The Neverending Story facts for kids
First edition (German)
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| Author | Michael Ende |
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| Original title | Die unendliche Geschichte |
| Translator | Ralph Manheim |
| Illustrator | Roswitha Quadflieg |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Thienemann Verlag |
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Publication date
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1 September 1979 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 3-522-12800-1 |
| OCLC | 7460007 |
| LC Class | PT2665.N27 U5 |
The Neverending Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several films.
Contents
Plot summary
The book centres on a boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, an overweight and strange child who is neglected by his father after the death of Bastian's mother. While escaping from some bullies, Bastian bursts into the antiquarian book store of Carl Conrad Coreander, where he finds his interest held by a book called The Neverending Story. Unable to resist, he steals the book and hides in his school's attic, where he begins to read.
The story Bastian reads is set in the magical land of Fantastica, a place of wonder ruled by the benevolent and mysterious Childlike Empress. A great delegation has come to the Empress to seek her help against a formless entity called "The Nothing". The delegates are shocked when the Empress's physician, a centaur named Cairon, informs them that the Empress is ill, and has chosen a boy warrior named Atreyu to find a cure. Upon finding Atreyu, Cairon gives him AURYN: a powerful medallion that protects him from all harm. At the advice of the giant turtle Morla the Aged One, Atreyu sets off in search of an invisible oracle known as Uyulala, who may know the Empress's cure. In reaching her, he is aided by a luckdragon named Falkor, whom he rescues from the creature Ygramul the Many. By Uyulala, he is told the only thing that can save the Empress is a new name given to her by a human, who can only be found beyond Fantastica's borders.
As Falkor and Atreyu search for the borders of Fantastica, Atreyu is flung from Falkor's back in a confrontation with the four Wind Giants and loses Auryn in the sea. Atreyu lands in the ruins of Spook City, the home of various creatures of darkness. Wandering the dangerous city, Atreyu finds the wolf Gmork, chained and near death, who tells him that all the residents of the city have leapt voluntarily into The Nothing. There, thanks to the irresistible pull of the destructive phenomenon, the Fantasticans are becoming lies in the human world. The wolf also reveals that he is a servant of the force behind The Nothing and was sent to prevent the Empress's chosen hero from saving her. Gmork then reveals that when the princess of the city discovered his treachery against the Empress, she imprisoned him and left him to starve to death. When Atreyu announces that he is the hero Gmork has sought, the wolf laughs and succumbs to death. However, upon being approached, Gmork's body instinctively seizes Atreyu's leg in his jaws, preventing him from being dragged by the Nothing. Meanwhile, Falkor retrieves Auryn from the sea and arrives in time to save Atreyu from the rapid approach of The Nothing.
Falkor and Atreyu go to the Childlike Empress, who assures them they have brought her rescuer to her; Bastian suspects that the Empress means him, but cannot bring himself to believe it. When Bastian refuses to speak the new name, to prompt him into fulfilling his role as savior, the Empress herself locates the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, who possesses a book also entitled The Neverending Story, which the Empress demands he read aloud. As he begins, Bastian is amazed to find the book he is reading is repeating itself, beginning once again whenever the Empress reaches the Old Man — only this time, the story includes Bastian's meeting with Coreander, his theft of the book, and all his actions in the attic. Realizing that the story will repeat itself forever without his intervention, Bastian names the Empress "Moon Child", and appears with her in Fantastica, where he restores its existence through his own imagination. The Empress has also given him AURYN, on the back of which he finds the inscription DO WHAT YOU WISH.
For each wish, Bastian loses a memory of his life as a human. Unaware of this at first, Bastian goes through Fantastica, having adventures and telling stories, while losing his memories. In spite of the warnings of Atreyu and Bastian's other friends, Bastian uses AURYN to create creatures and dangers for himself to conquer, which causes some negative side effects for the rest of Fantastica. After being abetted by the wicked sorceress Xayide, and with the mysterious absence of the Childlike Empress, Bastian decides to take over Fantastica as Emperor. During his coronation ceremony he is stopped by Atreyu, whom Bastian grievously wounds in battle. Bastian then enters "Old Emperor City", inhabited by human beings who came to Fantastica earlier but could not find their way out, eking out a meaningless existence there. Ultimately, a repentant Bastian is reduced to two memories: that of his father, and of his own name. After more adventures, Bastian must give up the memory of his father to discover that his strongest wish is to be capable of love and to give love to others.
