Tunguska Campaign

From Srafopedia

The Tunguska Campaign is mentioned several times in His Dark Materials and was apparently a recent war or military campaign involving the Tartars. Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison had first met during that campaign.

Philip Pullman has hinted that more will be explained in Once Upon a Time in the North.

Speculation

Although there has been some speculation that the Tunguska Campaign is a reference to the Crimean War, this is unlikely for two reasons:

• location -- Tunguska exists in Our World. It is in Siberia and 3100 miles (5040 km) from Crimea in The Ukraine.
• dates -- the Tunguska Campaign occurred within Lee's and Iorek's lifetime, while the Crimean War was in the 1850s.

The name "Tunguska" is generally associated with the "Event". In the early morning of 30 June, 1908, witnesses told of a gigantic explosion and blinding flash. Thousands of square kilometres of trees were burned and flattened. It is now believed that the explosion was caused when a small asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere (BBC News article). However, there have been many alternative, and often bizarre, explanations.

It may be speculated that Pullman will relate the Tunguska Event to something happening in a parallel world.