Hall of Images

"For a second they thought the room was full of people - hundreds of people, all seated, and all perfectly still."

- The Magician's Nephew (Chapter 4)

The Hall of Images was a section of the royal palace of Charn that survived centuries after Queen Jadis had spoken the Deplorable Word, which contained life-size figures of the monarchs of Charn throughout the generations. Their ancestors were Giants and Jinns.



Description
The room was described as having more windows than any of the other rooms in the palace, and was a good deal lighter.

There were hundreds of figures, all that were seated in stone chairs on each side of the room, with the floor in the middle left free, so that one could walk down and look at each figure in turn.

There was also a short column with a bell placed in the middle of the room, which Jadis must have added after she destroyed her world, so it is doubtful that it was part of the original construction of the room.

History
After Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word that killed all living organisms in the entire world of Charn, she put an enchantment on the Hall, so that all the images that were seated there, as well as herself, would remain eternally, magically preserved.

Jadis seated herself at the very end of her family's line, and from the opposite side the nobles appeared wise and kind, but as one moved down the rows of thrones, each generation became more intimidating and more frightening until one's eyes fell upon Jadis, the most beautiful yet cruelest-looking of all. This tells us that the rulers of Charn were originally a good and benign people, but over the ages they degenerated into pride, cruelty, wickedness, and later despair for all the dreadful things that they had both done and suffered from.

There were plenty of empty chairs beyond Jadis, indicating there were meant to be generations more after her, but she ended the world before they came into existance.

One other thing that is noticed about these images, is that none of the monarchs wear the same crown. Each one, including Jadis, has a different one. No doubt this means that unlike the monarchs of other worlds, including the royal family of England who pass the same crown to every generation, Charn would commission a new crown that was unique for every new ruler.

By the time Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, two young humans from Earth, discovered the Hall, Jadis had placed a short column in the centre of the Hall with writing inscribed on it; resting on top of the column's capital was a golden bell and small hammer, with which to strike it with. The writing read as follows: -


 * Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
 * Strike the bell and bide the danger,
 * Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
 * What would have followed if you had.

Ringing the bell, as Digory did, sent out a single note that did not fade but only grew deafeningly louder and louder (until the roof of the building collapsed from the sonic vibrations). Ultimately, the ringing became so loud that it broke the spell, awakening Jadis from her preserved state.

After Jadis was awake, the spell she had placed to preserve the Hall was then broken, and it fell apart, along with the rest of the palace.