After much searching, and on the verge of losing his final memory, Bastian is unable to find the Water of Life with which to leave Fantastica with his memories. Here, he is found by Atreyu. In remorse, Bastian lays down AURYN at his friend's feet, and Atreyu and Falkor enter AURYN with him, where the Water of Life demands to know Bastian's name, and if Bastian has finished all the stories he began in his journey, which he has not. Only after Atreyu gives Bastian's name and promises to complete all the stories for him does the Water of Life allow Bastian to return to the human world, along with some of the mystical waters. After drinking the Water of Life, Bastian returns to his original form, and feels comfortable and happy with it. He wanted to bring the water also to his father. He returns to his father, where he tells the full tale of his adventures, and thus reconciles with him. Afterwards, Bastian confesses to Coreander about stealing his book and losing it, but Coreander denies ever owning such a book. Coreander reveals he has also been to Fantastica, and that the book has likely moved into the hands of someone else and that Bastian — like Coreander — will eventually show that individual the way to Fantastica. This, the book concludes, "is another story and shall be told another time".
Chapter by chapter recap
The book opens on Bastian Balthazar Bux, a "fat little boy of ten or twelve," whose mother has died and whose father is too distracted by grief to pay much attention to Bastian. While running from bullies, Bastian bursts into the antiquarian book store of Carl Conrad Coreander, and sees a book called The Neverending Story. Unable to resist the idea of a story that never ends, he steals the book and takes it to his school's attic, where he begins to read.
I. Fantastica in Danger
The story Bastian reads is set in the magical land of Fantastica (which the 1984 film would later rename Fantasia), a place of wonder ruled by the benevolent and mysterious Childlike Empress. A delegation has come to the Empress to seek her help against a formless entity called "The Nothing". The Empress's physician, a centaur named Cairon, informs them that the Empress is ill, and only a Greenskin warrior named Atreyu can find a cure.
II: Atreyu's Mission
Cairon finds Atreyu and discovers that he's just a boy. He gives him AURYN: a medallion that guides and protects him.
III: Morla the Aged One
Atreyu and his horse Artax set off on their quest and quickly have their first sighting of the Nothing, described as "something the eyes could not bear, something that made you feel you had gone blind." They soon find themselves in the Swamps of Sadness, in which Artax drowns. In the Swamps Atreyu finds Morla the Aged One, a giant turtle who tells him that the Childlike Empress will be saved only by receiving a new name, but she doesn't know who can give it to her. Morla then advises Atreyu to seek the advice of Uyulala in the Southern Oracle.
IV: Ygramul the Many
Atreyu continues on his quest. While skirting the Deep Chasm he comes across a luckdragon trapped in the web of Ygramal the Many. Back in the attic, Bastian screams, a sound that seems to be heard in Fantastica. Ygramal bites Atreyu, and her poison allows himself to wish himself anywhere.
V: The Gnomics
Atreyu wakes near the entrance to the Southern Oracle, in the presence of the luckdragon, named Falkor, both of them dying from Ygramal’s bite. They are nursed back to health by the gnomes Urgl and Engywook.
VI: The Three Magic Gates
Engywok teaches Atreyu about the three gates to the Southern Oracle. Then he passes through them, and the Great Mirror Gate shows him an eerily accurate image of Bastian himself, who’s reading the passage at that very moment.
VII: The Voice of Silence
Uyulala tells Atreyu that the Childlike Empress can only be named by a human from beyond the borders of Fantastica. He exits the Southern Oracle to find that a week has passed, the gates of the Oracle have crumbled, and the Nothing is encroaching.
VIII: The Wind Giants
While flying in search of the border of Fantastica, Falkor and Atreyu are beset by the Wind Giants and separated. Having lost both Falkor and AURYN, Atreyu observes a procession of people leaping into the Nothing.
