The Moon
“The stolen moon that travels between the mortal and Fae realms”
also known as Ludis
Appearance§
The moon is largely a celestial and symbolic body rather than a figure, but it is consistently feminized, called a woman pale as snow and an eternal lonely wanderer. Its visible form is the waxing and waning moon of the night sky, whose phases run opposite between the mortal and Fae realms. Moon-phase imagery of light and dark recurs on the Mauthen pot around the figure of Haliax, set between a candle of flame and a candle of shadow. Where the moon is figured as a person, as Ludis, she appears as a beautiful, changeable woman who alters her names as she pleases.
Description§
The moon is a central cosmological element of the Chronicle. It travels between the mortal world and the Fae, leaving one sky to appear in the other, so that its phase in one world is the inverse of its phase in the other: a new moon in one is full in the other. This passage governs the link between the two realms, which is open at the full moon, while on moonless nights a traveller risks being pulled into the Fae in the dark moon's wake. In the tale of Jax, also called Iax, the shaper captures part of the moon's name by sealing it in a small black iron box, the emptiest thing, aided by a listener who hears the knot on a tinker's pack; because he takes only part of her name, the moon is left forever torn between the two worlds. Bast confirms that Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before stealing the moon, an act that sparked the Creation War, and Felurian calls the moon-thief the greatest of the shapers, now shut behind doors of stone. The moon is referred to in feminine terms and named Ludis, and in Hespe's tale is personified as a woman who returns to the folding house Jax built when she leaves the mortal sky. Temerant's lunar cycle runs roughly 72.3 days from new moon through full and back, a figure Kvothe gives at his admissions exam.
Relationships§
- Bound By Naming — Jax captured part of the moon's name, leaving it torn between worlds
- Theft Sparked The Creation War — Iax's theft of the moon sparked the Creation War
- Quizzed By Elodin — Elodin asks Kvothe where the moon goes when not in the sky
- Thief Behind The Doors of Stone — the moon-thief is shut behind doors of stone
- Travels To The Fae — travels between the mortal world and the Fae, governing the link between realms
- Linked Via Iax The Cthaeh — Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before stealing the moon
- Stolen By Iax — Jax (Iax) captured part of the moon's name in a black iron box
- Described By Felurian — Felurian calls the moon-thief the greatest of the shapers, shut behind doors of stone
- Likened To Auri — Kvothe calls Auri his little moon-fae and Auri likens herself to the moon
- Told In The Boy Who Stole the Moon — Hespe's tale recounts Jax capturing the moon
Established facts§
- The moon travels between the mortal world and the Fae; when it leaves one sky it appears in the other.
- The moon's phase in one world is the inverse of its phase in the other, so a new moon in one is full in the other.
- The passage between the mortal world and the Fae is governed by the moon, and the link is open at the full moon.
- On moonless nights a traveller risks being caught in the dark moon's wake and pulled into the Fae.
- Elodin asks Kvothe at his admissions interview where the moon goes when it is not in the sky, treating it as a test of deep knowledge.
- Temerant's lunar cycle runs roughly 72.3 days from new moon through full and back.
- In Hespe's tale, Jax (Iax) captures part of the moon's name by trapping it in a small black iron box, the emptiest thing.
- Jax is aided by a listener who hears the knot tied on a tinker's pack.
- Because Jax takes only part of her name, the moon is left forever torn between the mortal world and the Fae.
- When the moon leaves the mortal sky she returns to the folding house Jax built.
- Bast states that Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before he stole the moon, the act that sparked the Creation War.
- Felurian says the one who stole the moon is shut behind doors of stone and calls Iax the greatest of the shapers.
- Felurian places the theft of the moon in an age before humanity and before the Fae itself.
- The moon is consistently referred to in feminine terms and its name is given as Ludis.
- In Hespe's story the moon is personified as a being with a woman's body, both the moon and the sky.
- The Mauthen vase depicts a figure between a candle of flame and a candle of shadow, tied to moon-phase imagery.
- Felurian names a sensual move "circling the moon," and the moon is associated with moon chasers.
- Lodenstone is described as moon rock originating from a place called Loden, which appears on no mortal map.
