Star Walker (novel)

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Sternwanderer (original title: Stardust ) is a novel by Neil Gaiman , which appeared in 1998 with numerous illustrations by Charles Vess . The German translation came out in 2000 without any illustrations. A German edition with Vess' illustrations followed after the filming in 2007 under the title Der Sternwanderer - Stardust . Because of its special style and its extraordinary language, reminiscent of a fairy tale, Stardust differs from most of Gaiman's other works.

subjects

In addition to the greatest of all literary topics, love, Sternwanderer also deals with questions of origin. The challenge of integration, in other words: how far this should and can go, comes first. Ethnic diversity here and peasant simplicity there form an interesting polarizing pattern. There is no doubt that central literary motifs from Parzival as well as Tristan and Isolde are also present in the Star Wanderer.

content

foreplay

The village of Wall , which has existed somewhere in England for 600 years. The name of the village refers to the mighty stone wall that stretches out on the edge of the village, coming out of the forest, disappearing again into the forest. Associations with the Roman Limes are certainly intentional. A 2 meter wide opening interrupts the wall near the village. This passage has been observed by two guards in eight-hour shifts since time immemorial, because fairyland stretches behind the wall. Every nine years there is a market where trade between the land behind the wall and the normal world is allowed. Customers from all over the world come to Wall for this market .

introduction

Starwalker begins in the Victorian Age , the lifetime of Charles Dickens and Samuel FB Morse . The first protagonist is 18-year-old Dunstan Thorn . At the market he buys a delicate snowdrop from a glass flower stand for a kiss. At midnight he meets for a passionate tête-à-tête with the fairy girl enslaved by the flower seller. A year later, he is now married to a solid village beauty, a wicker basket is placed on the other side of the wall. In it lies a screaming bundle to which a label is attached, inscribed with the words: Tristran Thorn , and now the real story begins.

Bulk

At the side of his sister Louisa, who is half a year younger, Tristran grew up in his father's world. Even if a little dreamy, he develops into an almost normal boy who begins an apprenticeship and at the age of 17 falls madly in love with the current village beauty, a certain Victoria Forester.

In order to win her, he promises her to find the star that has just come down as a shooting star over their heads in the east. This is a frivolous and daring promise, because the search area is beyond the wall, in fairy land. He leaves that same night. His father enables him to pass through the wall, and then Tristran is alone in a complete stranger.

Tristran soon notices that time in fairyland takes its own course. After awakening from his first sleep in the Otherworld, he finds himself in the company of a hairy, gnomish man who claims to owe his, Tristrans, father a favor. They share their supplies and move on together. After Tristran freed them both from the clutches of a scorch forest , simply by knowing where to find the real way, the stranger owes him even more. Tristran has told him about his plan, and the little man doesn't find the whole thing strange in any way. After he has dressed Tristran in the fairy-like manner, he gives him two aids that would make his search easier: a candle that, as long as it burns, will radically shorten the time of his wandering, and a silver chain, made by the dwarfs in moonlight, cat's breath and fish scales forged at a mill pond. He would need it if he really wanted to bring his star back. He emphatically warns Tristran to be careful because he is not the only one looking for the star.

In fact, the reader soon learns what the star really is and who else is looking for it. First he learns that the star is a fist-sized topaz and the symbol of power of the Stormhold domain , hurled into the sky by the dying monarch himself with the promise that whoever brings it back to the fortress would become the next ruler. These sentences were addressed to his seven sons, four of whom stood dead and three alive around his death-bed.

In addition to these seven terrifying figures, three witch queens, the so-called Lilim , are looking for the star that will bring them back their lost youth. Actually, this is not supposed to be done by the topaz that Lord von Stormhold hurled into the sky, but by the star girl who, hit by the gem, falls to the ground with it. They want to cut out his heart while still alive and abuse it for their evil purposes.

This is one of the problems that Tristran is faced with after finding his star. Instead of an inanimate object, he faces a rather bad-tempered girl who broke her leg while falling from the sky. Without thinking about it, he ties himself and the girl to the silver chain that he received from his little hairy friend. Then he explains the situation and his request to her, for which she has only ridicule and scorn. Regardless of this, Tristran begins to hobble with her in the direction of Wall after treating her injury poorly. Since the time warping candle has now gone out, they have at least a six-month march ahead of them. An arduous undertaking that only gains momentum when Tristran mediates the bloody fight between a magical lion and a unicorn , and then continues on riding the unicorn.

Progress has accelerated, but the supply situation is still precarious. Near a village, Tristran decides to organize some food. He leaves the star girl and the unicorn on the edge of the village and even loosens the silver fetters after the girl has promised not to flee in her star honor. When Tristran returns, his star is gone, as is the unicorn. Sad and angry, Tristran goes in pursuit.

