Old Man Of Wandering Mountain

Old Man Of Wandering Mountain's History

very little is revealed about the Old Man of Wandering Mountain's origins. The Old Man appears in Michael Ende's fantasy novel The Neverending Story , he is described as an old man who lives alone in an egg-shaped home on top of the Wandering Mountain, which can be found only by chance or fate. The Old Man appears in the story when the Childlike Empress is forced to use drastic measures to make Bastian fulfill his part in the story. As she approaches his mountain, the Old Man tries to dissuade her from entering to the point of insulting her. On her request, the Old Man reads from his chronicle (starting with Bastian entering the bookstore). As he reads, all events happen again and as they happen again, he writes them down again beginning a vicious circle of eternal repetition which drives Bastian into calling out the Empress' new name.

It is told in the book (Atreyu says it) that the Old Man is from the same nature of the Childlike Empress (whatever this nature is, nobody knows and is never explained) because He is the opposite of Her in everything (the Empress herself says). Indeed, he is an unfriendly, grim, ugly, old man who lives lonely, far from everywhere, in an eternal wandering abode that can only be found by chance; while she's a nice, sweet, beautiful, young girl who lives surrounded by a court in a tower located at the very center of Fantastica, that can be found by desire; plus, he writes everything about Fantastica but doesn't care for anything at all, while she cares for all of Fantastica but doesn't write at all.

The Old Man ultimately does not appear in the first film, and his appearance in the third film differs drastically from the novel. He possesses the Great Book which can seemingly write the future on its own accord. He dwells in a hidden crystal cave where he can see outside events using a magic mirror. He is visited by the Childlike Empress and her guard Big Head, who remain with him until the end of the Nasty crisis. In this film, he grovels before the Empress and sees it as an honor that the monarch would visit him.