Movie

Lyra's world is a world very much like ours. Much of it might be familiar to us - the continent, the oceans, britain and the north pole. In Lyra's world, a person soul lives outside of their body. In a form of daemon - a talking animal spirit that accompanies them through life. A child's daemon can change their shape, assuming all the form that a child's infinite potential inspires; but as a person ages, their daemon gradually settle into one form, according to their character and nature.

The bond between human and daemon is extraordinary powerful - a person without a daemon in Lyra's world would be seen as horribly mutilated and trifling with this connection is taboo in the extreme.

It was no ordinary life for a young girl who lives among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust- found only in the vast Artic expanse of the North -was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from clans, gyptians, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle.

In a parallel Oxford, young Lyra Belacqua begins a dimension-crossing odyssey that builds from a merely atypical children's adventure into a complex (and frequently quite dark) philosophical epic.

Lyra Belaqua, living in Oxford's Jordan College, is not but a young girl living among scholars. Her world may seem diverse, from physical embodiments of souls that take the shape of an animal, but similar with people around you to become friends and enemies. She is thrown into a perilous adventure when she overhears a conversation of an extraordinary microscopic particle, Dust. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many who want to destroy it forever. As Lyra is flung into the middle of this horrible struggle, she meets wondrous creatures both big and small, and villains who are not what they seem. Gobblers, that kidnap children, will turn out in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass of gold that will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. Lyra's adventure continues throughout these three books, and the first is about to be told.

Dakota Blue Richards - Lyra Belacqua
Daniel Craig - Lord Asriel
EVA GREEN - Serafina Pekkala
NICOLE KIDMAN - Marisa Coulter
Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek Byrnison
Ian McShane as the voice of Ragnar Sturlusson
Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby,
Freddie Highmore as the voice of Pantalaimon
Ben Walker as Roger Parslow
Clare Higgins as Ma Costa
Jim Carter as John Faa
Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram
Kathy Bates as the voice of Hester
Kristin Scott Thomas as the voice of Stelmaria
Jack Shepherd as Master of Jordan College.
Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel.
Magda Szubanski as Mrs. Lonsdale.
Christopher Lee as the Magisterium's First High Councilor
Derek Jacobi as the Magisterial Emissary.

Lyra Belacqua (Pronounced Lie-ruh) , who adopts the surname Silvertongue given to her by Iorek Byrnison, is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. She is the daughter of Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter. Brought up in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford, she finds herself embroiled in a cosmic war between angels and a false deity called The Authority when she prevents Lord Asriel's death and allows him to further his studies on Dust. She is able to read the alethiometer (truth-measurer), and is known to the witches as Eve, mother of us all, who will eventually be tempted by the serpent.

Mrs. Coulter is a beautiful, powerful, enigmatic woman who takes on Lyra as her protegee. Equally at home in the salon of London and the icy waste of the North, she is an alluring patroness and eventually, a hated and feared enemy to Lyra. Mrs. Coulter mysterious aims are in some way tied in with the Magisterium, the Gobblers, dust, and Lyra's very fate.

Marisa Coulter is the head of a particular faction of the Church known as the General Oblation Board (also known as "The Gobblers" among Gyptians and street urchins). Under Mrs Coulter's guidance, The Oblation Board has been secretly kidnapping children from Lyra's world, and then proceeding to use them as "lab rats" for their experiments at their laboratory in Bolvangar. The Oblation Board thinks that by cutting away the child's dæmon, they can prevent the child from knowing sin. She is also Lyra's mother through an involvement with Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.

When Mrs Coulter is visiting Bolvanger, Lyra is in the midst of the intersion process, but Mrs Coulter comes in just the nick of time to save her daughter.

Coulter is a widow who works for the Oxford colleges and the Magisterium, thought by many to be based on the Catholic Church, but she had an affair with Lord Asriel while she was with her husband. The protagonist of the series, Lyra Belacqua, is in fact the daughter of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel.

Later in the series, Coulter discovers the Church's true intentions: to kill Lyra. By then, she has grown to love the girl, so she kidnaps her and takes refuge in a cave. However, by that time, Lyra had long begun to hate and mistrust her.

Near the conclusion of The Amber Spyglass, Coulter and Lord Asriel give their lives to kill the Regent Metatron and save their daughter (Lyra) so that she may safely fulfill the prophecy and free the multiverse from the oppression of The Authority.