In the meantime the other star seekers have also come closer to their goal. The witch queen sets up a trap at a mountain pass that the star woman has to cross. The three living princes, who, because they always strive to eliminate one another, are only two, namely Primus and Septimus , are also hot on the star's heels, albeit in different ways.

The paths of Tristran and Primus cross in a gloomy forest. Tristran persuades the prince to let him travel with him in his black carriage. Together they reach the inn on the pass that Lilim has set up as a trap. Inside are the witch, the unicorn and the star girl. There is a fight. The unicorn seriously wounds the witch, who then kills Primus and the mythical creature. In the fray, Tristran manages to flee with the star. To do this, he uses the leftover wax from the magic time candle.

Their escape ends on a cloud the size of a small town, where the two are picked up by the airship Perdita . Since Tristran saved the star girl's life, she is forever tied to him and finally reveals her name to him: Yvaine . The crew takes care of the refugees' injuries and after a few relaxing weeks on the ship, the two disembark at a port tree. According to the captain, they are about ten weeks away from Wall .

On the way there they meet the glass flower dealer Madame Semele , whose slave girl sold the glass snowdrop to Tristran's father for a kiss. Since then she has been lamenting the loss of this piece of jewelry. So when Tristran offers her his flower in exchange for safe escort and a lift, she agrees. Then she turns him into a dormouse and locks him in a cage. At the market she wants to transform him back, so he is quieter and cheaper to keep. The star girl, however, can neither see nor hear Semele, which gives him the opportunity to ride on the carriage as a stowaway.

The witch queen has now set up her next trap, at Diggory's Dyke , a prominent cut in the terrain on the way to Wall . Here she is tracked down by Septimus, who wants to take the opportunity to avenge his murdered brother: an attempt that also costs him his life. Now there is no longer a living male heir to Stormhold's power. At the same point, Madame Semele and her car meet Lilim. When asked who she is traveling with, Semele answers truthfully, but - since she is not aware of Yvaine's presence and Lilim does not search the car - the trek passes the Diggory's Dyke unscathed . Soon afterwards, he immediately reached the market meadows in front of Wall . Tristran regains his human form, and together with Yvaine he now wants to pass the wall and in the village deliver his parents and the star to his great love Victoria. When passing through to Wall , the guards do not let them pass. They answer his claim that he is Tristran Thorn with disbelief and laughter. The next day, however, Louisa, his sister, comes and takes him to Wall . Yvaine stays behind for the time being. In the village he meets Victoria, who apologizes to him for her stupid behavior. He forgives her and supports her marriage plans with the dealer Mister Monday. Then his father tells him the secret of his origin. Visibly relieved, Tristran then returns to the market and finally declares his love for Yvaine .

epilogue

The fact that Tristran turns out to be the true heir to Stormhold's power because Madam Semele's slave is his mother, Princess Una, is only hinted at here, as well as the many years of the couple's return journey to Stormhold fortress, which is now carefully ruled by his mother Una becomes. The novel ends with the age-related death of Tristran and the subsequent reign of his wife, the apparently immortal Yvaine.

Adaptations

From 2006 to 2007, Stardust was made into a film by director Matthew Vaughn . The film opened in US cinemas on August 10, 2007. The German film release (title: Der Sternwanderer ) was on October 18, 2007. The roles include Charlie Cox (Tristan), Claire Danes (Yvaine), Michelle Pfeiffer (Lamia), Robert De Niro (Captain Shakespeare) and Peter O 'Toole (Lord of Stormhold) to see. The film differs in many details from the book and can be viewed as an independent work. The differences are:

  • In the film, Tristran is called Tristan .
  • Nothing is mentioned in the film about a meeting of people and residents of Stormhold every nine years, which is an important part of the opening in the book. Instead, Dunstan Thorn gets to Stormhold by outwitting the guardian of the wall.
  • In the end of the book, there is no fight between Tristran and the witches.
  • The figure of the helping forest gnome is missing.
  • For this, the dealer is inserted in the film.
  • There is no brotherhood of the castle.
  • The character of the funky Captain Shakespeare was - just like the pirate part - created for the film. The book is about the “Free Ship Perdita” on a lightning hunt expedition under Captain Johannes Alberic.
  • In the book, Septimus dies in revenge for his brother by a snakebite (lamia); in the film he is drowned by Lamia (showdown).
  • The journey Tristrans and Yvaines through Stormhold after leaving the ship is shown extremely shortened.
  • Victoria Forester has already made a promise to someone else and is expecting a child.
  • In the book, all witches stay alive too; they have just gotten very old and no longer have any magic powers. Moat-Sal survives after losing her power over Tristran's mother (Stormhold's last heiress).
  • In the book, Yvaine remains alive (immortal) after Tristran's death and continues to rule Stormhold alone.

literature

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