Lyra Silvertongue's alethiometer

Lyra Silvertongue's alethiometer
Made	Before 1612
Use	Communicating with Dust
Owner	Gerard Bonneville Malcolm Polstead Lyra Silvertongue (kept by Dr Carne until she first left Jordan College)
Location	Monastery in Bohemia Jordan College

The Lyra Silvertongue's alethiometer was one of only six alethiometers made and was given to Lyra the day before she was set to live with Marisa Coulter.

History

It was constructed by Pavel Khunrath some time before 1612. 1608 was engraved in Roman numerals (MDCVIII) on the central disc with Khunrath's name being engraved just above that.

According to Dame Hannah Relf, the alethiometer "passed from one set of thieves to another for centuries." At some point it was in the possession of a traveler who took shelter in a monastery in Bohemia. The monks stole it from him during his stay. Subsequently Gerard Bonneville stole it from the monks (although Olivier Bonneville's mother told young Olivier that the monks had given Gerard the alethiometer).

Bonneville kept the alethiometer, and had it in a rucksack in his dinghy during the flood of 1986. When he pursued Malcolm Polstead, Alice Parslow and the infant Lyra Belacqua to Lord Murdstone's house, Malcolm took the rucksack, hoping that it might be useful as something to bargain with. Later, on the Enchanted Island, Malcolm opened the rucksack and discovered the alethiometer. The alethiometer was in a wooden box decorated with exotic marquetry. The box had a complex mechanism for opening, which Malcolm was able to discover. He used the box to trick the fairy Diania into giving up Lyra, and kept the alethiometer.

The alethiometer went with Lyra to Jordan College when she gained scholastic sanctuary, having been gifted by Malcolm. Shortly before her departure to London with Marisa Coulter, Dr Carne gave Lyra the alethiometer, warning her to tell no-one of it.

The alethiometer was stolen once again by Carlo Boreal, when he offered Lyra a lift to Summertown. When Lyra and Will visited Limefield House, he told them he would only exchange it for the subtle knife. Will and Lyra stole the alethiometer back using the knife, narrowly managing to escape Boreal and his guest, Marisa Coulter.

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Appearances

• Northern Lights
• Northern Lights - The Graphic Novel
• The Golden Compass (film)
• The Golden Compass (video game)
• The Subtle Knife
• The Amber Spyglass
• His Dark Materials (TV series), Series 1, 2
• La Belle Sauvage
• The Secret Commonwealth