The Girl Who Drank the Moon

by

Kelly Barnhill

Luna Character Analysis

One of the novel’s protagonists and the titular “girl who drank the moon.” As an infant, Luna lives in the Protectorate, a corrupt city where the youngest baby is offered as an annual sacrifice to the Witch who is rumored to live in the surrounding forest. She and is the daughter of Adara, a woman who tries to fight against this sacrificial practice and is thus deemed a “madwoman.” Even as a baby, Luna has a judgmental and knowing stare, which annoys Gherland, the leader of the Council of Elders, and pulls at the heartstrings of Xan, the kind witch who rescues Luna and the other “Star Children” who are abandoned by the Protectorate. Though Xan doesn’t know the true reason why babies like Luna are abandoned, she believes it’s her responsibility to place them with adoptive families in the Free Cities. However, Xan accidentally enmagicks Luna by feeding her moonlight, thereby turning Luna into a future witch, so Xan must raise Luna herself with the help of Glerk, a swamp monster, and Fyrian, a dragon. As a small child whose magic hasn’t yet “erupted,” Luna is mischievous, curious, and extremely smart. She has a mechanical mind and can craft all manner of useful objects. Her magic erupts when she’s five years old. It’s a disaster: Luna has no idea what she’s doing, and she’s too energetic to teach. Because of this, Xan places a spell on Luna that’s designed to encase her magic in a tiny grain, which in theory makes Luna a teachable student of magic until her magic erupts again at age 13. In reality, Luna cannot hear the word “magic” or see anything to do with magic as a result. Because of this, Luna’s childhood is plagued with headaches and odd dizzy spells. As she approaches her 13th birthday, she understands that there’s something about herself that she doesn’t understand, but she’s unable to figure out what it is until days before her birthday. Eventually, Luna discovers the truth about her magic powers and reunites with Adara after remembering that she is her mother. She protects the city from being destroyed by a volcanic eruption using her magic, and cracks open the heart of Sister Ignatia, the evil witch who rules the Protectorate, killing her. After this, Luna claims leadership over the Protectorate and goes on to teach other Star Children the truth about their biological parents.

Luna Quotes in The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The The Girl Who Drank the Moon quotes below are all either spoken by Luna or refer to Luna. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Love Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

They left knowing that there surely wasn’t a witch. There never had been a witch. There were only a dangerous forest and a single road and a thin grip on a life that the Elders had enjoyed for generations. The Witch—that is, the belief in her—made for a frightened people, a subdued people, a compliant people, who lived their lives in a saddened haze, the clouds of their grief numbing their senses and dampening their minds. It was terribly convenient for the Elders’ unencumbered rule.

Related Characters: Luna, Antain, Grand Elder Gherland
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 2. In Which an Unfortunate Woman Goes Quite Mad12
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Luna,” she said. “Your name will be Luna. And I will be your grandmother. And we will be a family.”

And just by saying so, Xan knew it was true. The words hummed in the air between them, stronger than any magic.

Related Characters: Xan (speaker), Luna
Page Number: Chapter 3. In Which a Witch Accidentally Enmagics an Infant27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Xan visited the Free Cities twice a year, once with Luna and once without. She did not explain to the child the purpose for her solo visit—nor did she tell her about the sad town on the other side of the forest, or of the babies left in that small clearing, presumably to die. She’d have to tell the girl eventually, of course. One day, Xan told herself. Not now. It was too sad. And Luna was too little to understand.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 7. In Which a Magical Child is More Trouble By Half52
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I remember. All at once.” He shook his head. “Why had I forgotten?”

Xan pushed her wrinkled lips to one side. “Sorrow is dangerous. Or, at least, it was. I can’t remember why, now. I think we both became accustomed to not remembering things. We just let things get...foggy.”

Related Characters: Xan (speaker), Glerk (speaker), Luna, Zosimos
Page Number: Chapter 9. In Which Several Things Go Wrong68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

The child was never magic, Xan started telling herself. And indeed, the more Xan told herself that it might be true, the more she was able to convince herself that it was true. And if Luna ever was magic, all that power was now neatly stoppered up and wouldn’t be a problem.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 14. In Which There Are Consequences109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The madwoman in the Tower could not remember her own name.

She could remember no one’s name.

What was a name, anyway? You can’t hold it. You can’t smell it. You can’t rock it to sleep. You can’t whisper your love to it over and over and over again. There was once a name that she treasured above all others. But it had flown away, like a bird. And she could not coax it back.

Related Characters: Luna, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 16. In Which There Is Ever So Much Paper127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

Fyrian seemed younger and younger every day. Sometimes, it seemed to Luna that he was going backward in time while she stood still, but other times it seemed that the opposite was true: it was Fyrian who was standing still while Luna raced forward. She wondered why this was.

Dragons! Glerk would explain.

Dragons! Xan would agree. They both shrugged. Dragons, it was decided. What can one do?

Which never actually answered anything.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Glerk, Fyrian
Page Number: Chapter 17. In Which There Is a Crack in the Nut136-37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Luna didn’t have very many memories that were as tenacious as this one—her memory, typically, was a slippery thing, and difficult to pin down—and so she hung on to it. This image meant something. She was sure of it.

Her grandmother, now that she thought about it, never spoke of memories. Not ever.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Antain, The Madwoman/Adara, Grand Elder Gherland
Page Number: Chapter 19. In Which There Is a Journey to the Town of Agony161
Explanation and Analysis:

And the things that they did not speak of began to outweigh the things that they did. Each secret, each unspoken thing was round and hard and heavy and cold, like a stone hung around the necks of both grandmother and girl.

