Lilim (Stardust)

The Lilim are three fictional, malevolent witches who appear in Neil Gaiman's novella, " Stardust", the eldest of them serving as the primary antagonist of the book. Throughout the novel, they seek a fallen star named Yvaine, because devouring her heart will grant them centuries of youth and beauty. Despite the fact that stars of Faerie are conscious, sentient beings, the Lilim have no qualms about cutting Yvaine's heart out while she is still alive, a testament to their vicious and evil nature.

Biography

Background

The exact age of the Lilim is uncertain, although it has been suggested that the eldest of them may be as old as the world itself (see Eldest). They have been falsely rumoured to have been dead many times throughout history, and one such rumour is widely believed at the time of the novel. They are apparently the leaders of a Sisterhood of witches, in that the oldest of them swears an oath to a fellow witch "by the puissance of the Lilim". This also suggests that they are widely revered among witches, despite the fact that they are thought to be long-dead. They are never named individually, their names having been lost and forgotten. However, upon an encounter with a lesser sorceress, the eldest witch-queen adopts the alias "Morwanneg". This is a sort of personal joke, as "Morwanneg" means "waves of the sea", and her true name was lost centuries ago after Carnadine sunk beneath the waves, in a fate similar to Atlantis.

The Lilim were once the beautiful queens of a magical kingdom called Carnadine. When their kingdom was lost, an enormous amount of age caught up with them. Long, long before the events of the novel, they found a fallen star, whose heart they cut out and ate to restore their youth and beauty. This youth lasted for several centuries or perhaps even millennia, but by the time of the novel, it has long since deserted them; with only a very small amount of the heart remaining, they have become withered old hags, and have retreated to a peasant cottage in the centre of a deep wood. Their age having apparently both dulled their desire to keep up appearances and made them too weak to use their true power, they are living in wretched filth, and are reduced to using petty sorceries such as divination by entrails. Within the cottage is a large mirror which seems to show the Lilim the way they long to be: as beautiful, young women residing in a magnificent hall.

Role in the Novel

Early in the story, the Lilim kill a stoat and use its entrails to divine knowledge of a fallen star. The three draw lots from the stoat's innards to decide which of them retrieve the star, and the eldest wins, having drawn his heart. She rejuvenates herself by consuming what remains of the heart of the last star they killed, and sets out. She later encounters Madame Semele (or Ditchwater Sal), another witch, and, after swearing a binding oath to do her no harm, shares her meal. The lesser witch tricks her into flavouring the food with a herb which causes anyone who eats it to speak the truth, forcing the queen to tell her about the fallen star. In revenge, she places a curse upon Semele, rendering the star invisible to her. Upon arriving at the southern pass of Mount Belly, the witch-queen transforms transforms the chariot into an inn, and decides to pose as the wife of the 'innkeeper' (actually a goat whom she changed into a human man). When Yvaine (the fallen star) arrives, the witch provides her with a warm bath, hoping to cause her heart to shine with joy so as to maximise its rejuvenating effects. Before the witch can kill her, however, Tristran Thorn (the story's protagonist) and Lord Primus of Stormhold arrive, seeking accommodation. When Tistran discovers the witch's malevolent intentions, she kills Primus, but then finds herself pitted against the unicorn which has been sent to protect Yvaine. The witch is badly wounded during the ensuing battle, but manages to stab the unicorn to death. She attempts to kill Tristran and Yvaine, but they escape using a magical candle.

Having stolen Primus's carriage, the witch contacts her sisters, and decides to go to Diggory's Dyke so as to intercept the star as she makes her way to Wall. There Lord Septimus attacks her in revenge for Primus' murder, but she defends herself by magically animating her snake-bracelet, which bites Septimus, fatally poisoning him. She later encounters Madame Semele as she makes her way to Wall, and uses magic to force her to reveal what passengers she carries. Semele's ignorance of Yvaine's existence, due to the curse, prevents her from informing the witch-queen of the fact that the star is sleeping within the caravan at that moment, so the queen fails to catch Yvaine.

