Everything about Lyra Belacqua totally explained
Lyra Belacqua (also known as
Lyra Silvertongue) is the heroine of
Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials trilogy. Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. Brought up in the cloistered world of
Jordan College, Oxford, she finds herself embroiled in a cosmic war between
angels and a deity called
The Authority.
Background and life
Lyra, age 12 at the beginning of the trilogy, is the result of an affair between
Lord Asriel and
Marisa Coulter. She was brought up at Jordan College, with the Scholars, the Professors, and the Servants all acting as a sort of collective family. She was raised believing that her father was a count, her mother a countess, that both her parents had died in an airship crash, and that
Lord Asriel was her uncle. She later learned the truth from
John Faa, leader of the
Gyptians. Lyra lived in Oxford, running amok with her friend
Roger Parslow, climbing on roofs, and leading clay fights with the college children, the "townies" of Oxford, and the Gyptians. Her life changed after the arrival of the General Oblation Board and their kidnapping of Roger, and other children in Oxford.
Lyra is portrayed as dirty-blond haired, light blue-eyed, and naughty. She is thin and short for her age, which ranges from 12 to 13 throughout the books. She is an unruly child and often exasperates those who try to care for her, such as the Jordan housekeeper and her tutors. Though she receives little formal education, she's quick-witted and canny.
Lyra earns the name
Lyra Silvertongue when she fools
Iofur Raknison, the King of the Bears, by telling him that she's the
dæmon of
Iorek Byrnison and that she's willing to change sides for the "strongest bear". Iofur, who is obsessed with the idea of having his own dæmon, follows Lyra's orders. Lyra meets Iorek and confesses to what she's done, thinking Iorek would reprimand her or punish her. To her surprise, Iorek, impressed and grateful, calls her "Lyra Silvertongue" and destroys Iofur.
She adopts
Silvertongue as her new
surname.
Pantalaimon
Lyra's
dæmon,
Pantalaimon (Pronounced Pan-Ta-Lie-mon), is her dearest companion, and the embodiment of her soul. In common with all dæmons of children, he can take any animal form he pleases; he first appears in the story in the shape of a dark brown moth. His name is that of a saint in the orthodox churches,
St. Panteleimon, and in
Greek means "all-helping". He changes into many forms throughout the series, ranging from a
leopard to a
dragon, but his favorite forms are a snow-white
ermine, a
moth, a
wildcat, and a
mouse. Lyra must be separated from Pantalaimon when she enters the World of the Dead, causing extreme pain to both of them; Pantalaimon avoids Lyra for a while afterwards. However, their surviving this separation allows the two to be able to separate great distances from one another, an ability only witches and shamans possess. Pantalaimon then enters his final form, a
Pine Marten, when Will Parry touches him. He is regularly called 'Pan' as a nickname.
Lyra's destiny
In the first novel of
His Dark Materials,
Northern Lights (known in the
United States of America as
The Golden Compass),
Serafina Pekkala tells of the
prophecy of a girl who is "destined to bring about the end of
destiny", at the expense of a great betrayal. The witches' prophecy states that this girl will be able pick the "correct" cloud-pine branch out of several, as indeed Lyra does. It transpires that Lyra's destiny is to be literally the second
Eve, and fall into the temptation of the
serpent, represented by
Mary Malone. When Lyra does this, by falling in love with the other
protagonist of the series,
Will Parry, the catastrophic destruction of
Dust in the abyss is corrected and the
universes start to work in
harmony. However, in order to ensure the stability of the universes and protect people from the creation of Spectres, Will and Lyra must close all of the interdimensional windows and keep them closed forever--and since their dæmons can't live outside of their own birth worlds, they must part forever. Despite this however, they decide to sit on the same bench in the Botanic Gardens on Midsummer's day, so that they might find themselves in each other's presence.
She fulfills her destiny to "bring an end to death" by leading the ghosts out of the world of the dead. Lyra's inevitable betrayal may have occurred when Lyra leads Roger to Lord Asriel on Svalbard at the end of the first book, in the chapter titled "Betrayal". But in
The Amber Spyglass, it's said that the betrayal occurs when Lyra separates herself from Pantalaimon.
In the most recent edition of
The Amber Spyglass released in the UK, the post-script 'Lantern Slides' section shows Lyra studying the alethiometer with Pantalaimon. She is excited to start picking up on a pattern in the readings, and Pullman tells us that this discovery of a pattern is the "second thing she said to Will next day in the Botanic Garden", implying that the next day was Midsummer's Day, when she and Will would be sitting on the same bench in their separate worlds. And that there was something else, presumably that she loved him, that Lyra would say to Will before telling him of her reading.
Lyra in other media
In a 2003, radio adaptation Lyra was voiced by child actress Lulu Popplewell.
The National Theatre in London put on a two-part, six-hour-long adaptation of the novels. The play ran twice; in 2003 and 2004. Lyra was played by
Anna Maxwell Martin in the first run, and by
Elaine Symons in the second. In July-August 2007 Scottish Youth Theatre performed the Scottish premier of the production with
Kirstie Steele and
Sarah Ord playing Lyra in part one and two respectively.
In
The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the first book, Lyra is portrayed by twelve-year-old English girl
Dakota Blue Richards, who won the role after beating out 10,000 other hopeful candidates.
British singer/songwriter
Kate Bush wrote and recorded a song "Lyra" based on the character.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lyra Belacqua'.
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