Their backs bent under the weight of secrets.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 19. In Which There Is a Journey to the Town of Agony164
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 45 Quotes

How many feelings can one heart hold? She looked at her grandmother. At her mother. At the man protecting his family. Infinite, Luna thought. The way the universe is infinite. It is light and dark and endless motion; it is space and time, and space within space, and time within time. And she knew: there is no limit to what the heart can carry.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Antain, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 45. In Which a Simply Enormous Dragon Makes a Simply Enormous Decision364
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 46 Quotes

“I was taken from my mother,” Luna explained. “Like you, I was brought to a family who loved me and whom I love. I cannot stop loving that family, and I don’t want to. I can only allow my love to increase.” She smiled. “I love the grandmother who raised me. I love the mother I lost. My love is boundless. My heart is infinite. And my joy expands and expands. You’ll see.”

Related Characters: Luna (speaker), Xan, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 46. In Which Several Families Are Reunited377
Explanation and Analysis:
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Luna Quotes in The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The The Girl Who Drank the Moon quotes below are all either spoken by Luna or refer to Luna. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Love Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

They left knowing that there surely wasn’t a witch. There never had been a witch. There were only a dangerous forest and a single road and a thin grip on a life that the Elders had enjoyed for generations. The Witch—that is, the belief in her—made for a frightened people, a subdued people, a compliant people, who lived their lives in a saddened haze, the clouds of their grief numbing their senses and dampening their minds. It was terribly convenient for the Elders’ unencumbered rule.

Related Characters: Luna, Antain, Grand Elder Gherland
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 2. In Which an Unfortunate Woman Goes Quite Mad12
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Luna,” she said. “Your name will be Luna. And I will be your grandmother. And we will be a family.”

And just by saying so, Xan knew it was true. The words hummed in the air between them, stronger than any magic.

Related Characters: Xan (speaker), Luna
Page Number: Chapter 3. In Which a Witch Accidentally Enmagics an Infant27
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Xan visited the Free Cities twice a year, once with Luna and once without. She did not explain to the child the purpose for her solo visit—nor did she tell her about the sad town on the other side of the forest, or of the babies left in that small clearing, presumably to die. She’d have to tell the girl eventually, of course. One day, Xan told herself. Not now. It was too sad. And Luna was too little to understand.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 7. In Which a Magical Child is More Trouble By Half52
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I remember. All at once.” He shook his head. “Why had I forgotten?”

Xan pushed her wrinkled lips to one side. “Sorrow is dangerous. Or, at least, it was. I can’t remember why, now. I think we both became accustomed to not remembering things. We just let things get...foggy.”

Related Characters: Xan (speaker), Glerk (speaker), Luna, Zosimos
Page Number: Chapter 9. In Which Several Things Go Wrong68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

The child was never magic, Xan started telling herself. And indeed, the more Xan told herself that it might be true, the more she was able to convince herself that it was true. And if Luna ever was magic, all that power was now neatly stoppered up and wouldn’t be a problem.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 14. In Which There Are Consequences109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

The madwoman in the Tower could not remember her own name.

She could remember no one’s name.

What was a name, anyway? You can’t hold it. You can’t smell it. You can’t rock it to sleep. You can’t whisper your love to it over and over and over again. There was once a name that she treasured above all others. But it had flown away, like a bird. And she could not coax it back.

Related Characters: Luna, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 16. In Which There Is Ever So Much Paper127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

Fyrian seemed younger and younger every day. Sometimes, it seemed to Luna that he was going backward in time while she stood still, but other times it seemed that the opposite was true: it was Fyrian who was standing still while Luna raced forward. She wondered why this was.

Dragons! Glerk would explain.

Dragons! Xan would agree. They both shrugged. Dragons, it was decided. What can one do?

Which never actually answered anything.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Glerk, Fyrian
Page Number: Chapter 17. In Which There Is a Crack in the Nut136-37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Luna didn’t have very many memories that were as tenacious as this one—her memory, typically, was a slippery thing, and difficult to pin down—and so she hung on to it. This image meant something. She was sure of it.

Her grandmother, now that she thought about it, never spoke of memories. Not ever.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Antain, The Madwoman/Adara, Grand Elder Gherland
Page Number: Chapter 19. In Which There Is a Journey to the Town of Agony161
Explanation and Analysis:

And the things that they did not speak of began to outweigh the things that they did. Each secret, each unspoken thing was round and hard and heavy and cold, like a stone hung around the necks of both grandmother and girl.

Their backs bent under the weight of secrets.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan
Page Number: Chapter 19. In Which There Is a Journey to the Town of Agony164
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 45 Quotes

How many feelings can one heart hold? She looked at her grandmother. At her mother. At the man protecting his family. Infinite, Luna thought. The way the universe is infinite. It is light and dark and endless motion; it is space and time, and space within space, and time within time. And she knew: there is no limit to what the heart can carry.

Related Characters: Luna, Xan, Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Antain, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 45. In Which a Simply Enormous Dragon Makes a Simply Enormous Decision364
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 46 Quotes

“I was taken from my mother,” Luna explained. “Like you, I was brought to a family who loved me and whom I love. I cannot stop loving that family, and I don’t want to. I can only allow my love to increase.” She smiled. “I love the grandmother who raised me. I love the mother I lost. My love is boundless. My heart is infinite. And my joy expands and expands. You’ll see.”

Related Characters: Luna (speaker), Xan, The Madwoman/Adara
Page Number: Chapter 46. In Which Several Families Are Reunited377
Explanation and Analysis: