The Swamps of Sadness
| “ | Atreyu and Artax had searched the Silver Mountains, the Desert of Shattered Hopes, and the Crystal Towers without success. And so, there was only one chance left. To find Morla, the ancient one, the wisest being in Fantasia whos home was the Shell Mountain somewhere in the deadly Swamps of Sadness. Everyone knew that whoever let the sadness overtake him would sink into the swamp. | „ |
| ~ Bastian about Swamp of Sadness. |
The Swamp of Sadness is a deadly swamp that symbolically represents pure depression, and is an early location in Fantasia in The Neverending Story.
Overview[]
The Swamp of Sadness is where the giant turtle Morla, the Ancient One, lives, and where she informs Atreyu of the remaining distance for his journey to reach the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles away. On the first glance, it appears as a barren swampland with quicksand-like mud pools. However, legends say that whoever lets despair overtake them will sink into the swamp.
Artax, Atreyu's horse, was the swamp's most unfortunate victim. Grieving, and barely able to go on, Atreyu is sinking into the swamp when Falkor the Luckdragon swoops in and rescues him, just as Gmork, the Nothing's evil wolf-like servant, is almost upon him.
The Nothing devours all of Fantasia, save for a single grain of sand and the Childlike Empress. Bastian uses his imagination to restore Fantasia to its former glory, and Atreyu is seen riding Artax across his homeland in the Grassy Plains. The Swamp of Sadness was not seen again in the new Fantasia.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is also referred to as the "Swamps of Sadness" (as mentioned by Bastian and Gmork).