Stardust: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

The star looks significantly more human in the morning. Tristran fashions her a crutch, explaining to her that he expected a rock, not a girl. But he has to take her back because Victoria promised him anything he wanted, and he’s driven by love to continue with his quest. The star remains derisive, refusing to get up when Tristran asks her to. Finally, she gets up, but she can’t stand on her broken leg. Tristran makes her a splint and, soon after, they leave the glade slowly. Tristran feels extremely guilty, but he tells himself it’s all for Victoria and tries to make conversation. He asks why she fell, and she imperiously shows him the thing that hit her. It’s a yellow stone on a chain, and now she has to carry it with her. She can’t, or won’t, say why.

The star refuses Tristran’s offer of food, and then they continue through the woods. The path is rough, and finally, the star asks if there’s a road they could use instead. Immediately, Tristran knows there’s a road and a clearing nearby. They head for the clearing. In the middle is a gemstone-studded crown, and Tristran and the star hear drums. Screaming, a unicorn and a lion crash into the clearing, clearly engaged in a fight. The unicorn is terrified, and the star tells Tristran to stop the animals so they don’t kill each other. As the lion leaps onto the unicorn, Tristran thinks he obviously can’t do anything. But he finds himself in the middle of the clearing, thinking of the nursery rhyme “The Lion and the Unicorn.” In it, the lion “beat[s]” the unicorn three times, “His power to maintain.”

Tristran picks up the crown and approaches the animals. Gently, he tells the lion to let the unicorn go, placing the crown on the lion’s head. Purring proudly, the lion disappears, while the star approaches and comforts the injured unicorn. Tristran and the star wait with the unicorn all night, Tristran playing with the silver chain that binds the star to him until he falls asleep.

Meanwhile, Morwanneg whips her goats as they draw her chariot down the path. She’s headed for another witch’s caravan, as she saw the cooking fire earlier. When she arrives, the old woman is roasting a hare, a colorful bird chained to a perch nearby. The old woman asks Morwanneg to swear that she means her no harm, which Morwanneg does. They exchange pleasantries about the goats and about the bird, who, the old woman explains, stays a bird because she gave something valuable away years ago and caused a lot of trouble. The woman then introduces herself as Madame Semele—though Morwanneg knows that when Semele was young, she was called “Ditchwater Sal.” Morwanneg introduces herself in turn.

Madame Semele fetches beautiful bowls, knives, and a pot of herbs. She then divides the hare, giving Morwanneg the front half, and explains that the pot of herbs will replace salt. As they eat, Morwanneg asks about the herb blend—and Madame Semele reveals that one of the herbs in it is limbus grass, which causes a person to tell the truth when they ingest it. When Madame Semele asks, Morwanneg reveals that she’s after a fallen star and plans to cut the star’s heart out “while her heart is still her own,” as this is a cure for aging. Madame Semele cackles—now she can go find the star herself and regain her youth. But Morwanneg casts a spell on Madame Semele, making it so she won’t be able to see or perceive the star should she find it.

Madame Semele is terrified, especially when Morwanneg reveals that she’s one of the Lilim—all the rumors that they’re dead are false. Morwanneg stands, puts her bowl in the fire, and says that Madame Semele will forget this encounter and the curse as soon as Morwanneg is gone—though it will irritate her to no end. The bowl bursts into fire, Morwanneg disappears, and Madame Semele exclaims that she was clumsy to let her bowl fall in the fire. She tells the concerned-looking bird that she must just be getting old.

Primus arrives in the port town of Scaithe’s Ebb. He insists on only consuming his own food and beverage, which he keeps in a locked chest. He bribes poor children to alert him when they see newcomers arriving—particularly a tall man with “blank eyes.” The dead brothers remark on how cautious Primus is being. Before long, everyone in town knows that Primus will be sailing out on the Heart of a Dream soon. Then, one day, a boy alerts Primus that a man has arrived in town matching Primus’s description. Word spreads that Primus will leave in three days. He sells his coach and horses and gives the order that nobody should disturb him on the ship until it’s been out of port a week. The newcomer gets a job on the ship and sails out—and Primus, still on land, buys back his coach and horses.

Back in the forest, the unicorn has been following Tristran and the star as they struggle on. Finally, though it feels “sacrilegious” to ride a unicorn, he asks the star and the unicorn if the unicorn would let her ride. It kneels down, and Tristran helps her up. Tristran then hurries to keep up with the unicorn until the star suggests he see if the unicorn will let him ride, too. It doesn’t get down to help him, so Tristran uses a fallen tree to mount. They head for a nearby village, where Tristran can find food. The unicorn slowly increases speed. Riding it is a thrilling experience. Finally, they reach a meadow by the village, and Tristran dismounts. He begs to know if the star is hungry. Crying, she says that stars eat darkness and drink light, so she isn’t hungry—but she is scared and miserable.

Tristran tells the star to stay with the unicorn while he goes to the village. But he can’t get the chain to release him until he says “please.” Handing her his end of the chain, he says he trusts her not to run away. In the village, a woman feeds him soup and sends him on his way with fruit and hay for the unicorn. But when he returns to the meadow, the star and the unicorn are gone. By now, the star and the unicorn are racing away to the southwest. Tristran knows he should’ve tied her up or made her come with him, but he also knows he would’ve freed her eventually—and she likely would’ve run away then. Wondering if he’ll see the star again, Tristran lies down and sleeps.

Meanwhile, Morwanneg stops her goats on the southern slope of Mount Belly. She can tell that the star is headed her direction. Primus, camping along the road, shivers by his campfire and eats his breakfast of roast hedgehog and cheese. Then, he casts his runes, looking for insight as to the Power of Stormhold’s whereabouts. He casts them three times, and then he remarks that it’s moving fast. Finally, the star clings to the unicorn as it races through the woods. The unicorn glows, while the star glitters. Faraway observers would think they were seeing a tiny star moving through the trees.