List of The Neverending Story Characters - The Southern Oracle

The Southern Oracle

The Southern Oracle, also named Uyulala (Uyulála in German), is a mysterious and all-knowing oracle guarded by three magical gates. Many creatures in Fantasia try to visit the oracle for wisdom, but few succeed in getting through all three gates and as such it is a great mystery who or what Uyulala is. She is in fact an incorporeal entity; depicted as a disembodied, continuous female voice who speaks in - and can only understand - rhymed speech and otherwise sings ceaselessly to maintain her existence.

The ancient, giant turtle Morla tells Atreyu that Uyulala is the only one who knows who can give the Childlike Empress a new name and prevent her from dying. But the Southern Oracle is so far away that on foot Atreyu would be an old man by the time he reached it. It is only with the help of Ygramul's poison that Atreyu is able to transport himself near the oracle instantly. There he learns from the gnome Engywook, a scholar who wishes to uncover the secrets of the Southern Oracle, that in order to speak with Uyulala he must pass through the three gates:

• The first gate is the Great Riddle Gate, which consists of two Sphinxes who face one another. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx presents riddles and punishes those who cannot guess them. Fantastican Sphinxes are blind: their eyes do not take in light, rather they send forth all the riddles in the world. Those caught between their gaze are frozen on the spot and doomed to remain until they solve every riddle, or until the more likely outcome that they die. There is a random chance the Sphinxes will close their eyes and allow a person to pass, however. It is possible that being afraid is the key to passing this gate.
• The second gate is the Magic Mirror Gate, which is a large, circular, moon-like mirror. Rather than reflect physical appearances, the mirror reflects the absolute truest nature of the observer. This often frightens people into running away or drives them mad with hysteria. To pass the gate, a person must work up the courage to pass through the image. Atreyu sees Bastian reading the Neverending Story, demonstrating that it is not merely a "story" and terrifying Bastian.
• The third gate is the No-Key Gate, which is a keyless door made of a strange metal called Fantastican selenium that is physically indestructible, but reacts to a person's will. Only by forgetting everything and losing the desire to enter may one get it to open.

When Atreyu passes through the three doors, he discovers that Uyulala is a disembodied, singing voice who can only understand rhymes. In a poetic conversation, Atreyu learns the reason why the Childlike Empress is ill, and what he must find in order to restore her health. Uyulala is then quiet and the Southern Oracle with its three gates is silently destroyed by the Nothing. Passing through the first two gates causes Atreyu to first lose all fear (the Great Riddle Gate), and then all memory of himself (the Magic Mirror Gate). This allows him to open the No-Key Gate, though only Bastian's voice keeps the now empty-minded Atreyu from wandering off in a random direction.

The movie version of the Southern Oracle shares the generalities. The first gate judges whether the person attempting to pass through it "feels his own worth"; if the person is doubtful of their ability to pass through safely, the two Sphinxes fire beams of light from their eyes to incinerate the visitor. The second gate is a mirror much like the book's description, located in a snowy wilderness. There is no third gate. The Oracle itself is two blue glowing Sphinxes facing one another, exactly like the yellow glowing sphinxes at the first gate. It speaks in prose. As with the book, the Oracle crumbles and dies after revealing the cure for the Childlike Empress' condition.

In Tales from the Neverending Story, a hero must pass through the Riddle Gate, which tests his confidence in himself. He must then answer a riddle and pass through a mirror that displays the necessary thing he needs. In the case of Atreyu, he lands in a library owned by the wizard nicknamed "the Curiosity", who teaches him to read. Thereafter he passes through a glass door on which the name Uyulala is inscribed, to find the Oracle much as she is described in the book.

In The Neverending Story cartoon series, the Southern Oracle is depicted as two sphinxes facing each other and are voiced by Ellen Ray Hennessy.