Stone Table

The Stone Table was a great slab of rock supported on four smaller rock pillars, located in the central Narnian mainland.

The table was created by Aslan's father before the beginning of the world.

Shortly after Aslan had returned Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer to Earth, apparently the Narnian council was led away from the Lantern Waste, and once more gathered at the Table where they had a meeting to be explained the laws of Narnia.

Description
The table had carved onto it numerous symbols and characters, which translated into the law of Narnia itself. One of those laws was that any traitor would belong to the White Witch, meaning she would have a right to a kill.

During the Long Winter, she frequently executed her victims ceremonially on the stone table.

By the law, if the Witch was denied her right, and did not receive a kill, then all Narnia would overturn and perish in fire and water.

Sacrifice of Aslan
During the Winter Revolution, the White Witch tricked Edmund into serving her by having him betray his siblings by revealing their location to her, and that Aslan had returned to Narnia. Although she had used magic food and drink in order to get him into her service, if only for a brief time, he still betrayed his siblings, and by Narnia's law he now belonged to her as her lawful prey.

When the Witch made a claim on Edmund, and because of what would happen if she was denied her right, Aslan spoke to her, offering himself in Edmund's place. The Witch accepted, and upon the night after Aslan's Army's moved from their previous location, near the Stone Table, Aslan returned there to sacrifice himself in Edmund's stead.

The Witch had all her followers gathered at the Table, to witness the mighty lion, the great King of Narnia's fall and death. It was not enough, though, that he simply die, as she wanted him humiliated, tortured, and shamed. So she had him bound, gagged, beaten and shaved before being dragged over to the Stone Table, where he was executed by the Witch, using her Stone Knife. After he was killed, the White Witch's Army left to prepare for the Battle of Beruna. What they didn't know was that Susan and Lucy Pevensie had been hiding nearby, and had hopelessly and tearfully witnessed the whole thing.

They spent that night keeping a vigil watch at the Table over Aslan's body, grieving for his loss. At dawn, when they turned to watch the dawn, there was an almighty crack, and the Table split in two right down the middle. And when they turned back to look, Aslan was before them, once again alive and well.

This was because the Deep Magic, inscribed in the Stone Table, was reversed by Aslan's sacrifice, according to the rules of The Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time.

The Writing Upon The Table (Translated into English)
"If a willing Victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards."

- The Deep Magic

Aslan's How
In later centuries, the remains of the cracked Stone Table were protected by a construction of mounds of earth with tunnels in it, which later became known as Aslan's How. How and when it came to be like this exactly is unknown.

Symbolic meaning
In viewing the story as a Christian allegory, the Stone Table can be regarded as symbolizing the Mosaic law of the Old Testament. Just as Mosaic law, written on stone tablets, promised inflexible punishment for sin; so The Deep Magic written on the Stone Table said that for every treachery the punishment was death. Just as in Christian theology, Jesus transcended the rule of Mosaic law by dying on the Cross, allowing forgiveness of sins; so Aslan transcended the rule of the Deep Magic by dying on the Stone Table, allowing forgiveness of Edmund's treachery. This is symbolized by the stone table cracking.

The cracking of the Stone Table into two pieces is also symbolic of the tearing of the Veil of the Temple of Jerusalem. According to the Bible, shortly after the death of Jesus, an earthquake occured. The Temple's Veil, which itself symbolized the separation of God and humans, was torn in two. The Veil would have been around 60 feet tall and 4 inches thick. This symbolized that Jesus successfully atoned for the sins of Mankind, and that God and Man would no longer be separate, in the same way that Edmund Pevensie was no longer separated from Aslan, his friendship, and those in communion with Aslan.

Aslans Steintisch