Lord Asriel is a member of the English aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by an oppressive version of the Christian Church. He is described as being "a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seem to flash and glitter with savage laughter." Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Oxford. Later, it is discovered in The Golden Compass that he is Lyra's father - her mother is Marisa Coulter.

The Queen of witches of Lake Enara. More than three hundred years old, she has the longevity and vigor of her kind, with the appearance and energy of a woman in her twenties. Like all witches, she has the power of flight and is privy to arcane knowledge that comes by way of the sign of the forest and tundra she inhabits and its proximity to the far north, where the barrier between world is thin.

She rules over certain clans in the district of Lake Enara, which is an alternate name Pullman created for Lake Inari in northern Finland. Serafina appears throughout the fantasy trilogy and is closely associated with the journey of Lyra Belacqua and her companions. Serafina Pekkala's dæmon is Kaisa, a large grey goose who is capable of being separated from Pekkala by long distances, as is normal with the dæmons of witches (although Serafina Pekkala's dæmon is male, the name Kaisa is in fact a Finnish female name). She assists Lyra in her journey to find out about Dust.

She once had a child with the Gyptian Farder Coram who saved her life as she was attacked by a large red bird, possibly another witch's dæmon. For witches to fall in love with men appears common. There are men within the witch society who serve the witches, or who can be taken for lovers or husbands. Witches are said to be capable of appreciating men for their beauty, intelligence, and bravery; but due to the witches' long life-span, the men appear to grow old and die almost at once. This is said to cause the witches great emotional pain. When witches give birth, if the child is female it is a witch, whereas if male it is human. In the case of the latter, he is likely to be outlived by his mother.

According to Serafina, witches live for many hundreds of years. Serafina claims to be three hundred years old or more, and states that her clan's oldest witch mother is nearly a thousand. Witches own nothing, and so have no means of exchange save mutual aid. They have no notions of honor, so insults mean nothing to them. Temperature extremes appear not to harm witches. Although they feel the cold, wrapping up against it would prevent them from experiencing other things that the humans of the text may not feel, such as "the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the Aurora." Witches fly on branches of Cloud-Pine and equate flying to living; as Serafina states, "A witch would no sooner give up flying than give up breathing. To fly is to be perfectly ourselves." Witches see themselves as subject to fate, yet they feel they must act as if they are not, or "die of despair." They believe that when they die Yambe-Akka, the goddess of the dead, comes to collect them.

Pullman claimed her name came from a Finnish telephone directory; however, in a speech made in Dundee, he claimed that it came from a list of politicians living in Copenhagen.

Lee Scoresby is an aeronout from the country of texas. He and his hare daemon Hester have traveled far and wide as his contract and his airship take him through war and espionage. Lee encounters Lyra on her trip Northwards with the gyptian and enlist her aids in a risky venture. In regards to Scoresby's name, Phillip Pullman says: "Lee Scoresby comes from two sources. One is the actor Lee Van Cleef, who looks just like the character. And the other is the name of an Arctic explorer, William Scoresby.

His exact age can only be approximated, as no precise reference is given, but makes an observation when suddenly faced by his mother's ring: "I ain't seen that ring in forty years!"

Lee is an old Arctic hand, and extremely skilled with his balloons. He is sharp with a gun, though nonviolent. He is intelligent, and a bit of a mercenary, though with consistent ethics. His dream is to sell his balloons and buy a ranch back in Texas.

Lee's best friend is the armored bear Iorek Byrnison. They fought together, and he saved Iorek's life once.

Lee (and his dæmon, Hester the hare) pledge their support to John Faa and the Gyptians on a mission to destroy Bolvangar and save its captive children. He is delighted to learn that Iorek has been hired too.

As the Gyptians finish destroying Bolvangar, Mrs. Coulter attacks with some Tartars to capture her daughter, Lyra. Lee rescues Iorek from another part of the battle, and is just in time to save Lyra and Roger Parslow from Mrs Coulter. The four, helped by witches, escape.

On this journey, Lee expresses his concern to Serafina Pekkala, the queen of the witches, about the whole situation. He is worried about the war which he is about to be caught up in, and unsure who he will side with - indeed, who are the sides. However, he promises loyalty to Lyra. He is disturbed by the witches' idea of destiny.

The party is attacked by cliff ghasts. Lyra falls out of the balloon, and Iorek and Roger go to rescue her as soon as the balloon can be put down. As Lee floats with the witches, Lord Asriel tears the path into another world open. Buffetted by winds, Lee and the witches are swept far away, but manage to regroup for a witch council. Lee is given the unique privilege of joining it.

