65 pages • 2 hours read
Samantha ShannonA Day of Fallen Night
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Long-Haired Star and the Dreadmount
One of the central themes of A Day of Fallen Night is the notion that opposing forces must balance. Throughout the novel, there are hints that a major imbalance in nature has occurred, waking the wyrms. The two types of magic, sterren and siden, are connected to this balance. This idea is represented not only in this magic and the dragons and wyrms that battle each other, but also in the bigger images of the Dreadmount and the comet named the Long-Haired Star. The Dreadmount comes to symbolize the evil and destruction of the wyrms. It is their birthplace, and its past is laced with violence: “Proof of its violence scattered the ruins—bones by the thousand, left where the heat had baked them centuries before” (161). The Dreadmount birthed the Nameless One, and in the process, destroyed an entire civilization. The legacy of this destruction prevents any from coming to resettle or take advantage of the usually rich volcanic soil. It is an image of waste, destruction, and violence—a warning to any that doubt the pain of the past.
Conversely, the image of Long-Haired Star represents the opposite. It evokes the power of the dragons and their ability to control water and dreams rather than burn with fire and sow nightmares across various realms. The comet is what brought the dragons to the world, and its beauty is astounding. The coming of the comet brings on the Day of Fallen Night that the dragons have promised. Its power extinguishes the wyrms’ fire and sends them to sleep. It is the opposite of the Dreadmount, amplifying the dragons and weakening the wyrms, banishing them into exile just as the Dreadmount births them into the world. Both images represent the balance in the world, between water and fire, and exhibit the changing of an age. With the coming of the comet, the world fades from an age of fire to an age of water, sending the balance of the world into the claws of the dragons. As such, both images also represent the power of nature, as the deeds of humans did not cause the Dreadmount to erupt, causing the conflict, nor did it bring on the Long-Haired Star, effectively ending it.
The Red Plague
The red plague is a motif in A Day of Fallen Night that exhibits the fragility of humankind and the civilizations they build. The illness is caused by wyrms and begins with a redness in the fingers that can spread all the way to the elbows, making its victims feel as though their blood is on fire. The sickness itself is as big of a crisis as the wyrms that are constantly attacking villages and cities. It spreads primarily by touch and is uncontainable; only those touched by siden can resist it. The first account of the sickness comes with the Issyn’s infection: “The Issyn screamed like she was being sawn in half. […] From fingertip to elbow, her skin was scarlet, as if she had slathered it in paint” (222). A person important enough that Wulf’s entire lith travels to save her is still not safe from its destruction. The disease rages across the world, and it is as hard to contain as the wyrms themselves. The more it spreads and the more chaos it sows, the more communities collapse and the more refugees are created. Perhaps its most crucial impact, however, is turning the threat away from just the wyrms and to people, making neighbors, family, and anyone on the street a potential carrier, eroding trust and faith. This motif represents the dangers of infection and of one crisis creating another.
Eastern Dragons Versus Western Wyrms
The imagery surrounding the eastern dragons and western wyrms in A Day of Fallen Night not only represents two opposing natural forces but also creates two creatures similar in form but wholly different in their makeup. Their origins and physical characteristics further align them with the natural forces of balance and chaos they follow and evoke two very different images relating to nature. For instance, the dragons of the Eastern continent in the novel are described as wingless, and their motions as fluid, almost as if they swim through the air. They rest in water, and their scales are said to look like those of fish. Their appearances evoke natural imagery of the sea, fluidity, and elegance. To many, dragons are the good in the world, although the alchemist Kiprun warns against this view: “[…] it is simplistic, to describe a dragon as good. They are in harmony with nature. Is that the same as goodness?” (479). He recognizes their place in the world but hesitates to ascribe it value. The dragons are a foil to the wyrms, sleek where the other is bulky, peaceful when the other is violent, and aligned with humans while the other seeks to destroy them.
While the imagery of the dragons evokes a more virtuous idea, the wyrms evoke horror. The wyrms that escape the Dreadmount are the leaders of their own armies, which are made through the horrifying process of imbuing livestock, wild animals, and occasionally humans with wyrm-like qualities. These creatures are coated in metal, with sharp teeth, serpentine bodies, and horrifying screams. It is said that the wyrms come from the Womb of Fire, and each of the primary wyrms appears to be made of metal with the fire of the wyrm burning inside them. Fyredel is black while Taugrun is gold, and while dragons might see humans with sympathy, the wyrms see them with anything but: “Red fire burned in its skull, in its nostrils. Each tooth was longer than a sword, the fangs like bear spears. She could not move, not to breathe or blink; its gaze bound her to the spot, as if she were prey that was already dead” (438). This encounter between Glorian and Fyredel exhibits the gigantic divide between wyrms and dragons. The wyrm’s metallic appearance, combined with its natural internal fire, evokes images of a furnace and industry. Therefore, the wyrms represent the pollution brought on by mining and manufacturing, two practices that erode the environment and cause an imbalance. They are the antithesis of the dragons, the destructive force to the dragon’s harmony with nature.
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By Samantha Shannon