IX: Spook City
Wandering alone in a deserted city, Atreyu comes across a chained werewolf named Gmork, who tells him that when Fanastica’s residents disappear into the Nothing they reappear in the human world as lies. Gmork tells Atreyu that he was on an mission to kill a hero named Atreyu, and when Atreyu reveals that this is him, Gmork bites him.
X: The Flight to the Ivory Tower
Falkor finds AURYN in the sea, and AURYN leads him to Atreyu, whom he rescues from Gmork. Together they fly to the Ivory Tower in the center of Fantastica, a journey complicated by the fact that “Since Fantastica has no boundaries, its center can be anywhere.” Eventually they reach the Ivory Tower and meet the Childlike Empress. Back in the attic, Bastian, reading her description, decides that her name should be Moon Child.
XI: The Childlike Empress
The Childlike Empress tells Atreyu that his adventures have attracted a human to name her: Bastian. Back in the attic, Bastian is shocked that they’re talking about him, and is afraid to name her and appear before them because of “his fatness, with his bowlegs and his pasty face.” When Bastian doesn’t name her, the Childlike Empress declares her plan to invoke the Old Man of Wandering Mountain.
XII: The Old Man of Wandering Mountain
Four invisible powers carry the Childlike Empress to the Mountain of Destiny, where she finds an old man writing in a book that looks just like the one Bastian is reading in the attic. She asks him to read the story to her, and he begins to read The Neverending Story from the moment that Bastian walks into Mr. Coreander’s bookstore. Bastian is compelled to say the Childlike Empress’ name, Moon Child, to stop the endless loop.
XIII: Perilin, the Night Forest
Bastian finds himself weightless in darkness. He hears the voice of Moon Child, who gives him a grain of sand from the old Fantastica and AURYN, and tells him that he can have as many wishes as he wants to remake Fantastica. His first creation is Perilin, the Night Forest. He also sees himself through Moon Child’s eyes as “a young prince from the Orient” and is delighted to be handsome.
XIV: The Desert of Colors
Bastian creates and names Goab, the Desert of Colors, in which every hill of sand is a different color. He befriends a lion named Grograman, Lord of the Desert of Colors, who gives him a ride to his palace. When the sun sets, Grograman turns to stone.
XV: Grograman, the Many-Colored Death
Grograman awakes and gives Bastian a powerful sword called Sikanda. Bastian discovers the words “Do what you wish” on the back of AURYN, and Grograman tells Bastian about the Temple of a Thousand Doors, which contains a maze you can only pass through with a genuine wish.
XVI: The Silver City of Amarganth
Bastian explores the Temple of a Thousand Doors, and gets through by wishing for the companionship of Atreyu. He finds himself in a forest, where he meets Hero Hynreck and joins his party bound for a tournament in the Silver City of Amaranth. The tournament is being held to select a party of warriors that will find the Savior, and is judged by Atreyu. Bastian challenges Hero Hynreck, and Atreyu recognizes Bastian as the Savior.
XVII: A Dragon for Hero Hynreck
Atreyu asks Bastian why he looks different, and Bastian can’t remember what he looked like before becoming handsome. Wanting to impress Atreyu, Bastian shows off his storytelling skills by giving a library of his stories to the Silver City of Amaranth, acquiring a magic stone called Al Tsahir in the process. Wanting to impress Princess Oglamar, Hero Hynreck tells Bastian that he needs a monster to fight, so Bastian creates a dragon named Smerg.
XVIII: The Acharis
Bastian, Falkor, Atreyu set out with a party in search of a road to take Bastian back to his world. Atreyu discovers that AURYN takes away some of Bastian’s memories every time he makes a wish. The party comes across the Acharis, worm-like beings who created Moru, the Lake of Tears, by crying over their ugliness. Bastian grants their wish to be less ugly, and they turn into destructive butterfly-like creatures called Shlamoofs.
XIX: The Traveling Companions
Atreyu and Falkor confront Bastian about using AURYN too often and losing his memory of home, and Bastian confesses that he doesn’t want to go home. He decides to find Moon Child, and when Atreyu and Falkor tell him that nobody can meet her twice, he grows angry with them.
