#hero hynreck

[iviarellereads]

The Neverending Story, Chapter 17 - A Dragon for Hero Hynreck

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Neverending Story, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which someone shows off.

Querquobad,(1) the Silver Sage, had slumped down in his chair asleep, for already the hour was late. Consequently, he missed an experience more beautiful and more extraordinary than any he had known in the hundred and seven years of his life.

Falkor flies around the city and sings a wordless song of pure joy. Eventually the song fades, leaving everyone who heard it happier. Querquobad wakes and leaves to go to bed.(2)

Bastian asks Atreyu if Falkor ever sleeps, and Atreyu says Falkor can sleep in the air.(3) Bastian would like to ride Falkor someday. Atreyu says it takes getting used to, but Bastian says he's ridden Grograman, so he can probably adjust. Atreyu asks how Bastian did it, and Bastian says, he now carries Auryn.

On the subject, Bastian shows it to Atreyu, and asks if he ever noticed the inscription on the back. Atreyu says he saw it but his people don't learn to read letters.

Eventually, Bastian asks what Atreyu meant by Bastian not looking the same as he did in the Magic Mirror Gate. Atreyu says Bastian was fat and pale. Bastian is distressed, and can't reconcile this with his lack of memory of ever being that way.(4) The lads are silent all the way until they go to sleep.

Laying in bed, Bastian reflects, and thinks that Atreyu wasn't so impressed by his accomplishments. He wants to win Atreyu's unconditional admiration, but how? Well, there's one thing that only Bastian, in all Fantastica, can do: make up stories. And, can't his stories come true? Grograman said that something could be born again here if it happened in a story.

The next morning, Querquobad says the Silver City has decided to hold a special festival of storytelling, since they're famous for it. Only, they don't have many stories, and they wonder if Bastian really is famous for making new ones. Bastian says he is, and he even got made fun of for doing it. Querquobad doesn't know what to make of this, since nobody Fantastican can make new stories, but asks Bastian to give them some new stories to work with.

Bastian is excited that his wish is coming true, but tempered by Atreyu seeming impassive about it.

Bastian's first story is about the Silver City, and how it came to be in its current state, and he adds a library to the story, with all the stories he ever made up. Querquobad exclaims that there is a building that's never been opened, because it was locked long ago and nobody ever figured out the riddle to open it.

Everyone goes to the library, where a stone is set into the door. A poem is inscribed over it.

Removed from the unicorn's horn, I lost my light. I shall keep the door locked until my light is rekindled by him who calls me by name. For him I will shine a hundred years. I will guide him in the dark depths of Yor's Minroud. But if he says my name a second time from the end to the beginning, I will glow in one moment with the light of a hundred years.(5)

Bastian cries "Al Tsahir!"(6) and the stone glows and jumps into Bastian's hand. The door opens on its own, revealing a vast library of Bastian's stories, sorted apparently by the tone or mood. The Amarganthians devote themselves to reading and memorizing them immediately, and Atreyu is shocked that Bastian made up so many stories.

As Bastian and Atreyu leave, Hynreck's H-friends find them and ask for Bastian to take them into his service. Bastian accepts gladly, and asks after Hynreck. It turns out, he's "a broken man" because his lady love refuses to return his feelings after his defeat. They all go to see Hynreck, and he really is broken. Through prompting by an H-friend, Bastian makes up a terrible dragon, Smerg, for Hynreck to hunt and prove to Princess Oglamar that he's a worthy suitor. Before Bastian can answer how he knew about the dragon, cries of "Dragon!" are heard outside, and Oglamar yelling for Hynreck, her hero.

As Hynreck leaves, Atreyu suggests they should find Bastian a way home, unless something is keeping him here. Bastian, who has explicitly forgotten ever being the pasty fat kid who started the story, can't think of any reason not to go home. Bastian asks the H-friends for Yikka for his mount, and Atreyu and Falkor fly to the other side of the lake to wait for the horses and mule and people to take the ferry over.

As for Hero Hynreck he actually succeeded in reaching Morgul, the Land of the Cold Fire. He ventured into the petrified forest of Wodgabay, crossed the three moats of Ragar Castle, found the lead ax, and slew the dragon Smerg. Then he brought Oglamar back to her father. At that point she would gladly have married him. But by then he didn't want her anymore.(7) That, however, is another story and shall be told another time.

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(1) Smerg in all its horrifying glory. (2) I sort of have to wonder why Querquobad was in this part of the chapter in the first place, and my only available conclusion is "to allow for the Q illumination". (3) Like whales sleeping half their brains at a time so they can still breathe and all. (4) Chickens, coming home to roost. Setups, coming to fruition. (5) So, a magic ring that emits light, and if Bastian says its name backwards, it will be a flashbomb. Which surely won't be a plot point ever. (6) I think in an ideal world none of the names of creatures or places or objects in this sort of book would be worthy of criticism. But I think in the world we live in, it's fair to feel a little bit of distaste for how often Ende is using names that evoke, or directly come from, cultures not his own. I don't recognize all of them but a lot of these names certainly don't sound German, and al-anything is distinctly Arabic. (Yes, that goes for alcohol, algebra, alchemy…) (7) The classic story, in exact polar opposite to not appreciating what's in front of you until you can't have it anymore, which is of course what Oglamar's position is. There's always more than one side to a story. What's the saying? My side, your side, and the truth. (I'm quoting that from Babylon 5 and it's entirely likely they took it from somewhere else.)

