Lord Asriel
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Lord Asriel is a major character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. Asriel is a member of the English aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by an oppressive version of the Christian Church. He is described as being "a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seem to flash and glitter with savage laughter." Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Oxford.
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[edit] Naming
His dæmon is Stelmaria, a snow leopard. Her name is possibly a variant of Stella Maria, a pseudo-Latin phrase that approximates "star of the sea" (see also Stella Maris). It could also derive from Italian, in which case it would apparently mean "Star Mary", which raises associations with the Star of Bethlehem and the Nativity.
The name Asriel could be derived from the Hebrew 'Asra'el, who, in the Jewish and Muslim tradition is the Angel of Death, who separated the soul from the body upon death. Alternatively Asriel, being an anagram for Israel, could refer to the English translation of the name Israel, given to Jacob in the Hebrew Bible - namely; "He who has struggled with God".
[edit] Story
In Northern Lights (North America: The Golden Compass), Lord Asriel is introduced as the uncle of the protagonist, Lyra Belacqua. He is a man with no great love for the Church that dominates his realm, and, at some point during his study of the enigmatic Dust, he becomes obsessed with making war against The Authority, whom the Church worships as God. It is eventually revealed that he is not Lyra's uncle but her father, as the result of an illegitimate union with Marisa Coulter.
At the end of the first book, Asriel succeeds in tearing a rift in the fabric of space, opening a doorway into another world. He does this by performing intercision on his daughter's best friend, Roger Parslow, whom she led to him by mistake. Using his gateway, he makes his way to an unpopulated planet, presumably analogous to Earth. Here, he constructs a vast fortress of basalt in the recesses of a mountain range, and recruits strange and multivarious allies from across the universes to stand with him against The Authority, whose kingdom they will destroy and replace with The Republic of Heaven. Asriel orchestrates the immense war effort from his chambers in the Adamant Tower atop the fortress. How he accomplishes all of this is somewhat vague; he is described as having a mystical ability to get what he wants simply by wishing for it. It may be speculated that, being in league with rebel angels and by extension Dust itself, Asriel draws his unusual power from the universal consciousness that the golden particles represent.
Near the end of The Amber Spyglass, Mrs. Coulter sneaks aboard the citadel of The Authority, a mountainous floating structure ensorcelled in clouds, and fools The Authority's regent, Metatron, into coming down to the fortress with her. She brings him straight to Asriel under the pretense of planning to betray him, but she swiftly joins Asriel in a desperate attempt to destroy the Regent, knowing that if they fail, their daughter will fall into his hands. Sacrificing their lives, they manage to bring the mighty angel down into the abyss, in the act of which their bodies are annihilated and they suffer a fate far worse than normal death.
Throughout the trilogy, meetings between Asriel and his daughter are sparse, and when they do occur, he is terse and rude, seeming to think of her as a pest, and not at all as a daughter. In the end, however, word of her heroic deeds has softened his heart and he and Marisa, whom he never stopped loving, choose to sacrifice themselves for her sake.
[edit] Film adaptation
On 18 August 2006 it was announced that Daniel Craig will be playing the role of Lord Asriel in the forthcoming film adaptation His Dark Materials: Northern Lights. In the first photo of Craig as Asriel, he is shown wearing a wool suit, shirt, waistcoat and tie, and has a beard. Previously, on 14 July 2006 it was reported that actor Paul Bettany was in final negotiations to play the role of Lord Asriel in the forthcoming film adaptation, with Nicole Kidman joining him as Mrs. Coulter.[1] Author Philip Pullman had once indicated that he would like to see actor Jason Isaacs play the role, but the author has no role in the casting procedure.[2].
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Nicole and Paul's dark materials Daily Mail 14 July 2006 (Accessed 18 July 2006).
- ^ His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (2007) IMDb (Accessed 18 July 2006)
| Part of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series |
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| Books |
| Northern Lights/The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass Lyra's Oxford - The Book of Dust |
| Films |
| His Dark Materials: Northern Lights |
| Characters |
| Lyra Belacqua - Will Parry - Lord Asriel - Marisa Coulter - Iorek Byrnison - John Faa - Farder Coram - Serafina Pekkala - Lee Scoresby - Iofur Raknison - The Authority - Balthamos - Baruch - Mary Malone - Xaphania - Roger Parslow |
