Yvaine
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| Yvaine | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Stardust (1997) |
| Last appearance | Stardust (1997) |
| Created by | Neil Gaiman |
| Information | |
| Species | anthropomorphic star |
| Gender | female |
| Age | unknown |
| Date of birth | unknown |
| Date of death | N/A |
| Occupation | Ruler of Stormhold |
| Title | Lady of Stormhold |
| Family | the Moon (mother) other stars (sisters) |
| Spouse(s) | Tristran Thorn |
| Children | none |
| Address | palace in Stormhold |
Yvaine is the heroine of Neil Gaiman's novel Stardust. She is a fallen star who is found by young Tristran Thorn and they have an amazing adventure in the magical realm of Stormhold. The sons of the Lord of Stormhold also want her, because she possesses a topaz stone (a ruby in the film) which belonged to the previous Lord of Stormhold, and whichever of his heirs finds it first will become the next Lord. Yvaine is not mentioned by name in the first part of the novel, with Gaiman instead referring to her as "the star", "the young lady" or, on one occasion, "the star woman." After Tristran rescues her from the witch-queen, she tells him that her sisters called her Yvaine. She is mostly referred to by this name from this point on, although Gaiman still refers to her as "the star" on several occasions.
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[edit] Background
Yvaine is a star of the skies of Faerie. In Faerie, the stars are conscious, living beings. Like all the stars, Yvaine is a daughter of the moon, and a therefore a sister to every other star in the sky. She and her sisters appear to hold their mother in some awe, almost to the extent of worshipping her: When Tristran offers to shake Yvaine's hand, she is repulsed, and exclaims "Mother Moon defend me!" She also shows her reverence for her mother when she reluctantly promises to remain with Tristran from that point onward (for reasons outlined below), and swears her oath on the moon.
Yvaine appears to be inescapably bound by obligations, another trait which she apparently shares with the other stars. She mentions to Madame Semele's slave girl (Lady Una) that an obligation "binds (her) kind more securely than any chain ever could." Over the course of the novel, she comes under two such obligations, both of which ultimately shape her destiny, and that of many other characters: After being knocked from the sky by the Lord's pendant, she carries the stone around with her because she is under obligation to return it to its rightful owner. At the witch-queen's inn, she almost succeeds in giving the stone to Primus, but Tristran bursts in to warn the prince that the owners of the inn have tried to poison him (Tristran), at which point the witch slits Primus' throat. The second obligation under which Yvaine falls is that of remaining with Tristran. Having saved her life, he is, by the laws of the stars, now responsible for Yvaine, and she for him, and wherever he goes, she must follow. This enrages her, as she still despises Tristran at this point.
[edit] Role in the Novel
Before her fall, Yvaine was an evening star (hence the name). It has been suggested that she was in fact the first star of the evening, in that, when describing her fall from the perspective of the Lord of Stormhold and his sons, Gaiman mentions that "Tertius thought, although he was not certain, that it (the falling star, i.e. Yvaine) was the first star of the evening, the one that his brother Septimus had remarked upon". At the time of her fall, the movements of the stars have brought Yvaine "low on the Eastern horizon". It is in this place in the sky that she is hit by the enchanted pendant of the Lord of Stormhold, knocked from the heavens, and subsequently falls to earth.
The first mention of Yvaine as a person rather than as a star in the sky occurs in the scene in which Gaiman describes her landing in Faerie: As she descends from the sky, in a form which Gaiman describes as "a blazing, glaring thing of pure light", the radiance emanating from her fills a woodland glade, frightening off several of its animal inhabitants. The light diminishes greatly following the star's impact. No actual description of Yvaine's physical characteristics is given at this point, although Gaiman does mention a female voice which makes several exclamations of pain and annoyance.
