basic anatomy, shields appearing on soldiers’ right shoulders, rowing a boat facing forward, or, as I’ve noted, the Dawn Treader as an ocean-going ship!

 

[AllanKP69]

Glad to help Up. As the book cover describes, the book is for children and the "ship" can be anything anyone wants in our own childhood imaginations.
Allan

 

[UpNup]

Allan: I can imagine that I just might need to quote this from time-to-time when giving a defense of my own DT variation: “…the book is for children and the ‘ship’ can be anything anyone wants in our own childhood imaginations.”

 

[UpNup]

I finished Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Let me add a few things missing in other sources: (continuing from above):
5.
6. Hen house on deck (chicken coop)
7. Smallish boat for a talking mouse character (Reepicheek)
8. Crows nest above the sail

 

[UpNup]

Discovery continues... C. S. Lewis specialized in Medieval English Literature. So that got me wondering if any ships existed with a big ole square mast or was that just made up. The Cog ship design from Medievel times looked much like the depiction of Lewis' Dawn Treader. Here is an English version (and German) with a square mast complete with castle pediments. At least the English Cog ship has a bowsprit. In the book it says the DT would "drop anchor." However, there are two anchors, so I suppose "anchor" could be plural like "deer".

It makes me feel much better thinking of the DT's design as a Cog rather than what someone online called a type of Spanish Galleon. The crow's nest sticks above, like in the book. I don't know how to get past the clinker-built hull unless I plank it over the plastic. If I did that, I might be able to address the flattish bottom to the hull. This came in handy at the end of the DT book when they encountered fresh water, lots of lilies, and had to eventually stop at the "end of the world."

 

[Pepite 1/60]

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CATALAN SHIP, World Sailing Ship

1/30 Scale "CATALAN SHIP" Wooden World Sailing Ship Model, by Woody JOE Model making skill - Level 3

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[UpNup]

Pepite 160 thanks for your post and links. I am such a newbie, but I believe these ships were Catalans, which were the next step up from the Cogs. Perhaps C S Lewis had this in mind.