- Kvothe calls Auri his little moon-fae, and Auri likens herself to the moon.
Theories§
- fringe Denna Is the Moon, or a Living Manifestation Bound to It pop 469
- fringe The University Was Built on Jax's Broken House, with the Moon's Name Behind the Four-Plate Door pop 381
- plausible The Lackless Box Holds the Moon's Stolen Name, Kept Dreaming pop 297
- fringe Bredon Slips Between Worlds on Moonless Nights via Fae Doors pop 186
- fringe Auri Is the Moon, Not Princess Ariel or Lyra pop 185
- fringe The Moon's Synodic Period Encodes the Fae-to-Mortal Time Ratio pop 182
- fringe Felurian's Moonlight and Abenthy's Stone Mirror Wave-Particle Duality pop 121
- fringe Lyra Is the Moon, and Temerant's Myths Are Distorted Retellings of Her Story pop 112
- fringe One Day in Temerant Equals One Year in the Fae, Tracked by Lunar Cycles pop 76
- fringe Stealing the Moon Symbolises Men's Role in Childbirth and Human Creation pop 73
- fringe The Waystone Is the Door That Holds the Flood and Kvothe Will Strike Down the Moon pop 64
- fringe The Lackless Box Opens When Kvothe Bleeds On It, Releasing the Moon pop 56
- fringe The 'Weight' of Desire Is Gravity Manipulation Across Dimensions pop 52
- fringe Lanre's Immortality: His Name Is Sympathetically Bound to the Moon pop 52
- fringe Moon Phases Form Mirror-Image Pairs, With Haliax and a Luminous Woman as the Extremes pop 51
- fringe The 'Seven and One' Pattern Maps Onto the Lunar Phases and Recurs Across the Lore pop 51
Appears in theories§
- plausible The Waystone's Silence Is Active Concealment Magic Consuming Kvothe pop 1226
- plausible The Lackless Box Is Carved from the Cthaeh's Tree pop 629
- plausible The Lackless Box Holds Jax's Flute That Trapped the Moon pop 502
- plausible Kvothe Lost His Power by Changing His Name to Kote pop 406
- plausible Yllish Knots Record Sound, Making Them a Way to Write Deep Names pop 340
- fringe Kvothe Will Re-Ignite the Creation War by Opening the Lackless Door pop 285
- plausible The Possessed Waystone Mercenary Passed Through the Fae Before Returning pop 209
- plausible Auri Made a Name for Kvothe, Turning Him Into Kote pop 198
- fringe The Chandrian Function Like an Eight-Spring Arrowcatch Around the Moon pop 190
- plausible Lady Lackless' 'Black Dress' Is a Phonetic Cipher for the Blac of Drossen Tor pop 182
- plausible The Wind Saved Me: Kvothe Unknowingly Calling the Name of the Wind pop 175
- fringe The Lockless Box, Four-Plate Door and Thrice-Locked Chest Each Hold a Name pop 172
- plausible The Three Things Wise Men Fear Are Literally Enacted Across The Wise Man's Fear pop 167
- fringe The Lackless Rhymes Are Riddles Encoding Seven Symbolic Dichotomies pop 165
- fringe Cinder Used the Eld Bandit Raids to Lure Kvothe Into Freeing the Cthaeh pop 161
Top contributors§
People on r/KingkillerChronicle who built the theories above.
- u/ConfidentGenesis — 1 theory · 110 pts · extended
- u/Lawlcopt0r — 1 theory · 101 pts · corroborated
- u/Ok-Carpenter8823 — 1 theory · 77 pts · corroborated
- u/MFingRocketScience — 1 theory · 68 pts · corroborated
- u/kingkillerpodcast — 1 theory · 63 pts · countered
- u/b1tchf1t — 1 theory · 61 pts · countered
- u/chainsawx72 — 3 theories · 57 pts · clarified/corroborated
- u/TheLastSock — 3 theories · 53 pts · extended
- u/captainbogdog — 1 theory · 52 pts · countered
- u/vercertorix — 1 theory · 43 pts · countered
- u/bluesy22 — 1 theory · 34 pts · extended
- u/TerraInc0gnita — 1 theory · 33 pts · extended