XX: The Seeing Hand
Bastian’s growing traveling party find themselves in a forest of carnivorous orchids that belongs to a sorceress named Xayide, who lives in a castle known as the Seeing Hand. Bastian and Atreyu fight when Atreyu suggests that he take charge of AURYN and Bastian tells him that he’s decided to stay in Fantastica. Bastian joins forces with Xayide and commands Falkor to carry her against his will.
XXI: The Star Cloister
Bastian’s traveling party grows into an army. Xayide gives Bastian Ghemmel, a belt that makes its wearer invisible, and tells him that she thinks Atreyu and Falkor wish him harm. Bastian wishes to be truly wise, and subsequently meets messengers from the Star Cloister of Ghigam, home of the Three Deep Thinkers, who ask him to explain the existence of Fantastica.
XXII: The Battle for the Ivory Tower
Bastian’s army arrives at the Ivory Tower to find Moon Child gone. Bastian learns that Atreyu and Falkor are planning to take AURYN from him and banishes them. Xayide convinces Bastian to attempt to take Moon Child’s place as Childlike Emperor, and a rebellion ensues, during which Bastian wounds Atreyu.
XXIII: The City of the Old Emperors
In pursuit of Atreyu, Bastian enters the City of Old Emperors, whose residents all aspired to rule Fantastica and who have now lost the power of speech and all common sense. He learns that he only has as many wishes as he has memories. He continues to wander and finds the Sea of Mist.
XXIV: Dame Eyola
Bastian finds the House of Change and meets its inhabitant, Dame Eyola. He stays with her for a long time, enjoying her motherly care. She tells him about a prophecy that someday a human will bring love to Fantastica and the two worlds will be one.
XXV: The Picture Mine
Bastian meets Yor, a blind miner who digs for pictures, each of which represents a forgotten dream from the human world. Bastian joins Yor in order to dig for one of his own dreams, which he needs in order to go to the Water of Life. Once he finds an image of his father, he leaves, and is nearly kidnapped by Schlamoofs before Atreyu and Falkor save him.
XXVI: The Water of Life
Bastian gives AURYN to Atreyu, and they’re all transported to the Water of Life. Bastian drinks the water and is transformed back into his old self and remembers who he is. Bastian scoops up some of the water for his father, and then finds himself back in the school attic. The book that he was reading, “The Neverending Story,” has disappeared, as has the water he brought back, and very little time has passed. He goes home and finds his father worried about him because he didn’t come home from school, and their bond is renewed. Bastian visits Mr. Coreander to confess that he stole and lost his book, but Coreander doesn't remember the book. Coreander reveals he has also been to Fantastica, and that the book has likely changed titles again and moved into the hands of someone else. “Every real story,” he tells Bastian,” is a Neverending Story.”
Editions
The Neverending Story was first published under the title Die unendliche Geschichte in 1979 by German publisher Thienemann Verlag. It was number one on Germany's highly respected Der Spiegel bestseller list for 113 weeks, and remained on the list for 332 weeks. The original edition was printed using red and green text: red writing to represent the story lines which take place in the human world, green writing to represent the events taking place in Fantastica. The illustrations by Roswitha Quadflieg that begin each chapter are drawn in both colors to illustrate how the two worlds intertwine. It was initially only printed as a hardcover, not paperback, because Ende wanted the book to look as much as possible like the book that Bastian steals from Mr. Coreander in the story.
The English version, translated by Ralph Manheim, was published simultaneously in England and America in 1983. Several other English-language editions have since been published, with a variety of covers and lettering styles. As of 2010, The Neverending Story has been translated into 36 languages, and sold more than eight million copies worldwide.
In 1998 Der Niemandsgarten (English:The No Man's Garden) was published. This anthology of Michael Ende's unpublished works includes insight on the creation of The Neverending Story, and has been translated into Japanese but not English. Also unavailable in English is Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte – Das große Michael Ende Lesebuch (English: But that is Another Story: The Big Michael Ende Reader), which contains the previously unpublished chapter "Bastian erlernt die Zauberkunst" (English: "Bastian learns how to do magic").
Adaptations and derivative works
Music
The album Wooden Heart by Listener was based on or heavily influenced by The Neverending Story, as has been confirmed by the band. Different songs represent different ideas of the plot or characters, which can be seen on the band's lyric page for the album.
The Spanish indie rock band Vetusta Morla derived its name from the ancient turtle in the novel.
