12
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Accepted
What are all the stories left unfinished in The Neverending Story?
I actually made a list of all of these many years ago, which deserves to be recorded for posterity. Here they are, in the order that they appear in the text.
The four messengers: Gluckuk, Vooshvazool,...
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12
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In the "Neverending Story", what judgement do Falkor and Atreyu make of the Childlike Empress?
It is important to distinguish between the original text and the English translation. If one only allows for text-immanent interpretation and considers the translation the sole text, all my following ...
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10
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What is the Neverending Story's moral about power?
It is first important to recognize what kind of story this is. It is about a young boy whose mother has died. His journey in the novel reflects his emotional growth, developing sense of identity and ...
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9
votes
Accepted
Why do the names of the first two characters introduced in "The Neverending Story" start with B and C?
In the original, it's B and K, not B and C.
You can see this in the German Wikipedia page (emphasis mine):
Bastian Balthasar Bux ist ein zehn oder elf Jahre alter, in sich gekehrter Junge. Sein Vater ...
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9
votes
Accepted
Where is Momo set?
There are multiple hints that the unnamed city the plot takes place in is a reminiscence of Genzano di Roma. Ende has lived there during the writing of Momo, and the Italian background (the names, but ...
- 877
9
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How can the inscription on AURYN be interpreted?
TL; DR: There is an ambiguity, intended by the author, between "do what you wish" and "find your true will" which is important for the development of the main character Bastian.
Long answer:
To ...
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8
votes
Why "Moon Child"?
The simplest explanation, in-universe so to speak, would be that you need a new unique name to see the Childlike Empress, and "Mondenkind" isn't really a word that existed before in the ...
- 386
7
votes
In the "Neverending Story", what judgement do Falkor and Atreyu make of the Childlike Empress?
Perhaps it's deliberately meant to be ambiguous.
Certainly there's a recurrent theme in The Neverending Story of ambiguous endings and unfinished tales: just look at how often variations of the ...
- 72.6k
7
votes
Accepted
How can the inscription on AURYN be interpreted?
The German version reads Do what you want (Tu Was Du Willst). The ambiguity could exist in German as well with Tu Was Du Wünscht, albeit that would be a less common phrase and kids probably had ...
- 877
6
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Artax just wait for Atreyu outside the Swamp of Sadness?
Beforehand, they didn't know the effect of the swamp.
When Atreyu and Artax first reach the swamp, it looks gloomy and forbidding but no more than that. Despite the name, they didn't realise that ...
- 72.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Why are letters hostile to the Childlike Empress?
It's easy to see this as a conflict between literacy (represented by the Old Man) and illiteracy (represented by the Childlike Empress), but I don't think that was what was intended.
Just before this ...
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5
votes
What are all the stories left unfinished in The Neverending Story?
Yes, you missed one story: "The story of Ghemmal", in the beginning of chapter 23.
But a glittering object was left behind in the juniper bush: the belt Ghemmal. Bastian was unaware of his ...
- 51
4
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In the "Neverending Story", what judgement do Falkor and Atreyu make of the Childlike Empress?
The German phrase "ist sie wahrlich eine..." also occurs in Arthur Schopenhauer's Dialogue on Religion. Religion, the character Philalethes says, is "wahrlich eine pia fraus", &...
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3
votes
Accepted
Does the title of "The Neverending Story" have a double meaning?
As I mentioned in a comment, answering this question basically involves spoiling most of the plot - presumably you've long since finished reading the book, so I mention this for the sake of anyone ...
- 72.6k
3
votes
Who or what is Cassiopeia?
The first thing I think of when thinking of a tortoise is its longevity. Also note that Cassiopeia has her own time (which is why she cam move when time has stopped), and if I remember correctly, Hora,...
- 161
2
votes
Accepted
Why did Morla's eyes have a paralyzing effect on Atreyu?
The amulet offered resistance against the ambient, passive sadness of the swamp, but Morla’s paralyzing gaze was an additional effect directly focused on Atreyu. Like yeah, your umbrella can protect ...
- 36
2
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Is it possible that Bastian's journey to Fantastica was purely metaphysical?
During Bastian's return from Fantastica, the following sequence of events takes place (starting on page 388 in my Dutton 1997 edition):
Quickly Bastian cupped his hands, gathered as much of the ...
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2
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In the "Neverending Story", what judgement do Falkor and Atreyu make of the Childlike Empress?
In a letter (published in "Michael Endes Zettelkasten") the author answered a question.
Readers had complained about Moonchild beeing a lesser Momo.
I don't remember the whole letter. But parts of it....
- 21
1
vote
Predecessors/Inspirations of Scheinriesen (Illusionary Giants)
Google Ngram found a few earlier appearances:
1869 : "Der lachende Mann" by Victor Hugo (translated into German by Georg Büchmann)
Quote from p.152:
Wirklich waren beide Kämpfer gut ...
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