The first actual description of Yvaine is given from Tristran's perspective, when he finds her in the glade. She is described as being young and slim, with sky-blue eyes and hair so fair that it is almost white. She also glitters in the darkness, and it is later mentioned that this, to a distant observer, gives her the appearance of being a tiny point of light, not unlike how she appeared when seen in the sky from earth. At a later point in the novel, Gaiman describes her as being "as pale as the moon." Upon meeting Tristran, she takes an instant dislike to him, and her feelings of hatred are reinforced when he binds her to him with an unbreakable chain and tells her that he intends to bring her home with him as a gift for Victoria. When Yvaine tries to stand, it is revealed that her leg was broken in her fall, so Tristran makes her a splint and a crutch out of branches so that she can walk. Before long, the two encounter a lion and a unicorn who are engaged in a battle over a crown. Tristran saves the unicorn at Yvaine's behest, and it travels with them. In light of the fact that Primus later mentions to Tristran that the unicorns serve the moon, and of the fact that the moon herself later tells Tristran that she has “done all (she) can”, it is obvious that the moon sent the unicorn to protect Yvaine from harm. When Tristran leaves to purchase food in a nearby village, Yvaine, having convinced him to remove the chain, escapes on the unicorn. She is soaked by rain as she rides on the beast, and comes to understand some of the harsh realities of the world to which she has fallen (being above the clouds, stars have no experience of rain). Yvaine now begins to wish more than ever that she had not fallen, as her time on earth so far has been filled with misery and discomfort. She arrives at a seemingly cozy inn, and seeks lodging. However, the inn was actually created as a trap for the star, by the oldest of three witch- queens called the Lilim. These witches wish to cut out and devour Yvaine's heart so as to regain their youth and beauty. Pretending to be the kindly wife of the innkeeper, the witch-queen cares for Yvaine, in an effort to cause the star's heart to glow with happiness, so that it will be of most use to the witch when she cuts it out. Tristran arrives with Lord Primus of Stormhold, but the witch kills the prince after Tristran alerts him to the fact that the witch had tried to poison him (Tristran). The unicorn protects Yvaine, battling with and badly wounding the witch-queen, but the witch ultimately stabs it to death and prepares to kill Tristran and Yvaine. The two manage to escape through the magic of the enchanted candle which had transported Tristran to Yvaine's side in the glade, however the candle burns out halfway through their journey, and they are left stranded on the clouds.
Yvaine reveals that because Tristran has saved her life, he is now responsible for her, and she for him, and that she must now follow wherever he goes. This enrages her, but following his apology for how he has previously treated her, she relents a little, consents to shake (or rather tap) his hand, and tells him her name, which she had not mentioned before. Tristran offers to help Yvaine return to the sky after he has presents her to Victoria, but Yvaine tells him that such a thing is impossible, and that she is doomed to remain on earth forever. The two are picked up by a sky-ship, on which Yvaine's leg is treated by a real surgeon, and properly splinted until it heals, although she walks with a slight limp from then on. The ship sets them down on the road to Wall. Later in their journey, Yvaine reveals that she has a beautiful singing voice when she sings to herself one night, a song which she and her sisters used to sing “about the lady (their) mother, and the nature of time, and the joys of shining and of loneliness.” She admits that she is lucky to have fallen in Faerie, and that she was lucky to have met Tristran as well. On the road, the two encounter a witch named Madame Semele, from whose stall Tristran's father had purchased a glass flower seventeen years previously. Tristran trades this flower for safe passage to the wall, after which Semele transforms him into a dormouse out of spite. She does nothing to Yvaine, because she is prevented from seeing the star by a curse placed upon her (Semele) by the oldest of the Lilim. This enables Yvaine to pass the journey to Wall unnoticed in the witch's caravan, in the company of a multicoloured bird, later revealed to be Madame Semele's transformed servant-girl.
When they reach the Market at Wall, Yvaine and the restored Tristran attempt to cross the wall and enter our world, but are stopped by the guards, who do not recognize Tristran. That night, while Tristran sleeps, Yvaine is visited by the servant girl (now in her true form), who warns her that entering out world will transform the star into meteoric rock. Following the servant's departure, Yvaine watches Tristran sleeping, and contemplates her feelings toward him, wondering why she no longer hates him.
While waiting for Tristran to return from the village, Yvaine meets Victoria Forester, the girl to whom Tristran had intended to present the star as a gift in exchange for her (Victoria's) hand in marriage. Victoria reveals that she is actually engaged to Robert Monday, and that, having spoken to Tristran, they have agreed not to marry despite the fact that he succeeded in retrieving the star for her. Yvaine is relieved to hear this. As is later revealed, Yvaine discovers during this meeting that Victoria is at least a month pregnant, showing that she is extremely perceptive, despite a slight lack of understanding as to the actual nature of the world.
When Tristran returns, the two discuss Yvaine's meeting with Victoria, including her realization that Victoria is pregnant, and Tristran mentions that he still intends to find a way to send Yvaine back into the sky. It is at this point that Yvaine indirectly admits that, even if she could return to the sky and be reunited with her mother and sisters, she would rather remain on earth with Tristran. She tells him that she is happy that he is not marrying Victoria, and he replies that he does not actually want to marry Victoria anymore. Yvaine realizes that she has fallen in love with Tristran herself. She does not actually state this aloud, but reveals it to him by making vague references to the fact that, being a star, she will probably never be able to have children with him. The two then share their first kiss.