The band Bayside released a song called 'They Looked Like Strong Hands' on their self titled album in 2005, referencing the speech Rockbiter gives to Bastian.
The Hip-Hop artist Homeboy Sandman references Atreyu and Falkor in his 2019 song "Far Out"
Audiobook
A German dramatized audioplay under the title Die unendliche Geschichte (Karussell/Universal Music Group 1984, directed by Anke Beckert, music by Frank Duval, 3 parts on LP and MC, 2 parts on CD).
In March 2012 Tantor Media released an unabridged audiobook of The Neverending Story narrated by Gerard Doyle.
Film
The NeverEnding Story was the first film adaptation of the novel. It was released in 1984, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Barret Oliver as Bastian, Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress. It covers only the first half of the book, ending at the point where Bastian enters Fantastica (renamed "Fantasia" in the film), and features characters who look markedly different from how they're described in the book (most notably Bastian, who's very self-conscious about his weight in the book, but is depicted as slender in the film). Ende, who was reportedly "revolted" by the film, requested they halt production or change the film's name, as he felt it had ultimately and drastically deviated from his novel; when they did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case.
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, directed by George T. Miller and starring Jonathan Brandis and Kenny Morrison, was released in 1990. It used plot elements primarily from the second half of Ende's novel, but told a new tale. Ende has dismissed both the 1984 film and its 1990 sequel as "gigantic melodrama made of kitsch and commerce, plush and plastic."
The NeverEnding Story III, starring Jason James Richter, Melody Kay and Jack Black, was released in 1994 in Germany and in 1996 in the US. This film was primarily based only upon the characters from Ende's book but had an original story. The film was lambasted by film critics for its poor and laughable dialogue and special effects and was a box office bomb.
Novels
From 2003 to 2004, the German publishing house AVAinternational published six novels of different authors in a series called Legends of Fantastica, each using parts of the original plot and characters to compose an entirely new storyline:
- Kinkel, Tanja (2003). Der König der Narren.
- Schweikert, Ulrike (2003). Die Seele der Nacht.
- Isau, Ralf (2003). Die geheime Bibliothek des Thaddäus Tillmann Trutz.
- Fleischhauer, Wolfram (2004). Die Verschwörung der Engel.
- Freund, Peter (2004). Die Stadt der vergessenen Träume.
- Dempf, Peter (2004). Die Herrin der Wörter.
Stage
The world première of the stage production took place in 2012 in Brisbane, Australia, by the Harvest Rain Theatre Company.
In Germany, The Neverending Story has been variously adapted to a stage play, ballet, and opera which premiered both at Trier and at Weimar Nationaltheater on April 10, 2004 and was subsequently staged at Linz Landestheater on December 11, 2004. The scores to both the opera and the ballet versions were composed by Siegfried Matthus. The opera libretto was by Anton Perry.
In Canada, the novel was adapted to stage for the Stratford Festival for the 2019 season adapted by David S. Craig with original music by Hawksley Workman.
Television
The 1995 animated series was produced by Nelvana, under the title of The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux. The animated series ran for two years, and had a total of twenty-six episodes. Director duties were split between Marc Boreal and Mike Fallows. Each episode focused on Bastian's further adventures in Fantastica, largely different from his further adventures in the book, but occasionally containing elements of them.
Tales from the Neverending Story, a one-season-only TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story, was produced in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, through December 2000-August 2002 and distributed by Muse Entertainment, airing on HBO in 2002. It was aired as four two-hour television movies in the US and as a TV series of 13 one-hour episodes in the UK. The series was released on DVD in 2001.
In the season two finale of The Venture Bros., Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part II), Dean Venture embarks upon a fantastical, hallucinated adventure that closely borrows from The Neverending Story.
Google Doodle
On 1 September 2016, a Google Doodle, created by Google artist Sophie Diao commemorated the publication of the work.
Computer games
A text adventure game was released by Ocean Software in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Atari 800.
A computer game based on the second film was released in 1990 by Merimpex Ltd under their Linel label and re-released by System 4 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
In 2001, the German video game studio attraction published their Ende-inspired video game, AURYN Quest.
See also
In Spanish: La historia interminable para niños
