LORD ASRIEL

'Lord Asriel Belacqua' 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.

Contents

Naming

History within the novel

Stage adaptation

Film adaptation

Sources

References and notes

Naming

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"''. The name Azrael, although incorrectly, has been associated with Satan and Demonology, which reflects Asriels battle against the Authority in the novel.
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.

History within the novel

Lord Asriel was a highly respected member of the British aristocracy. He was an explorer, and did work in experimental theology, through which he acquired much power, land, and money. But when he had an affair and child with another politician's wife, this changed. The woman's husband, Edward Coulter, came after him and his daughter Lyra. Lord Asriel challenged and killed him. When the church found out, he was taken to court and lost all his money and property, and Lyra was sent to a convent. Lord Asriel, who hated the church, rode in one day and took her away to his old alma mater, Jordan College, where she was placed in the care of the Master.
After travelling to the North, Lord Asriel visited Jordan College and was almost poisoned by the Master, who read his alethiometer and found that Lord Asriel's actions would be dangerous. He was saved by Lyra, who saw this. He managed to gain money for an expedition using photograms of Dust and a city in the sky as well as the shock value of a decapitated head he said was Stanislaus Grumman's. He traveled to Svalbard but was imprisoned and guarded by the panserbjørne under Iofur Raknison due to the General Oblation Board, one of his enemies, run by his ex-lover, Mrs Coulter. He managed to get hospitable treatment and waited for a child on whom to perform intercision in order to open a window in the aurora with the help of witches. Eventually a child arrived: Roger Parslow, brought there by Lyra.
He entered Cittàgazze and, after a battle, allied himself with the rebel angels under Xaphania. He traveled to an empty world and built an enormous basalt fortress, gathering armies from many different worlds in order to start his rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven. Ruta Skadi found him and he told her his plan, also getting her clan's support in the war.
Later, he had his friend King Ogunwe and Lord Roke attempt to find Lyra, the second Eve, from Mrs Coulter. They captured Mrs Coulter, but Lyra and Will escaped with two of Lord Roke's agents. Lord Asriel then attended to Mrs Coulter and tried to influence Lyra and Will, as they held the key to renewing the Dust flow. Lord Asriel let Mrs Coulter escape in an Intention Craft and had Lord Roke follow her to gain information from the Consistorial Court of Discipline. They found that the Church made a bomb to kill Lyra and Lord Asriel rescued Mrs Coulter just in time, as well as destroying Saint-Jean Les Eaux a moment to late with his intention craft.
Lyra survived, and Lord Asriel had his army search for her and Will's dæmons so that the Authority's armies couldn't control them. Lord Asriel found that the bomb blew a hole under all the worlds into the Abyss and came up with a plan to take down the Authority's powerful Regent, Metatron. As his army fought the armies of the Authority and the Church, Mrs Coulter tricked Metatron into trying to kill Lord Asriel and take Lyra's dæmon as he was on the edge of the Abyss. Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter sacrificed themselves by taking Metatron down with them, falling in the Abyss as ghosts for eternity. [1]

Stage adaptation

From December 2003 to March 2004, London's Royal National Theatre staged an adaptation of ''His Dark Materials''. The role of Lord Asriel was played by Timothy Dalton (Dalton played James Bond, whom Daniel Craig, who stars as Lord Asriel in the film, also plays).

Film adaptation

On August 18, 2006, it was announced that Daniel Craig will play the role of Lord Asriel in the forthcoming film adaptation ''. 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 July 14, 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 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].

Sources

http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/srafopedia/index.php/Lord_Asriel

References and notes

1.
Nicole and Paul's dark materials ''Daily Mail'' 14 July 2006 (Accessed 18 July 2006).
2. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (2007) ''IMDb'' (Accessed 18 July 2006)