Iorek Byrnison
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Iorek Byrnison is a Panserbjørne (armoured bear) from Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. Like all Panserbjørne, Iorek follows a very strict code of contract, and will in no situation betray a promise he has made. He possesses incredible strength, and like many of his kind is an expert smith. He is a great friend and comrade to both Lyra Belacqua and Lee Scoresby.
[edit] History
During the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights (North American title: The Golden Compass), Iorek Byrnison is found shaping metal for humans in an Arctic port town. These humans had deceived Iorek by giving him spirits, and then taking away his sky-mail armour whilst he was intoxicated. This gave him no choice but to work for the humans who had taken his armour. He insisted to Lyra Belacqua that if he had his armour, he would kill the humans that stole it, but that without it he would simply be gunned down. Upon hearing this, Lyra decides to use her Alethiometer to find the location of his armour, so that he can break free and help the group she was travelling with.
Using the Alethiometer, Lyra discovers that the humans have his armour hidden in the cellar of the local priest's house. Almost immediately upon hearing this, Iorek rushes off to find his armour, waiting only to finish his work hours (the bears in Lyra's world have a strong code of honor, and never betray promises or contracts). The humans realise all of a sudden what has happened, and try to gun him down. Iorek is about to crush one of the attackers' heads when Lyra steps in, reminding him that he promised her he wouldn't hurt anyone if she told him where his armour was.
Later in the book we discover that, by bloodline, Iorek would have become King of the bears in his homeland, Svalbard, had it not been for his exile. This exile was mainly the fault of Iofur Raknison (Iorek's successor as King), who was suspected, but never explicitly proven to have used drugs on another bear in order to make him act unusually. This befuddled bear went up against Iorek Byrnison in a ritual of dominance to win over a female bear. In his drugged state, however, the bear went against normal procedures and would not back down when any bear would normally have done. This unusual situation ended in Iorek killing the bear, which is strictly forbidden and forced him to be exiled. When he returns to Svalbard, Iorek fights and kills the current bear king, Iofur Rakinson, and reclaims his rightful place. This ends his role in the first book.
In the third book (The Amber Spyglass), he is forced to take his bears on a voyage down to the Himalayas because the climate in his home country of Svalbard has become inhospitable due to Lord Asriel's unintentional changing of the climate, by opening a rift between two worlds.
He later uses his blacksmithing skills to repair the Subtle Knife with the help of Lyra and Will.
| 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: 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 |
