This 2-hour tour (on alternate Saturdays at 2pm), endorsed by the author himself, provides a fascinating insight into the stories and places that inspired his world-renowned books. Jericho: Where Gyptians board boats in Northern Lights. It is also where the main character lives in La Belle Sauvage and where some of the action takes place. Rediscover the world of His Dark Materials and explore the setting of the new The Book of Dust series with a walk around Philip Pullman’s Oxford, led by a professional guide. In the most recent edition of The Amber Spyglass released in the UK, the post-script "Lantern Slides" section shows Lyra studying the alethiometer (a rare truth-telling device) with Pantalaimon at age18. She is excited to start recognising 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. [5] To say much more would be to mar the surprises of a brief tale. It introduces two new characters who clearly have legs for future adventures: the shrewd, friendly young scholar Dr Polstead, and the reputedly mad alchemist Sebastian Makepeace. There is a wound from the past: "Since she and Will had parted... the slightest thing had the power to move her to pity and distress; it felt as if her heart was bruised for ever".

The parallel worlds of Philip Pullman | The British Library

Lyra Belacqua ( / ˈ l aɪ r ə b ə ˈ l ɑː k w ə/ LY-rə bə- LAH-kwə), also known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. In His Dark Materials 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 Lord Asriel on one side, and a deity figure known as The Authority and his Regent, Metatron, on the other. Lyra also features prominently in the subsequent trilogy The Book of Dust. Dakota Blue Richards: There is no excuse for all-male period dramas". Evening Standard. 6 February 2018 . Retrieved 14 August 2020. In The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the first book, Lyra is portrayed by Dakota Blue Richards. [8] British singer/songwriter Kate Bush wrote and recorded a song, " Lyra", for the film which features choristers from Magdalen College School in Oxford. [9] In the 1999 unabridged audio production, Lyra was performed by the voice-over actress Jo Wyatt (as Joanna Wyatt). [6]Schwartz, Alexander (29 September 2019). "The Fallen Worlds of Philip Pullman". The New Yorker . Retrieved 29 September 2019. Lyra must separate from Pantalaimon when she enters the Land of the Dead in The Amber Spyglass, causing extreme pain to both of them; Pantalaimon avoids Lyra for a while afterwards. However, surviving this separation allows the two to move great distances from one another, an ability only witches and shamans generally possess in her world. Letters written by Lyra included in the companion book Once Upon a Time in the North reveal that Lyra is researching her dissertation for a M.Phil. in Economic History, showing she is still studying in her twenties. The title of her dissertation is Developments of patterns of trade in the European Arctic region with particular reference to independent balloon carriage (1950–1970). In the first letter, Lyra also mentions that she is continuing to study the alethiometer. Once she finishes her studies, she will be able to read the alethiometer not with grace, as she used to, but with certainty and knowledge. Lyra's dæmon, Pantalaimon / ˌ p æ n t ə ˈ l aɪ m ə n/, is her dearest companion, whom she calls " Pan". In common with dæmons of all children, he can take any animal form he pleases; he first appears in the story as a dark brown moth. His name in Greek means "all-compassionate" (Παντελεήμων Panteleēmon). He changes into many forms throughout the series, ranging from a dragon to an eagle, but his favourite forms are a snow-white ermine, a moth, a wildcat, and a mouse. At the end of the trilogy, as Lyra is entering adulthood, Pantalaimon finds his final form when Will Parry touches him, and is later described as a beautiful pine marten, red-gold in colour with a "patch of cream-white fur" [4] on his throat.

Oxford - BBC News His Dark Materials exhibition opens in Oxford - BBC News

The binding on my copy has not adequately stood up to use of the engraved fold-out map of Lyra's city as chronicled in the trilogy, with its Zeppelin station on Oxpens Road and steam trains at Oxford station. What I expect to remember longer is a new image from the story, of all the animate creatures of the city striving clumsily to protect this obdurate girl, in gratitude for what she has done for their universe.This tour will show you from the outside many of the key locations from Lyra’s Oxford and La Belle Sauvage, including the Bodley’s Library, The Covered Market, Jordan College and the Pitt Rivers Museum. It will provide a fascinating insight into the stories and places that inspired the world-renowned books.