Æsahættr
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Æsahættr (or god-destroyer) is the name of the subtle knife in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.
A knife with a double-edge, the Æsahættr possessed one edge of keen steel, which could cut through any material. The other edge was even sharper, extending to a point so fine that the eye could not see it. This edge was able to search out gaps in the fabric of space and thus cut through the fabric of the universe, into parallel dimensions, referred to in the books as other worlds.
The knife was made by philosophers of Cittágazze, from the Torre degli Angeli, who cut many windows in their world. It was won in a fight by Giacomo Paridisi, who lost some of his fingers obtaining it, and became the bearer. He hid in the Torre degli Angeli from the insurgence of Spectres in his world, for many years protecting the knife. A young Cittágazze man named Tullio tried to take it from him, but Will Parry and Lyra Belacqua had been sent by Lord Boreal to possess the knife, and Will fought Tullio, prevailing, obtaining the knife, and losing some fingers in the process—making him the new bearer.
Lord Boreal and the Magisterium of the Church wanted to possess the knife because its ability to cut through any material threatened their Authority, who had survived the First Rebellion only because the rebel angels could not harm him with any existing weapon or material at the time.
Will and Lyra used the knife to travel between their worlds for a long while, though the knife once broke when Will, trying to open a window, was distracted by the thought of his mother. He later stated that the knife broke because it encountered something it could not pierce, and that was his love for his mother. The shattered pieces were collected by the two children, though, and repaired by the armoured bear and great metalworker Iorek Byrnison.
Iorek warned Will and Lyra that the knife had purposes of its own—indicating an intelligence akin to that of the alethiometer. He also indicated these purposes might not be good. This was shown when the angel Xaphania found out that the windows that the knife had made were making Dust leak out of the worlds, and, worse, each time the knife made a window, it drew up a Spectre from the Abyss. Will and Lyra were forced to part, and Will kept his promise to shatter the knife like the first time.
| Part of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series |
|---|
| Books |
| Northern Lights/The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass Lyra's Oxford - The Book of Dust |
| Films |
| His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass |
| Games |
| The Golden Compass |
| Characters |
| Lyra Belacqua and Pantalaimon - 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 - Metatron |
| Other |
| Alethiometer - Dust - Æsahættr - Locations - Dæmons - Panserbjørne |
