The Morgenstern family is an old and wealthy Shadowhunter family. The family is said to be Swiss, and their ancestors in 1878 spoke German fluently.[1][2]
History[]
The Morgenstern family is notorious for two of its late members: Valentine Morgenstern, the founder of the Circle, and his son, Jonathan, widely known as Sebastian, the leader of the Endarkened. Both brought malevolence and shame to the family name with their plots and harsh ideals against Shadowhunters and Downworlders, thus inspiring superstition around objects or weapons connected to the family. Though both of them were also the reasons for the Mortal War and the Dark War respectively, Clary, Valentine's daughter and Jonathan's sister, was a crucial part of the victories against them.[3]
According to Jonathan, he and Clary were the last direct Morgenstern descendants. Valentine's father was killed by a Downworlder, and his father's brother died in battle.[1] After Jonathan's death, his son, Ash Morgenstern, was born, keeping the name alive though Clary does not use the family name.
Family tree[]
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| Roderick M. (1800s) |
| Amalia M. (1800s) |
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| Unknown man |
| Oskar M. |
| Seraphina M. |
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| Valentine M. (1968–2007) |
| Jocelyn F. (1970–) |
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| Seelie Queen |
| Jonathan M. (1990–2007) |
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| Clary F. (1991–) |
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| Ash M. (?–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Symbol[]
The family symbol is a falling star, referring to the meaning of Morgenstern "morning star". Thus, the Morgenstern family ring consists of a pattern of stars around the band.
Etymology[]
Morgenstern is a German surname derived from the Middle German words "morgen", meaning "morning", and "stern", meaning "star". The family has associated its meaning to the Bible verse Isaiah 14:12, which states "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" The verse directly referring to Lucifer, Valentine believes that it is more about any great power lost out of a refusal to serve.