Why "Moon Child"?

Question

In *The Neverending Story*, the main turning point is when Bastian gives the Childlike Empress her much-needed name, saves Fantastica, and enters into the story himself.This name is "Moon Child", or "Mondenkind" in the original German.**What, if anything is the significance of this name?** Since the whole story revolves around names and particularly Bastian's skill at naming things, and this particular name is of such vital importance to the plot, surely the author put a lot of thought into choosing it. Why "Moon Child"? Does this name have some deeper meaning, or even wordplay in the original German? Does it tie in somehow to the main themes of the story?

Answer 1

I read this story while working as a Public Librarian at Houston Public Library, being responsible for ordering book materials (etc.) from a variety of resources such as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, etc. I actually owned The Dark Crystal recording, so I liked fantasy which could be based upon character traits of real people and real events. I never saw any version of this film (which Ende didn't seem to like once he viewed it in the theatre). Here are the sites that seem relevant to your query: (The 3rd source below actually contains relevant thoughts from a German reader who shares his opinions with us).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_(film)

https://www.dict.cc/english-german/Moonchild+%5BThe+Neverending+Story%5D.html

https://future-zen.blogspot.com/2018/06/what-is-neverending-story-about.html (This site gives an opinion of a reader's feelings about the significance of Mondenkind)..."Yeah .. nice questions. I asked myself, why do i love the Book the Neverending Story by Michael Ende so much? First of all, I am from Germany and Mr. Ende also was. And because I am, by reading this following Text, please do not judge to hard about my english": ..."THE CHILDLIKE EMPRESS AND HERE NEW NAME...So from what i know, in the english Version of The Neverending Story (Movie & Book) Bastian gives the childlike empress a new name. What name does Bastian call out in the Neverending Story in german? Is it the same Name as used in the original Book?

For some times i thought .. yes, it is a good translation, but now.. i don´t know.

Let me explain: Moonchild is the name Bastian came up with and yes, it is nearly the same as in German but.. just nearly. In the original Book, she is then called "Mondenkind" what is maybe better translated to "The Child of the Moon" but, if you would translate this, it would turn out like "Das Kind des Mondes"

Why i think that the original does better is: Michael Ende comes up with a Name, that gives us an Idea where Bastian is getting his connections to himself and his wishes. In sleep, in dreams.

Because MONDENKIND sounds also like someone was born under or from the Moon.

So i think Child of the Moon fits a bit better, cause it is not her in person but all in Bastians mind & heart, born and awake at midnight." I hope this helps...