[artists-table]

Hero Hynreck and the Dragon Smerg [Brent Bowman] via /r/ImaginaryMonsters https://ift.tt/2PCX8uw

[iviarellereads]

The Neverending Story, Chapter 16 - The Silver City of Amarganth

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Neverending Story, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which we see an old friend.

Purple(1) light passed in slow waves across the floor and the walls of the room.

I won't describe all the rooms or doors laid out in the book, but suffice it to say, eventually he wishes to see Atreyu, and he sees a door that reminds him of Falkor's scales. He goes through it, and follows a path of doors until he comes outside in another forest, where he hides Auryn beneath his shirt. He meets Hero Hynreck and Princess Oglamar and a small retinue of H-named friends of Hynreck's, but Bastian says he cannot say his name in turn just yet.

Bastian learns that there's a tournament soon at the Silver City of Amarganth, where the three bravest in the land will begin a journey to find the saviour of Fantastica. The tournament has been organized by the leader of Amarganth, but the judging will be done by Atreyu,(2) a Greenskin who is visiting, and who will lead the expedition, as the only one who can recognize the saviour.

Bastian struggles to keep himself composed when he realizes the saviour is, of course, himself.

He notices that Hynreck is in love with the princess, but learns she has vowed to marry only the greatest of heroes, and won't be satisfied with anything less. Thus, Hynreck's obsession with the tournament. He's so boastful about his abilities, he says he could beat the saviour at anything. Bastian decides to teach him a lesson as soon as he can.

The party offer Bastian a ride on their pack mule, which he accepts, only she lags further behind. Bastian tries to urge her on, but she speaks, and says she knows who he is. As "only half an ass […] and not a complete one"(3) she can sense it in him. Bastian asks her name, and receives it, Yikka. He asks her not to tell his secret, and she is glad to keep it, and catches up to the horses.

Soon they reach the Silver City, which lies in the middle of Moru, the Lake of Tears, which is so salty, bitter, and acrid that it dissolves wood and iron, anything but special silver.(4) When across, Bastian takes his leave of the party, and searches for Atreyu, to no avail, though it gives opportunity for lengthy descriptions of the city.

Eventually he comes to the tournament grounds, and finds Atreyu next to the Silver Sage, the leader of the city as its eldest resident. Soon, Hynreck's H-named friends(5) all come in and, despite that the remaining contestants are the best of the best, prove themselves. Then Hynreck comes along, and offers to face all three of his friends at once, and defeats them all.

The Silver Sage asks if anyone would face Hynreck, and Bastian says he will. The Sage asks his name, but Bastian says again that he will reveal it after the competition. Atreyu seems unsure if this is the boy he remembers.

So, Bastian faces Hynreck, and in every competition, defeats him soundly. At the end, Bastian offers a swim through the lake, and Hynreck balks. Bastian admits he doesn't fear the lake, as he's already ridden Grograman and lived. Hynreck says no one can survive the Many-Colored Death. Bastian asks if Hynreck is scared. Hynreck draws his sword, and Bastian's Sikanda jumps to his hand in defence, seeming to be possessed as he fights Hynreck. In short order, Sikanda cuts Hynreck's armour, clothes, and sword to tiny pieces, and then flies back to its sheath.

Bastian feels bad for Hynreck, but can't find him in the crowd to offer a kind word. Still, Atreyu comes forth and says he would welcome the help on the expedition, but it's no longer needed, for the saviour of Fantastica is found. He looks a little different, but he has the same look in his eyes. Bastian confirms, twas he who gave the CLE the name Moon Child, and it's all thanks to Atreyu. Atreyu asks Bastian's name, and he finally gives it to the crowd. Atreyu and Bastian hold hands and go to the palace, where the Silver Sage and Falkor await them.

That night the Silver City gave the finest celebration in all its history.

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(1) Two figures stand before the Silver City, I assume Bastian and Hynreck or possibly Atreyu. (2) Well, at least the finding didn't take long. (3) If this hadn't been coming up I'd have considered making the pun myself, but Ende, or the translator, made it for me. (I'm not 100% that this is still a pun in German, but it feels likely.) (4) A lot of cultures have believed that silver had special properties of healing and protection. It's why silver bullets are so commonly said to kill evil creatures. (5) No, I really am not bothering with their names. They're fully interchangeable to me because their names are too similar to remember and they're functioning as a unit with three subsegments.