Throughout the course of the story, the witch's use of magic cancels out the renewing effects of the star, causing to her age with each spell she casts. Therefore, by the end of the novel she is even older than she was at the start. Rather than succeed in her quest, the ancient and shrunken witch-queen simply grows too old and tired to continue with her pursuit of the fallen star, and decides to return home, yet not without confronting Yvaine first. She demands to know why she can no longer locate the star's precious heart in any of her magic, and Yvaine, no longer fearful of the once-mighty witch, replies that she has fallen in love with Tristran and has given her heart to him completely. The witch-queen retorts that Yvaine would have done better to give it to the Lilim, as they would have put it to better use than Tristran ever would. They would have been young again, for several more centuries, but in the sorceress's opinion, Tristran would only break the star's heart, waste it or lose it, as the witch-queen believes that is what all men do eventually. There is a slight hint here that the witch is speaking from personal experience. Accepting that she will never be young or beautiful again, the witch sets off back to her squalid home, fearful of the cruelty her sisters will inflict on her for failing.

Individual Description

Eldest

As an old woman, the oldest of the Lilim is described as being "the smallest... most tangle-haired of them", with eyes whose colour have faded to grey. In her young form, she is described as being "a tall, handsome woman with black hair and dark eyes and red, red lips." She appears to have an affinity with the colour red, as, following her rejuvenation, she dons a scarlet kirtle, a crimson headpiece and a scarlet bracelet in the shape of a snake. It is implied that she may be as old as the world itself, in that, following the failure of her first attempt to magically transform her chariot, she complains that she is getting old, and bemoans the fact that "in the dawn of the world, (she) could transform mountains into seas and clouds into palaces. (She) could populate cities with the pebbles on the shingle". During her battle with the unicorn at the inn, the witch is impaled through the shoulder, and from then on, bears a hideous scar as a result. By the end of the story, the witch queen has wasted all her youth, and is older and more crippled than she ever was before: she is blind in one eye, stooped with age, and her hair is a white as snow.

Middle Sister

The second oldest of the Lilim is barely described at all. Almost no information is given about her appearance as an old woman, although we are told that her young form, like that of her sisters, is "slim and dark and amused." It is this witch who uses a stoat's entrails to divine the existence of the fallen star, and informs her sisters. It is also the second of the sisters who caught the last fallen star and cut her heart from her chest. In the film she is called Mormo.

Youngest Sister

Not much description is given of the youngest of the Lilim, although Gaiman mentions her having "been old when the wood they lived in was still beneath the sea", suggesting immense age. Her young form is described as having dark eyes and high, small breasts. In the film she is called Empusa.

In the Movie

Lamia

In the movie, the Eldest of the Lilim is called Lamia, and is a blond witch who tends to dress in green, as opposed to her black haired, red-clad counterpart in the novel. She meets her end when Yvaine, secure in the knowledge that Tristan truly loves her, emits a burst of starlight so brilliant that the witch is vapourised.

Mormo

Mormo in the film is an obese witch with red hair, and who possesses superhuman strength. She is a sadistic old hag, who delights in torturing the caged animals the witches use for their sacrifices. When confronting Tristan, Mormo is savagely torn apart by the caged wolves and ferrets Tristan lets loose from their cages.

Empusa

In the film, Empusa is a scrawny, shrewish witch who speaks with an incessant snarl and a shrill voice. Near the end of the film, Empusa takes charge of Una who has been abducted by Lamia and sets about tormenting her. During a final confrontation at the Lilim's palace, Empusa deals with Septimus and sends tongues of fire soaring across the room and enchants his sword so that it is too hot for him to hold. Whilst gloating to her sisters, Septimus hurls a carving knife across the room which sends her flying through her magic mirror and against the wall, thus killing her.

ee also

* Ayesha
* Lamia
* Empusa
* Mormo
* Lamia (Stardust)
* Tristran Thorn
* Yvaine