Lamia In Stardust
In the film Stardust, based on the novel by the same title, Lamia is an evil witch trying to capture an anthropomorphic star named Yvaine, so she can cut out her heart, and eat it. That’s the short version; in the novel, Lamia is never named, but instead, she is simply known as one of the Lilim; three sisters that are royalty among witches, possibly once goddesses of a land that sunk beneath the waves, like that of Atlantis. Lamia is the main antagonist of the book, and the film; her other sisters play smaller roles, and in the book are hardly described at all, also, neither are named. In the film, however, their names are Empusa and Mormo. The background of the fictional Lilim in the book is less than certain; most of their origin is based on Gaiman’s small suggestions throughout the novel.
According to the novel, the Lilim have suspected to have been dead numerous times, for hundreds of years. Also in the novel, though it does not name Lamia particularly, only the “eldest” (which is taken to be the eldest in the film) is suggested to be as old as creation. They are also the highly respected leaders of a sisterhood of witches; though their existence is still suspect, even by their own kind. In the novel, one witch swears an oath to another, using the phrase “by the puissance of the Lilim”, also attesting to the theory of the Lilim being Queens. It’s also said in the book, –because they are never named, that their names were long ago forgotten, and have sunk beneath the waves with Carnadine. Carnadine was the city or region they ruled, and once it sunk, such as did Atlantis, their youth and beauty melted away with the disappearance of their home. In the novel, the eldest of the Lilim adopts the alias “Morwanneg”, as a private joke to herself, as it means “waves of the sea”; in reference to her real name being lost with her home. The point in retrieving and eating the heart, is so that the Lilim can once again be youthful and beautiful in appearance.