Lee informs Serafina and the others that he has heard of an object which can protect the bearer. A mysterious professor called Grumman knows of its whereabouts. Lee intends to seek out Grumman and then take the object (the Subtle Knife) to Lyra.

On his mission, he is forced to kill a servant of the Church. He takes his ring, which can command some power and authority.

Lee and Hester find Grumman, and learn that he is really John Parry, from our own world. John has become a shaman and can command magic. He claims that he drew Lee with his mother's ring.

The pair set off to find the Bearer of the Subtle Knife, Grumman to inform him of his task and Lee to get Lyra under his protection. They use the Church's ring to regain Lee's confiscated balloons.

As the pair make their escape, they are pursued. The shaman's magic destroy three of the enemy four zeppelins, but Lee loses his balloon in the process. Escaping from the last one, they are pursued into a narrow gorge.

Lee holds the pass as Grumman escapes, killing all of the enemies and blowing up the zeppelin. He is killed in the process. His death is described in a very moving way, with him saying goodbye to his weeping dæmon (soul), embracing her tenderly for the last time until she disappears.

Lyra and Will Parry find him in the world of the dead, and he briefly returns to fight the Spectres before his particles scatter and set off to find Hester's. He also mentions searching for his mother's particles, and those of "his sweethearts".

Iorek Byrnison is a Panserbjørne ("armoured bear" in Danish and Norwegian). Like all Panserbjørne, Iorek follows a very strict code of conduct, and will, in no situation, betray a promise he has made. He possesses incredible strength, and like many of his kind is an expert smith. He is a great friend and comrade to both Lyra Belacqua and Lee Scoresby.

During the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights, Iorek Byrnison is found shaping metal for humans in an Arctic port town. These humans had deceived Iorek by giving him alcohol, then stole his "sky-iron" armour while he was intoxicated. This left him no choice but to work for the humans. He tells Lyra Belacqua that if he had his armour, he would kill the humans that stole it, but that without it he would simply be gunned down attempting to get it back. Upon hearing this, Lyra decides to use her Alethiometer to find the location of his armour, so that he can break free and help the group she is travelling with.

Using the Alethiometer, Lyra discovers that the humans have his armour hidden in the cellar of the local priest's house. Almost immediately upon hearing this, Iorek rushes off to find his armour, waiting only to finish his work hours. The humans, suddenly realizing his intent, try to kill him. Iorek is about to crush one of the attackers' heads when Lyra convinces him that it would be better not to hurt the man, as this would lead to more fighting and delay their voyage.

Later in the story, Pullman reveals that by bloodline, Iorek would have become King of the bears in his homeland, Svalbard, had it not been for his exile. This exile was mainly the fault of Iofur Raknison, Iorek's successor as King, who was suspected, but never explicitly proven to have used drugs on another bear in order to make him act unusually. This befuddled bear went up against Iorek Byrnison in a ritual of dominance to win over a female bear. In his drugged state, however, the bear went against normal procedures and would not back down when any bear would normally have done. This situation ended in Iorek killing the bear, which is strictly forbidden and condemned him to exile. When he returns to Svalbard, Iorek fights and kills Iofur Raknison reclaiming his rightful place. This ends his role in the first book.

In the third book (The Amber Spyglass), he is forced to take his bears on a voyage down to the Himalayas because the climate in his home country of Svalbard has become inhospitable due to Lord Asriel's unintentional changing of the climate by opening a rift between two worlds.

He later uses his blacksmithing skills to repair the Subtle Knife with the help of Lyra and Will.

He and a regiment of his subjects fight on Lord Asriel's side in the battle on the plains. He takes Lyra and Will to find their lost dæmons. At the end of the Amber Spyglass, it is revealed that he returns to Svalbard and reigns as king of the bears.

John Faa, (pronounced 'Faw'), sometimes known as Lord Faa, is the King of the Gyptians. When the Oblation Board starts kidnapping children, he leads 170 of his men to save them from a terrible fate.

He is a brave warrior, respected by all his followers, open to advice, and considerate of all. He is a good friend of the elderly Farder Coram.

Though initially against the idea, John Faa eventually decides to take Lyra to Bolvangar, to rescue the missing Gyptian children. He is wounded in an ambush, when they were attacked by Samoyeds where many of his Gyptians are killed, despite the action of Iorek Byrnison, his hired panserbjørn or armored polar bear. However, he carries out his mission successfully, retrieving the children Lyra helped rescue, and taking them back to England.

His Daemon in a black crow whose gender is unknown.