Following Tristran's discovery that he is the new Lord of Stormhold (his mother, who was Madame Semele's servant, was also the previous Lord's daughter), Yvaine discharges her obligation to relinquish the topaz pendant to its rightful owner by giving it to Tristran. She then encounters the witch-queen who had attempted to kill her at the inn. The witch has by now squandered all the youth which she "wore" on her quest, and is so old and frail that Yvaine feels nothing but pity for her. Yvaine reveals that she has given her heart to Tristran, rendering it useless to the witch-queen, a fact that the witch accepts.
Yvaine goes with Tristran to explore the land of Faerie for eight years, after which she assumes her position as his queen. She still apparently misses the sky, for she chooses to reside in a suite of room whose roof has collapsed, leaving them open to the air, and giving her a perfect view of the moon and stars. Many years later, after Tristran has died of old age, the widowed Yvaine assumes her position as Lady of Stormhold. She has not aged at all in all her time as his queen, nor does she age in all her decades of ruling, thus implying that she will live on forever. Yvaine proves herself to be a wonderful monarch, and rules wisely over Stormhold. She retains her limp, and Gaiman also mentions that she still occasionally shines in the darkness. Even after many years of living on earth, she still mourns her days as a star, in that she goes every night to the highest point of the palace, to watch, sadly, as the stars dance across the heavens.
[edit] In the movie
Yvaine is knocked from her place in the sky by the enchanted pendant of the Lord of Stormhold. After she crashes into the ground, she is found by Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) (Tristran in the book) who wants her because he promised his beloved Victoria (Sienna Miller) that he would give her that fallen star so she would agree to marry him. He had used his Babylon candle to pass the wall beside his village ('Wall') he accidentally hit Yvaine. As she puts it she was "hit by a magical flying moron".
Despite the star not being what he expected (a beautiful, young and spirited woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes) rather than a meteorite), Tristan decides to bring her back to Victoria.
However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. Yvaine is in terrible danger because the living sons of the King (Peter O'Toole) are looking for her because only she can secure the throne for one of them. Before he died, the King magically sent out a necklace with a beautiful diamond in it - the first male of the royal family who touches it will turn the diamond into a ruby and become the next king. Yvaine is now in possession of the necklace as it was what caused her to fall to earth. Later, Septimus (the king's seventh son) also discovers that the heart of a star will provide immortality and plans on devouring her heart so that he can rule forever.
Also the three witches known as "The Lilim", Mormo, Empusa and the eldest and the most powerful, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), want to eat Yvaine's heart as this rejuvenates them.
As Tristan sets out to protect Yvaine and bring her back to Victoria, his journey brings incredible encounters with a pirate captain: Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro), and a shady trader (Ricky Gervais) among other surprises. He falls in love with Yvaine who falls in love with him in return. When she suspects that he still loves Victoria, she is heartbroken and tries to enter England (which would cause her to turn into a rock and thus kill her). She is stopped by Una, but both are then captured by Lamia and brought to The Lilim's castle.
Tristan, meanwhile, hurries to return from England to Yvaine (he had actually gone to tell Victoria that he loved another girl and no longer wanted to marry her). He and Septimus break into The Lilim's castle to save Yvaine from having her heart cut out but they are nearly killed by Lamia. Lamia's two vicious sisters, Empusa and Mormo are killed in the battle, and Lamia seems to grow tired of her quest for youth. She releases Yvaine and tells her and Tristan to leave, as youth is now meaningless without her two sisters. But it was a trap. Had Lamia killed Tristan, then Yvaine's heart would be broken and all its rejuvenating powers would be lost forever. Therefore it would be useless to Lamia. The witch advances upon them, ready to kill and Yvaine, realizing that Tristan still loves her, is able to use her starlight to kill Lamia, saving them both. When Tristan becomes the next king (he is the last male heir to the family, as Una was the king's only daughter), Yvaine marries him and becomes the queen. Since she "gave" her heart to Tristan when she fell in love with him, the two will live on together forever. After several generations pass the two use a Babylon candle to travel back to the sky and become twin stars.
[edit] Personality and traits
Yvaine is an evening star - one who shines brightly enough to be seen even by day. Like other stars she eats darkness and drinks light, but unlike so many of her less complex sisters, she loves to gaze down and watch the earth; seeing the lives and adventures of mankind unfold helps to make eternal life a little more interesting...and a little less lonely. Not that Yvaine would ever admit to feeling alone - fiercely independent, it would irk her to admit craving or needing anything from anybody. Nor would she wish to see man at any closer quarters: four hundred years ago, one of her sisters fell to earth and was never seen again, and the rumor in the night skies is that she met a most terrible fate. The star was captured by the witches and was cared for until her heart shone. They killed her and ate it. In the movie, this information is revealed to Tristan through a dream when he comes back and finds that Yvaine is no longer where he left her.
