A Day of Fallen Night

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.