The Bear Necessities.

I met Iorek Byrnison tonight. Iorek is the armoured bear in His Dark Materials. He’s one of my three favourite characters, along with Lyra Silvertongue and Serafina Pecula (Queen of the warlike witches.) I said I like bears and witches, didn’t I? There’s a good chance that I’ll be meeting Serafina next week. If I remember correctly from the book which I read eleven years ago, she and her clan come from somewhere in Eastern Europe – maybe Romania, maybe the Czech Republic, I don’t rightly remember – so I do hope she has the accent. Makes all the difference, you know. It does.

As for bears, I’ve been in awe of them since I was a kid. Of all the animals in all the world, the bear is the only one I revere. And for those who know the story of His Dark Materials, I do believe that if I had a daemon, it would be a bear – starting as a baby Himalayan Brown Bear and growing into a mighty grizzly as I found my feet in life (probably not a Polar Bear because I hate snow.)

Witches are more of a mystery to me. As far as I’m aware I only ever knew one, and she was neither warlike nor from Eastern Europe. But she did tell me a few interesting things before I moved house to a different part of the country and never saw her again.

Postscript

1. Lyra continued to evoke a sense of the Lady B in flashes tonight. I wonder whether she watches it.

2. I think I should add that bears also scare me witless.

3. I had an email from the priestess half an hour ago. She’s still threatening to come and visit me after Christmas. Pity the old roar is now reduced to a weakly grumble. Old bears have little to offer but stories.