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The Magic of Stardust & Stormhold

Why Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust' may just be the perfect fantasy

By C.R. HughesPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Many fantasy stories have stolen my heart over the years and for different reasons. Harry Potter is full of amazing places, Percy Jackson and the Olympians turns people's flaws into their strengths, and The Chronicles of Narnia is the perfect form of escapism. But as much as I love Hogwarts, Camp Half Blood, and Narnia there is one magical land that seems to encompass the best of all worlds. And that is the kingdom of Stormhold.

Hidden In Plain Sight

I've always had a thing for fantasy worlds hidden among the normal and mundane. In Stardust, the magical land of Stormhold is located in a seemingly normal and even boring location: on the other side of a brick wall in a small English village called Wall. It's an unassuming location with nothing stopping people from getting to it except their own unwillingness and an elderly guard.

While it's fun to learn about fantasy worlds that exist in far off places, it's always more interesting to imagine magic happening right under our noses. I may not have the technology to travel to a "galaxy far far away" like the one in Star Wars, but I have the ability to cross any number of walls in my city. And that (almost) makes me more likely to stumble upon Stormhold.

Our Wildest Dreams

Some of the greatest stories seem like the results of some intense fever dreams. Some are set in worlds full of witches and wizards. Some revolve around epic adventures, filled with pirates and explorers, and some deal with royal families. But rarely does a book or movie involve all of these elements. But Stardust does.

In Stardust, we meet a number of interesting characters: Our eighteen year old protagonist, Tristan Thorn, who lives in the village of Wall and is on a journey to win the affection of a girl named Victoria; a group of princes who are fighting to become king by killing each other and going on a search for their father's amulet; and three ancient witches who are trying to live forever. They're all connected by a fallen star who seemingly holds the answer to all of their problems. Along the way, we also get to see a group of pirates who navigate the skies rather than the seas and harvest lightning to sell on the black market. There are ghosts, unicorns, and sword fights.

Basically, if you can dream it, Stardust has it.

The Balance Between Choosing and Being Chosen

As much as I love Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the problem with those stories is that I never stood a chance of being in them. After my eleventh birthday came and went with no letter from Hogwarts and I reached adulthood without any special abilities that could possibly be linked to my mythological parentage, my dreams of being whisked away to a magical boarding school or camp were stamped out. In short, I wasn't chosen for those kinds of adventures.

Stardust is different though because experiencing Stormhold is just as much of a choice as it is about being chosen. Although Stormhold has always existed just on the other side of the wall, it is largely unexplored by the English villagers. Dunstan Thorn, Tristan's father, is one of the first people to actually see for himself what exists on the other side. Motivated by his skepticism, he decides to cross the wall and finds himself in the heart of a Stormhold marketplace, faced with strange creatures and an enslaved princess that would change his destiny and his future son's destiny. Dunstan represents the importance of choice. He's just a normal young man who allows his curiosity to guide him. As a result, he gets to experience the magic of Stormhold and creates a better future for himself and his future generations without even realizing it.

Tristan Thorn, on the other hand, is the definition of chosen. Because of his father's choice to cross the wall, he is born to a Stormhold princess and although he tries to reach Stormhold on his own merits, he ultimately gets there as the result of being given a Babylon candle by his mother for his eighteenth birthday, which has the ability to take him anywhere. And his story ends with him finding out that he is, in fact, the heir to the Stormhold throne.

I think the balance between being chosen and choosing to do something big is a major reason why I loved Stardust as a teenager. While the child part of my brain wanted nothing more than to be chosen and told I was special, the part of my brain that was nearing adulthood wanted to believe that even if I wasn't somehow chosen for a magical life like Tristan Thorn, I could find and obtain a magical life for myself, just like Dunstan Thorn.

All of this is just a small part of what keeps the Stardust magic alive. The hope (however slight it may be) that I, too, could one day stumble upon a magical world hidden in plain sight, without having any special abilities or heritage to get me there. Better still, that hope doesn't have an expiration date.

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Thanks for reading!

-Chanté

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About the Creator

C.R. Hughes

I write things sometimes. Tips are always appreciated.

https://crhughes.carrd.co/

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