The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story (originally titled Die unendliche Geschichte) is a 1979 Young Adult fantasy novel by German author Michael Ende. The book describes the adventures of a boy named Bastian who initially reads about and then physically enters the world of Fantastica, which is threatened by a sinister, amorphous of destruction called “the Nothing.” Like Ende’s other novels, Momo (1973) and The Night of Wishes: Or the Satanarchaeolidealcohellish Notion Potion (1989), the novel is a modern fairy tale that highlights the power of imagination, the dangers of wishes, and the search for identity.

This study guide references the English translation by Ralph Manheim, published by Penguin Books in 1984.

Plot Summary

Bastian Balthazar Bux, an awkward and lonely young boy who has recently lost his mother, escapes from school bullies by entering a book shop. Entranced by a book called The Neverending Story that the store’s owner, Mr. Coreander, has left on a chair, Bastian steals the volume and hides in the attic of his school to read it. The novel that Bastian reads is set in a land called Fantastica, where a small group of fairy tale creatures travel to the Ivory Tower of the Childlike Empress. Fearing the ravages of the Nothing, a mysterious force that engulfs people and places and leaves only blankness in its wake, the group hopes to gain the Empress’s help but discovers that she is gravely ill and is not expected to survive.

The Empress’s doctor, a centaur named Cairon, requests the aid of a young hunter named Atreyu who is a member of the “Greenskin” purple-buffalo people. Gifted with the Empress’s magical protection amulet, AURYN, Atreyu sets out with his talking horse, Artax, to discover a cure for the Empress and save Fantastica. After his horse dies in the Swamps of Sadness, Atreyu journeys to Morla the Aged One, a giant turtle who tells the boy that the Empress needs a new name and that the Southern Oracle, Uyulala, may have further answers. On route to the oracle, Atreyu encounters a monstrous spider named Ygramul as it is about to consume a luckdragon named Falkor. To save himself and Falkor, Atreyu allows the spider to bite him, which sends both boy and luckdragon to the realm of Uyulala.

Atreyu passes through three magical gates and encounters the invisible Southern Oracle, who speaks in rhyming verse and explains that only a human child can save Fantastica by giving the Empress a new name. With this knowledge, Atreyu and Falkor try to find the border between Fantastica and the human world. The pair encounters the four Wind Giants, whose battle causes the boy to fall from the luckdragon’s back and lose the magical medallion, AURYN, in the ocean.

Alone and without AURYN’s protection, Atreyu finds himself in Spook City. There, he observes a group of dark monsters hurl themselves into the Nothing and encounters a dying werewolf named Gmork. After Gmork dies, Atreyu nears his body and the werewolf’s jaws clamp down onto the boy’s leg, imprisoning him.

Meanwhile, Falkor finds AURYN under the sea and rescues Atreyu from the jaws of the werewolf. United, the two visit the Childlike Empress. At the moment the Empress and Atreyu share a glance, Bastian, who has been reading the story in the school attic, clearly sees the Empress himself and realizes that he knows a perfect name for her: Moon Child. The Empress praises Atreyu for completing the quest and explains that he has brought the human child with him. Bastian realizes that she is referring to him, but he fears to speak the Empress’s new name aloud.

Noting Bastian’s lack of courage, the Empress journeys to the Old Man of Wandering Mountain and asks the sage to write The Neverending Story from the beginning. Bastian, meanwhile, discovers that upon the Empress’s request, the book he is reading now has started over from the moment he entered the book shop, and he realizes that he is part of Fantastica’s never-ending story. Bastian cries out, “Moon Child, I’m coming!” (167) and is immediately transported to Fantastica, where he stands before the Childlike Empress. As a reward for defeating the Nothing, the Empress places AURYN around Bastian’s neck. Presenting him with a single grain of sand, the Empress explains that he can recreate Fantastica by making wishes.

Bastian begins to assert his will on Fantastica and his own being. Yet, with every wish, Bastian loses his memories of his former life. The first creature that Bastian encounters in the new Fantastica is Grograman, a multi-colored lion that turns to stone each night and revives each morning. Grograman gives Bastian a special sword that will fight for the boy as long as he never draws it from its sheath. The lion also advises Bastian that he must discover and pursue what he really wants.

Realizing that he no longer wants to be alone, Bastian leaves the lion and journeys to Amarganth, where he is celebrated as the savior of Fantastica. There he defeats the Hero Hynreck with his magical sword, meets Atreyu, and shares his storytelling ability with the townspeople. Additionally, Bastian, sensing Hynreck’s desire for glory, creates a dragon for the knight to battle. He also tries to help the Acharis, unhappy “ugly” beings that create beautiful silver edifices with their tears. Hoping to provide the Acharis with joy, Bastian uses a wish to make them clownlike creatures called Shlamoofs, the Everlasting Laughers.

With a group of new friends, including Atreyu and Falkor, Bastian travels throughout Fantastica, planning to return to the Ivory Tower. Along the way, they are joined by new followers. However, Bastian’s wishes begin to impact his memory, and he starts to desire power. Disturbed by the changes in Bastian, Atreyu asks the human boy to hand over AURYN, but Bastian refuses.

Bastian and his entourage encounter a dark castle guarded by empty suits of armor controlled by a sorceress named Xayide. After defeating the guards, Bastian recruits Xayide, who joins the group. Over time, the sorceress convinces Bastian to put himself before others and makes him doubt Atreyu’s motives.

By the time the group finally arrives at the Ivory Tower, Bastian decides that Xayide is his only friend and that he wants to rule Fantastica. Atreyu tries to protect Bastian by taking the amulet, but instead the human boy banishes both Atreyu and Falkor. Encouraged by Xayide, Bastian decides to take over the kingdom and set himself up as Emperor. A battle ensues between Bastian’s forces and those of Atreyu. Bastian ends up drawing his magical sword and stabbing Atreyu in the chest. Although victorious, Bastian realizes that he has destroyed the capital and leaves the city.

Bastian travels alone through Fantastica. First, he enters the City of Old Emperors, learning that humans who previously visited Fantastica and used all their wishes reside there forever, bereft of memories and unable to create meaningful lives. He also visits a community of people called the Yskalnari who lack individual identities. Bastian realizes that he wants to be loved as an individual.

Bastian’s final two encounters are with Dame Eyola, a plant woman who mothers the boy, and Yor, a blind miner who searches the underground for forgotten dreams. During his stay with Dame Eyola, Bastian realizes that he no longer just wants to be loved, but he also wants to be able to love others. She tells him of the Water of Life, which allows those who drink from its pool to learn to love and return to the human realm. In the mines with Yor, Bastian finds his lost dream picture, which will lead him to the Water of Life. However, by this point, Bastian has lost all of his memories, and on his journey to find the Water of Life, his dream-picture crumbles to dust. Without a name or any hope, Bastian is saved by the arrival of Atreyu and Falkor. He lays AURYN at Atreyu’s feet, and the amulet reveals itself as the place where the Water of Life dwells.

At first, the Water of Life denies entry to Bastian, as he can no longer remember his name, but Atreyu answers for him. In the waters, Bastian reverts to his original self, and upon realizing that he is the person he wanted to be, he is filled with joy and love. Atreyu promises to tell the Fantastica stories that Bastian had started but never finished. The Water of Life allows Bastian to return to the human world, where Bastian forges a deeper bond with his father. Together, they work through their shared grief over the loss of Bastian’s mother. Bastian returns to the bookshop to apologize for his theft of the book, but instead he learns that Mr. Coreander also visited Fantastica once upon a time, and the two form a friendship. The story ends with Coreander musing that Bastian “will show many others the way to Fantastica” (377).