Belacqua, Lyra
From Srafopedia
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A half-wild, half-civilized young girl who lives among the scholars of Jordan College. Her dæmon is named Pantalaimon and settles at the very end of the trilogy. Lyra's fate is intertwined with the theological mysteries of Dust and the possibility of other universes. To play the large universe-saving part to which she
appears destined, Lyra must act without realizing what she is doing.
Lyra Belacqua is the heroine of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a parallel universe 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 false deity called The Authority.
According to some (unconfirmed) sources, Lyra's character is based upon William Blake's poem "The Little Girl Lost."
Belacqua means beautiful water.
Lyra's dæmon, Pantalaimon, first appears in the story in the shape of a moth and ends as a pine marten. His name is that of a saint in the Orthodox churches, St. Panteleimon, and in Greek means "all-forgiving".
Lyra is the result of an illegitimate union 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. Lyra 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 is quick-witted and canny, becoming a natural leader to the college children and the "townies" of Oxford in their intermittent conflicts with the gyptians and the children of the nearby claybeds. One of her closest friends is the kitchen boy Roger Parslow, and it is her bond with him that motivates most of the action in Northern Lights.
Lyra earns the name Lyra Silvertongue when she fools Iofur Raknison, the King of the Bears (Ragnar Sturlusson in the film adaption), by telling him that she is the dæmon of Iorek Byrnison and that she is willing to change sides for the "strongest bear". Iofur, who is obessed with the idea of being human, specifically owning his own dæmon, follows Lyra's request. Lyra meets up with Iorek and confesses to what she has done, thinking Iorek would reprimand her or punish her. To her surprise, Iorek readily forgives her and calls her "Lyra Silvertongue". She adopts Silvertongue as her new surname, both out of pride that Iorek has gifted her with such a name and because she is estranged from her father after his murder of Roger Parslow.
The witches had long known prophecies telling of a child on whom the fate of the world would depend. Lyra unknowingly affirms the she is this child when she correctly identifies a spray of cloud-pine. It transpires that Lyra's destiny is to be literally the second Eve and fall into the temptation of the serpent, or Mary Malone. When Lyra does this, by falling in love with the other main protagonist of the series, Will Parry, the catastrophic destruction of Dust in the abyss is corrected and the universes start to work in harmony again. She is also destined to "bring an end to death", and she does so by leading the ghosts out of the world of the dead. However, to carry out this destiny, she must make a great betrayal that will hurt her terribly. This prophecy is fulfilled in The Amber Spyglass. However, it is essential that she remain ignorant of her destiny as she performs her quest. It is told that if Lyra were to know of this betrayal before she had to make it, then she would never act upon her destiny.Lyra is played by Dakota Blue Richards in the movie the Golden Compass.
Basic description of Lyra is as follows:
- Dark blonde
- Curly hair
- Blue eyes
- English
- Thin
- Small of stature for her age
- Around 12 years old
As Lyra comes to wisdom at the end of the trilogy, her beloved Pantalaimon is touched by Will and settles upon the form of a pine marten.
Aliases
Sources
Some material from Wikipedia.
Gallery
| Lyra Belacqua | |||
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Lyra and Mrs. Coulter |
Lyra and Farder Coram (played by Tom Courtenay) |
Lyra in Trollesund |
Lyra reading the alethiometer in Trollesund |
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For more images, please see the Photograms section of HisDarkMaterials.org
| His Dark Materials |
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"The Golden Compass"/"Northern Lights" | "The Subtle Knife" | "The Amber Spyglass" |
| "Lyra's Oxford" | "The Book of Dust" | "Once Upon A Time In The North" |
