Northern Lights (novel)

"The Golden Compass" redirects here. For the film based on the novel, see The Golden Compass (film).

Northern Lights
First edition cover
Author(s)	Philip Pullman
Cover artist	Philip Pullman and David Scutt
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	His Dark Materials
Genre(s)	Fantasy, Steampunk
Publisher	Scholastic Point
Publication date	1995
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	399 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-590-66054-3
OCLC Number	43633272
Preceded by	Once Upon a Time in the North
Followed by	The Subtle Knife

Northern Lights, known as The Golden Compass in North America, is the first novel in English novelist Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Published in 1995, the fantasy novel is set in a universe parallel to our own and tells of Lyra Belacqua's journey north in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned father, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as Dust. Winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1996, the novel has been adapted into a Hollywood feature film, released in 2007 as The Golden Compass along with an accompanying video game.

Title

God as architect, wielding the golden compases, by William Blake (left) and Jesus as Geometer in a 13th century medieval illuminated manuscript of unknown authorship.

The original title The Golden Compasses comes from a line in Milton's Paradise Lost, where they denote God's circle-drawing instrument used to establish and set the bounds of all creation:

Then staid the fervid wheels, and in his hand
He took the golden compasses, prepared
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things:
One foot he centered, and the other turned
Round through the vast profundity obscure

— Book 7, lines 224–229

For some time during pre-publication, the series of novels were known as The Golden Compasses. This is a reference to God's poetic delineation of the world, and not (as often believed) a reference to the navigational compass which the main character's "alethiometer" resembles

Pullman eventually settled on Northern Lights as the title for the first book, and The Golden Compasses as the name for the trilogy.

In the United States, in their discussions over the publication of the first book, the publishers Alfred A. Knopf had been calling it The Golden Compass (omitting the plural), which they mistakenly believed referred to Lyra's alethiometer, because the device superficially resembles a navigational compass. Meanwhile, in the UK, Pullman had replaced The Golden Compasses with His Dark Materials as the title of the trilogy. According to Pullman, the publishers had become so attached to The Golden Compass that they insisted on publishing the U.S. edition of the first book under that title, rather than as Northern Lights, the title used in the UK and Australia.

Plot summary

The story takes place in a parallel universe to ours, controlled in part by the Magisterium, a body of the Church in that world which guards against heresy. Lyra Belacqua— an 11-year-old girl who has been allowed to run somewhat wild – awaits the arrival of her uncle and guardian at Jordan College, Oxford, the explorer Lord Asriel. Hiding in the forbidden 'Retiring Room', she and her dæmon, Pantalaimon (shortened to "Pan", an animal-formed, shape-shifting manifestation of her soul) see the college Master attempt to poison Lord Asriel's wine. She prevents him drinking, and Asriel, though angry at her trespass, allows her to stay hidden during the upcoming meeting where he presents his latest findings. He has identified mysterious particles ("Dust") descending from the Aurora Borealis (the 'Northern Lights' of the title) which appear to reveal another universe and to be strangely attracted to conscious life. He is awarded funds to develop a way to travel to these other worlds; the Magisterium, seeing his research as heresy, seeks to end it by force.

Her friend Roger is kidnapped by Gobblers, a recent urban legend, and Lyra wants to rescue him. Instead an important visitor, a woman named Mrs. Marisa Coulter offers to take Lyra away from Jordan College to become her assistant. As she leaves, she is entrusted secretly by the Master of the college with a priceless rare object known as an alethiometer, a "truth teller" which resembles a golden, many-handed pocket-watch that can answer any question asked by a skilled user. Although unable to read or understand its complex symbols, Lyra takes it with her.

Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter heads an organization known as the 'General Oblation Board' and that this board is in fact, the 'Gobblers' who have been kidnapping children. Horrified, Lyra flees and is rescued by the Gyptians (nomadic, canal-boat-dwelling people) who reveal that Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are Lyra's father and mother. She also learns that many children have been disappearing and the Gyptians are planning an expedition to the north to rescue them. Lyra begins to intuitively learn how to operate the alethiometer.

