Childlike Empress
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| Childlike Empress | |
|---|---|
 Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress (1984) |
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| First appearance | The Neverending Story |
| Statistics | |
| Aliases | Moonchild |
| Occupation | Empress |
| Title | Childlike Empress |
| Portrayed by | Tami Stronach |
| Created by | Michael Ende |
The Childlike Empress (Kindliche Kaiserin in German) is an important character in the 1979 Michael Ende novel, Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story). She resides in the Ivory Tower palace in the middle of Fantastica, but the length of time she actually appears in the book is brief compared to other characters of similar importance. However, her significance to both the story and the interactions of the characters is vital to fully appreciate the varying messages Ende is trying to convey. Because of the complexity of this character, the role in Wolfgang Petersen's film adaptation (1984) called for a subtle, even-handed performance, which ultimately went to Tami Stronach.
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[edit] Attributes of the Empress
A wide spectrum of attributes the Empress is described as possessing make her something of an enigma. Different aspects of her personality, demonstrated by quotes from the novel, are provided below.
[edit] Childlike
The name of this character, of course, gives one indication of the type of being the Empress is. However, this is more of a physical description than anything else. According to Ende, she looks "like an indescribably beautiful little girl of no more than ten," who had "long, smoothly combed hair, which hung down over her shoulders" (169). Bastian noted that her eyebrows were "two fine lines that might have been drawn with Indian ink, arching over her golden eyes" (169).
[edit] Gentle
Descriptions of Childlike Empress in Ende's novel frequently imply gentleness. Physically, she was referred to by Falkor the Luckdragon as "infinitely frail and delicate" (165); her head "tilted on slender neck" (169). This attribute also applies to mannerisms. She speaks softly (173, 177, 189, 193).
[edit] Calm
Even when other characters get emotional (angry, anxious, confused) the Childlike Empress remains calm (175, 194, 204-05). Rather than smiling, laughing, or speaking softly, her emotion is conveyed more subtly. More often than not, her expression is "serene and untroubled" (169).
[edit] Serious
When Atreyu gets angry, "the Childlike Empress's eyes grew grave" (175); in reaction to the thought that Bastian might not call her name and save Fantastica, "the expression of her face" conveyed "grandeur and severity" (an expression similar to that which Atreyu had seen on the faces of the Sphinxes)(180); and when the Old Man of Wandering Mountain trembles at the thought of the Circle of Eternal Return, the Empress's voice becomes "as hard and clear as a diamond" (195).
[edit] Of Uncertain Origin
Falkor indicates that, though she is "like a little girl," the Childlike Empress is "much older than the oldest inhabitants of Fantastica. Or rather, she is ageless" (165). Physical traits seem somewhat different from what a human child might typically have. Her hair was "as white as snow," she had "strangely elongated earlobes," and her eyes were "almond-shaped" (169). Beyond this, however, she is explicitly described both as "not human," but also "not a creature of Fantastica" and "of a different kind" (166). While not a part of the world of Fantastica, however, it appears she is still bound to it in certain very real ways (see, for example, the discussion between the Childlike Empress and the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, pages 193-194). The Old Man of Wandering Mountain is her opposite in every way, and thus is thought to be a being of the same kind as she.
[edit] Nameless
The Neverending Story creates a world of which the reader becomes a very real part, so much so that a single reading of the Story includes a lifetime of experiences. Each time a human reads the Neverending Story, the Empress is given a new name. She therefore has a name, but only in the sense that this exists within that reading of the book. Once the reader returns to the real world, she no longer has a name. This is the nameless quality she possesses.
This appears to happen because of the difference in the passage of time within the Neverending Story versus that in the real world. Because time passes so much more quickly there, even failing to read the Neverending Story for a year would cause many years to pass for those living in Fantastica. With the passage of time and the absence of the reader to know her name, this is lost by the people and creatures of Fantastica, who refer to her simply by one of several titles, such as the Childlike Empress or the Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes.
Thus, initially when Bastian Balthazar Bux reads the Neverending Story, the Childlike Empress does not have a name, but must be given a new name to save Fantastica. When Bastian finally decides to do it, he names her Moonchild (German Mondenkind), this being the name his mother had possessed.
[edit] Elusive
It is stated that one can only meet the Childlike Empress once in one's life. This must, however, refer to a life lived within the world of Fantastica, for the shopkeeper from whom Bastian borrows the Neverending Story (Carl Conrad Coriander) indicates that he has read the book many times. Each reading of the Neverending Story allows one to live an entire life's worth of experience within its pages. After leaving the world of Fantastica behind and returning to the real world, that life is over, and real life continues. In this sense, the limitation on meeting the Childlike Empress is lifted, for the "life" of that reading of the book is over. Should someone read the Neverending Story an additional time, that new encounter becomes a new life within its pages, and a meeting of the Childlike Empress is again possible. This fact, however, is kept secret from the Fantasticans, known only to humans who have visited their world, like Bastian and Mr. Coriander.
