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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Stardust, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Youth, Aging, and Maturity
Love and Ownership
Home and Belonging
Rules
The Value of Literature
Summary
Analysis
Many years ago, the first lord of Stormhold carved the Stormhold out of Mount Huon’s peak, high in the sky. The eighty-first Lord of Stormhold is dying, and he summons his seven sons to his chamber. Four are dead, Secundus, Quintus, Quartus, and Sextus. Primus, Tertius, and Septimus are still alive. The living and dead brothers stand on opposite sides of the bed, the living ignoring their dead brothers—either because they can’t see them or because the living brothers killed the dead ones and are ashamed. He’d never say so, but the Lord of Stormhold had hoped only one living son would be here, ready to become the 82nd Lord of Stormhold. But “the youth of today [are] a pasty lot, with none of the vim and vigor” he once had.
As the narrative moves into Faerie proper, readers learn more about what kind of land Faerie is and how life works there. Presumably, the rules guiding succession in Stormhold dictate that power goes to the last surviving brother. So, rather than see it as a good thing that he still has three living children, the eighty-first Lord of Stormhold essentially laments that kids these days aren’t as ruthless as they were back in his day. The truth of this remains to be seen—indeed, Primus, Tertius, and Septimus may well be alive because they’re more cunning than their father when it comes to staying alive, not necessarily because they’re less bloodthirsty.
Themes
With prodding, the Lord of Stormhold tells his sons to take his body to the Hall of Ancestors when he dies. He then asks Primus, Tertius, and Septimus in turn to go to the window and tell him what they see. Primus and Tertius see nothing, but Septimus sees a star. The three brothers help their father to the window, and the old man pulls off his topaz pendant on its silver chain. This pendant is the Power of Stormhold—and the Lord of Stormhold hurls it out the window. Whoever retrieves it, he says, will be the next lord. Tertius sees a star fall to the southwest, and just then, the Lord of Stormhold dies. Primus is annoyed by this impossible task. The dead brothers and the ghost of the Lord of Stormhold cluster around the cunning Septimus, Sextus remembering how Septimus pushed him off a cliff.
The Power of Stormhold mimics the chain binding the young woman in slavery from the previous chapter, though in this case, it gives the wearer power—and presumably, can be taken off, at least in some circumstances. The living brothers’ response to their father’s death is humorously glib, suggesting that perhaps their father had the right idea, and these young people aren’t cut out to rule Stormhold. Still, readers are let on to the idea that Septimus isn’t to be trusted: unlike his brothers, perhaps, he’s ruthless.
Themes
The narrator notes that Faerie is bigger than the whole world. Lands have regularly “been forced off the map” and into Faerie, so its landscapes are varied and it boasts fantastical creatures as well as cats and dogs. In the middle of a large wood, there’s a small “foreboding” cottage. There are three beds, an empty cage, and everything is dusty except for a large mirror. Three old women live in the house, and three young, gorgeous women live in a grand hall, complete with a mermaid fountain, in the mirror. These women are the Lilim, “the witch-queen,” and the women in the mirror are also the Lilim. Only the Lilim know what exactly the young women’s relationship are to the old women.
Stardust gives more context to how Faerie works—and it suggests that the fantastical land has its own rules and logic, which the reader doesn’t need to know and can’t know regardless. The only people who know how the Lilim and their doubles work, for instance, are the Lilim themselves. Still, the tone in this passage suggests that the Lilim are the novel’s antagonists, given the description of the “foreboding” cottage. The mermaid fountain is, perhaps, a nod to John Donne’s “Song,” which mentions mermaids.
Themes
One of the Lilim enters the cottage with a dead stoat. She skins it, and when one of the women asks, “Entrails?”, she spills its guts onto a cutting board. She shrieks for the others to come look, and the three naked Lilim in the mirror come close to see. They say, “About time,” close their eyes, and snatch at the organs. The Lilim who grabs the heart will “find it.” The Lilim bring out a box tied with three strings, and they each untie a string. They observe that there isn’t much left, but the oldest—the one who will go find “it”—notes that, luckily, she’ll go get more. She eats something that’s gold, glimmering, and tries to evade her. A woman disappears from the mirror, and the oldest Lilim becomes young and beautiful.
The Lilim are practicing a (fictionalized) form of haruspicy, which uses various animals’ entrails to divine the future. At this point, what the Lilim are after specifically is purposefully ambiguous—but they seem to want to regain youthfulness. Whatever the Lilim eats, it makes her young again, and this is framed as a state that’s far more desirable than being old. Additionally, the Lilim is after “more” of the gold, glimmering thing, so that her sisters can also be young again.
Themes
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The now-young Lilim (later revealed to be Morwanneg) changes her clothes, the other two staring “hungrily” at her youthful body. She, in turn, looks disdainfully at their hairy chins and says that when she gets back with the heart, they can all be young. She puts on a snake bracelet, and the Lilim say that she’s going in search of a fallen star, the first in 200 years.
This passage makes it extremely clear that the Lilim prize youth and actually find old age repulsive—even as they themselves are old. It also reveals that Morwanneg will be chasing a fallen star and that this is what will give her and her sisters youth. Still, note that even finding a fallen star doesn’t give them eternal youth—after all, the Lilim are old again now after finding the last star centuries ago. Youth, perhaps, isn’t a constant state, and age is inevitable.
Themes
In a glade, animals go about their business. A mouse—who is actually an enchanted prince—bites into a hazelnut, as finding the Nut of Wisdom will restore him to his human form. But an owl swoops down and eats the mouse first, causing the mouse to drop the nut. The owl, who is also under a curse that will lift if she eats the mouse who’s eaten the Nut of Wisdom, sees bright light fill the glade, and she flies away. The light grows brighter and bigger, a loud crack rings out, and the light disappears except for a glow in a hazel thicket. A female voice in the thicket curses.
This passage continues to set the scene and convey information to readers that will be important going forward. Most importantly, it makes it clear that lots of beings are cursed or otherwise enchanted, and that their actions are guided primarily by their desire to fulfill the terms of their curses. The mysterious light is, perhaps, the star—and in this world, she has a female voice, if she isn’t fully human.
Themes