On a stop in Trollesund, Lyra meets Iorek Byrnison, an outcast prince of the sapient armoured bears ("panserbjørn"). His armor, tricked from him by the villagers, is akin to his soul, and without it Iorek is bound in servitude to the village. Lyra uses her alethiometer to locate the armor, allowing Iorek to free himself. Both he and a travelling balloonist, Lee Scoresby, offer their support to Lyra. She also learns that Lord Asriel is held prisoner by the Panserbjørn. At the local consulate of the Witches, the Consul states there is a prophecy about Lyra's destiny, which she must not know, and the reader also learns that witch-clans are choosing their allegiances in preparation for an imminent war.

The Gyptians and Lyra continue north to Bolvangar, where they believe the Gobblers keep the children. Lyra stops at a village on the way and guided by the alethiometer, finds a boy who had been severed from his dæmon. Lyra realizes that the Gobblers are attempting to sever the bond between human and dæmon (the process being called "intercision"), a horrific action in that world, and the boy dies. She is captured by bounty hunters and taken to Bolvangar, where she locates Roger and devises an escape plan. Mrs. Coulter arrives, evidently supervising the facility, and Lyra is caught spying by staff. The staff decide to silence her using the same process; she is rescued by Mrs. Coulter who is shocked to see her as an intercision subject. Mrs. Coulter tries to take the alethiometer from her but the container contains an insect-like device that renders her unconscious. Lyra escapes, leads the other children from the facility, and is rescued by Lee Scoresby, Iorek, the Gyptians, and their allies, the witch-clan of Serafina Pekkala.

Lyra is determined to deliver the alethiometer to Lord Asriel, believing that he needs it for his purposes. She tricks the usurping bear-king Iofur Raknison into fighting Iorek Byrnison, by claiming that she was Iorek's dæmon, and that if Iofur killed Iorek, then she would become Iofur's dæmon – something no bear has and Iofur wants. Iorek is victorious and regains his throne. Lyra - nicknamed "Lyra Silvertongue" by Iorek as a token of her ability - travels onward to Lord Asriel’s cabin, accompanied by Iorek and Roger.

Despite being imprisoned, Lord Asriel has become so influential that he has accumulated the necessary equipment to continue his experiments on Dust. He explains to Lyra what he knows of Dust, the Church's view that it is deeply sinful, his belief that Dust is somehow related to the source of all death and misery, the existence of parallel universes, and his goal—he intends to visit the other universes, find the source of death and misery, and destroy it, bringing the end of "centuries of darkness"; and he claims the Church fears that he may succeed, "with good reason". As Lyra sleeps, he departs, taking Roger and much scientific equipment. Lyra pursues them, having discovered that she has indeed brought her father what he wanted, though not in the way she thought. It was not the alethiometer he needed, but Roger: the severing of the child's dæmon will releases an "enormous" amount of energy, which Lord Asriel needs to complete his task. Roger dies when Lord Asriel separates him from his dæmon, and Lord Asriel is able to tear a hole through the sky into a parallel universe. Lord Asriel offers to bring Mrs. Coulter, who had come by means of her zeppelin, with him, but she declines. Lord Asriel walks through into the new universe alone. Devastated at her part in rescuing Roger only to bring him to his death, Pan and Lyra follow.

This concludes the first novel, with the trilogy continuing in the next book, The Subtle Knife.

Characters

• Lyra Belacqua and Pantalaimon: The principal characters. Lyra is described as having blue eyes and blond hair, along with being short for her age and quite thin but is still quite attractive. Though young and attractive she is brave, curious, and crafty. Her dæmon is Pantalaimon, nicknamed Pan. Because she is still a child, Pan is capable of changing into any shape he wishes, through he frequently appears as a brown moth, a wildcat, a white ermine, and a mouse. Lyra has been prophesied by the witches to help the balance of life, but must do so without being aware of her destiny.

• Roger Parslow: One of Lyra's friends, a boy whose family works at Jordan College. When he is kidnapped and taken north, Lyra pursues him in hopes of rescuing him. He is killed at the end of Northern Lights by Lord Asriel.

• Lord Asriel: Lyra's uncle, though it is later revealed that he is actually her father. He performs experiments in the north on the Dust, which are considered threatening for the Magisterium as they are part of Asriel's fight against the Authority. His dæmon is Stelmaria, a snow leopard.

