In the Beginning was the Wood Quiz

Answer: Strawberry

Polly Plummer and Digory Kirke, tricked by Digory's pompous and silly minor magician Uncle Andrew, find themselves in the dead land of Charn where Digory foolishly wakens the evil Queen Jadis. Jadis manages to get back to London with them where she creates havoc, commandeering a hansom cab as a chariot. The children finally manage to get away and find themselves in a land of Nothing - soon to become Narnia. Queen Jadis however hangs on to Digory and the children, the Queen, the horse, the cabby and Uncle Andrew all arrive together.

"The Magician's Nephew" begins in Victorian England, the England of Sherlock Holmes, when the hansom cab was the preferred mode of transport. The cab was developed in 1834 by Joseph Hansom and was very light and agile. It could be pulled by one horse. It is remembered today by the fact that taxis are still known as cabs.

Answer: Sing a hymn

They all sang a hymn well, nearly all. Uncle Andrew didn't, nor did Jadis. I, of course, couldn't talk at that time! The cabby started first and sang a harvest hymn which seemed a bit strange but it was the only one he could remember.

It wasn't really strange that my master thought we'd fallen into the diggings of a new underground station. The world's first Underground opened in January 1863 and the first deep level Tube Line opened in 1890. Polly would have been sixteen when the Great Northern City Railway opened in 1904. It is very likely then that some new stations may have been in progress when she was eight years old.

Answer: A lion

It seemed to everyone as if the stars were singing and that the voice had called them into being. As more and more light appeared they saw that the singer was Aslan the Lion.

The creation of Narnia is not meant to be exactly as the creation of the earth as seen in the first chapter of Genesis in the Christian Bible. In Genesis the sun, moon and stars are created on the third day of seven. In Lewis's book everything happens in the same space of time. However, in Aslan the lion we are meant to see Jesus as the creator. St John's Gospel (NIV) opens with "In the beginning was the Word." Jesus is called the Word of God so the Christian Bible is teaching that Jesus is the creator. The story is an allegory of the Christian story of Creation.

Answer: She threw a lamppost bar at him

The lamppost of course had no effect on the lion.
When Lucy goes through the wardrobe in the book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" she arrives in Narnia at Lantern Waste, a glade in the midst of which is a perfect London lamppost. Lewis was asked by a friend how he could account for this phenomenon. He met the challenge in "The Magician's Nephew" The bar from the lamppost buried itself in the ground and in that newly created fertile world grew into a complete lamp.

Covent Garden, the Royal Parks and the outside of Buckingham Palace are still lit by gas lamps. Men are still employed to clean and maintain the lamps though they are lit by a clockwork timing mechanism now.

Answer: That he could find something to cure his mother

Digory is desperately unhappy about his sick mother and it seems very likely that she will die. She is unable to eat and Digory hears a visitor say that only apples from the land of youth can save her. She does not mean this literally but in the land of Narnia where everything is growing and healthy Digory thinks of this and believes it may be true. He resolves to approach Aslan the Lion about it.

Lewis was well versed in Celtic lore where such a land is well known, Tyr Na Nog
being part of Irish folk lore.

The apple will become part of the Christian allegory later in the story.

Answer: He chose some pairs of animals and touched their noses with his

The animals he touched grew bigger and more impressive and became Talking Beasts responsible for the welfare of Narnia.
In the Christian Bible in Genesis chapter 1, God created all living things on the sixth day. There is of course no parallel in the Christian Bible to the creation of talking beasts. There are only two examples of talking beasts in the Bible. One is the serpent in Genesis chapter 3 and the other is Balaam's donkey in Numbers chapter 22.

Answer: The Jackdaw

The jackdaw is gregarious and vocal which seems to fit well with his role as the first joke.
An ancient Greek and Roman adage says-
"The swans will sing when the jackdaws are silent"

The Jackdaw continues his jester role later in the story. When the animals see the humans for the first time he suggests that they are probably the second joke! After all the Rabbit has just suggested that they are a kind of large lettuce! At this point a Panther says that if they are the second joke, they are nothing like as funny as the first one!

The name for a collection of jackdaws is a "Clattering"! It fits!

Answer: To bring the seed that would grow into a tree that would protect Narnia

Digory desperately wants to go to find something to heal his mother but he realizes that he must obey the Lion first. He is given the chance to redeem his bringing of evil into the world of Narnia and he does so when he defeats the attempts of the witch to break his allegiance to Aslan. His temptation to eat an apple himself reflects the struggle in Eden.

Answer: Sleep

The animals build a cage of sticks round Uncle Andrew and in the cage with him the children find two charming little gold and silver trees that have sprung from the coins from Andrew's pockets.

Answer: They become King Frank and Queen Helen of Narnia

Thus the cabby and his wife became the allegoric Adam and Eve and reigned in Narnia for many years. Their second son became King of Archenland.
Of course the evil is still in Narnia and will only be defeated when Aslan takes responsibility for Edmund's treachery and dies in his place ("The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"). This mirrors the Christian belief in the redemptive death of Christ.