- "And if... if I can make him mine forever… Would he come to me on his own? And would he come to me if he knew who I really was?... Who am I? What am I?"
- ―Lutta contemplating her existence and her feelings for Hoole, To Be a King, pages 167-168
Lutta was a rare crowl, a changeling, created by the archagsfiend Kreeth. She had the power to transform into any kind of bird that she wanted at any given time. Lutta often appeared as a Spotted owl, Barn owl, Great Horned, or hagsfiend, and her shifts happened almost seamlessly within seconds. She was said to be able to feel colors when she shapeshifted, and her natural abilities such as hearing and eyesight changed with her form as well.
History[]
To Be a King[]
At birth, Lutta was just an ordinary owl, taken from her nest by another hagsfiend named Kreeth. Shortly after birth, a fyngrot spell known as a nacht blucken was casted on Lutta, created a new type of hagsfiend she referred to as a changeling. Ygryk and Pleek initially attempted to raise her, but grew increasingly disappointed when Lutta continued to shapeshift into species other than a Great Horned owl or hagsfiend. They eventually give up on her, abandoning her while she slept. After their disappearance, Kreeth taught Lutta how to control her rapid changes in species. After retrieving a feather from Strix Hurthwell, Kreeth sent Lutta to steal the Ember, disguised as Hurthwell's daughter Emerilla.
Lutta arrives at the tree, as Emirilla, and gains the trust of the owls and Hoole.
As Emerilla, Lutta led a squadron trained with close blades through the Ice Narrows. She reappeared as a hagsfiend, killing 4 and causing 3 to go yeep. She retrieved the Ember, but it turned out to be a faux copy. This enrages Kreeth, who commands her to go retrieve the real Ember. Lutta is estranged, as she is heartbroken that Hoole didn't trust her. She realizes that she feels emotions only felt with a real gizzard, and that she feels more than being a hagsfiend. She has a hard time transforming back intro Emerilla, as she realizes she has fallen in love with Hoole. Kreeth casts fyngrot upon her, and when Lutta wakes up, she is back as Emrilla.
The real Emerilla appears to Hoole, and Lutta's disguise is broken. Lutta arrives, at first as Emerilla but she turns into her true form, a hagsfiend. She charges at Hoole, but she is attacked by Strix Strumajen. She reaches to Hoole before dying. Her scroom rises and disintegrates, and Strix Strumajen mutters "to hagsmire."
The Golden Tree[]
Coryn mentions how Kreeth treated Lutta, and how it reminded him of how his own mother treated him. It is implied, given his own early life, that Coryn might have felt sympathies for Lutta and hoped she'd found peace in death, since she and Coryn resembled each other greatly in the way of their past.
Description[]
In her hagsfiend form, her plumage had a lovely blue tint, and her feathers appeared like dark, glistening flames. When taking the form of Emerilla, she appears more like Strix Hurthwell, due to using his feather in the transformation spell. In this form, she has a spiral of spots on her forehead.
Personality[]
Lutta started out as a normal hatchling, loving her parents unconditionally and trying to do anything to please them. But as time went on, she began to doubt herself and resent her parents for looking down on her, turning to Kreeth over time since she actually seemed proud of her. Lutta has been shown to call Kreeth "Auntie", considering her more of a parent than Ygryk and Pleek from the start, whom she called her mother and father.
Once abandoned by her parents, Kreeth instills within her the idea of Lutta gaining power and ruling the land, which she clings to and decides to do anything to pursue so she can get revenge on her parents. At heart, she simply craves to please others and gain their affection, seen best with how she acts towards Kreeth, carrying out her every command for her approval, and with Hoole when she falls in love with him. Eventually, she loses her interest in gaining power, and finds herself merely wanting to be Hoole's mate. This is conflicting to her, because she was told she wasn't supposed to feel emotions. All in all, Lutta is not really evil. At heart, she was like Coryn when he was young: a hatchling trained since birth to hate and wishing to make their parent figure proud.
Trivia[]
- A changeling is also a creature in medieval folklore.
- When feeling rejected, she was said to take on the shape of a Great Horned Owl. This response was triggered by the shame and abandonment of her parents, so she would take on the form they wished her to be.
- Lutta has appeared in the following forms: Great Horned owl, Barn owl, crow, hagsfiend, Great Grey owl, Pygmy owl, Barred owl, Snowy owl, and Spotted owl.
- Lutta asks the question "What are emotions, exactly?" even though she had displayed many emotions such as resentment, hatred, longing, and love, throughout her short life. This indicates that hagsfiends are capable of emotion, but they choose to push it aside to make way for logic, and it is potentially just a part of hagsfiend culture.
- Despite Strix Strumajen's remarks after her death, it is implied that she avoided going to hagsmire when she died, as she had changed from her bad ways after falling in love with Hoole, and was allowed to enter glaumora.
Quotes[]
- "But in truth, Lutta did understand. She was sick; sick of being half: half crow, half owl, both hagsfiend and Spotted Owl. She was, she realized, nothing. She was nothing and yet she loved. “I have a gizzard!” she screamed at her creator."
- ―On Lutta's conflicting feelings about herself, To Be a King, page 190
- "I am nothing, and yet I loved.... No, it is not the ember I wanted..."
- ―Lutta's last words, To Be a King, page 197