• Marisa Coulter: An agent of the Magisterium, who does not hesitate to manipulate the Church to obtain funds for her projects. She is intelligent and beautiful, but extremely ruthless and callous. She is revealed to be Lyra's mother; as a result, she is unexpectedly kind to Lyra. Her dæmon is a golden monkey who, unusually, is not named throughout the trilogy.

• Iorek Byrnison: A panserbjørn (a race of armored white bears living in the far North and capable of human speech), first encountered in servitude having been tricked out of his armor, which Lyra helps him recover. He becomes very protective of Lyra and joins the expedition to find the children seized by Gobblers. After Lyra successfully tricks usurper Iofur Raknison into submitting to Iorek, Iorek gives her the name "Lyra Silvertongue."

• Iofur Raknison: A panserbjørn who wants a dæmon and has usurped Iorek's authority as king. Lyra tricks him into fighting the exiled Iorek Byrnison by pretending to be Iorek's dæmon, and promising that when Iofur wins the fight, she will become his.

• Serafina Pekkala: A witch who closely follows Lyra on her travels. She is aware of Lyra's destiny. Serafina's dæmon is Kaisa, a snow goose, who is capable of physically moving separately from Serafina over long distances, a quality that only witches' dæmons appear to possess.

• Lee Scoresby: A Texan aeronaut who transports Lyra in his balloon. He and Iorek Byrnison are good friends and Lee comes to see Lyra as a surrogate daughter. His dæmon is Hester, an arctic snow hare.

Critical reception

Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in America) was highly acclaimed and won prestigious book awards, putting Pullman on the literary map. It won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Prize in England, and was named a Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, Publishers Weekly Book of the Year, and Booklist Editors Choice - Top of the List.

See also: Religious perspective of Pullman's trilogy

Some critics have asserted that the trilogy and movie adaptation present a negative portrayal of the Church and religion, while others have argued that Pullman's works should be included in religious education courses. Peter Hitchens views the His Dark Materials series as a direct rebuttal of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. Literary critic Alan Jacobs (of Wheaton College) argues that in his recasting of Lewis's Narnia series, Pullman replaces a theist world-view with a Rousseauist one.

Film and video game adaptations

Main articles: The Golden Compass (film) and The Golden Compass (video game)

A feature film adaptation of the novel, titled The Golden Compass, produced by New Line Cinema with a budget of $180 million, was released 7 December 2007. The novel was adapted by Chris Weitz, who directed the film. The film stars Dakota Blue Richards, in her film debut, as Lyra. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Sam Elliott, Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee also star.

A video game of the movie adaptation of the book, titled The Golden Compass, published by Sega and developed by Shiny Entertainment, was released 4 December 2007. Players assume the role of Lyra as she travels through the frozen wastes of the North in an attempt to rescue her friend kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers. Travelling with her are an armoured polar bear and her dæmon Pantalaimon (Pan). Together, they must use a truth-telling alethiometer and other items to explore the land and fight their way through confrontations in order to help Lyra's friend. The Golden Compass features a mix of fighting and puzzle solving with three characters.

Audio books

In 1996, Natasha Richardson narrated an audiobook version of the novel.

The trilogy, His Dark Materials, was abridged in a dramatization by BBC Worldwide Ltd. that was published on 1 January 2003.

It was also adapted unabridged and released by BBC Audiobooks. It is narrated by the author, Philip Pullman, with a full cast, including Joanna Wyatt as Lyra, Alison Dowling as Mrs Coulter, Sean Barrett as Lord Asriel and Iorek Byrnison and Stephen Thorne as the Master and Farder Coram.

References

• Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2. 

External links

• BridgetotheStars.net Fansite for His Dark Materials and Philip Pullman
• Philip Pullman discusses Northern Lights on the BBC World Book Club
• The Golden Compass Reviewed at The Open Critic
• HisDarkMaterials.com Publisher's site
• Philip Pullman reads a manuscript extract (audio)
• “The Golden Compass: The Anti-Narnia?” by Tony Torn/ Reality Sandwich
• The Golden Compass Internet Movie Database

Awards
Preceded by Whispers in the Graveyard	Carnegie Medal recipient 1995	Succeeded by Junk