Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman is an English novelist best known for the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and the children’s novel The Ruby in the Smoke.
His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy follows Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry across parallel worlds. This trilogy is Pullman’s best-known work and develops his most sustained engagement with theology and authority.
Dæmon: In His Dark Materials, a dæmon is the animal embodiment of a person’s inner self. Dæmons make identity visible and allow Pullman to dramatize childhood, intimacy, and separation.
Theology in His Dark Materials: Theology in His Dark Materials concerns the trilogy’s treatment of God, organized religion, and moral authority. Pullman’s story makes religious power a central political and ethical conflict.
Exeter College, Oxford: Exeter College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Pullman studied English at Exeter College, the academic setting of his early literary formation.
C. S. Lewis: C. S. Lewis was a British writer and Christian apologist, best known for The Chronicles of Narnia. Pullman’s trilogy is often contrasted with Lewis’s Christian fantasy, especially over theology and moral authority.
Northern Lights: The first His Dark Materials novel follows Lyra through a world where human souls appear as animal companions. Its opening establishes the trilogy’s parallel-world setting and introduces Lyra’s search for Roger.
Alethiometer: An alethiometer is a fictional instrument that answers questions through symbolic dials. Lyra’s instrument makes truth-seeking a recurring action rather than an abstract theme.
Religious criticism: Religious criticism examines beliefs, institutions, and practices through skeptical or analytical arguments. Pullman’s public reputation is closely tied to his critique of authoritarian religion.
John Milton: John Milton was a seventeenth-century English poet and author of Paradise Lost. Milton’s epic poem supplied Pullman with a major source for His Dark Materials.
J. R. R. Tolkien: J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer and philologist who created Middle-earth. Tolkien offers a contrasting model of mythic world-building and the moral role of power.