The River Giant helped Malcolm Polstead and Alice Parslow take La Belle Sauvage and the baby Lyra Belacqua beyond the lock at the garden where people go when they forget.
Appearance and Personality
The Giant was huge, with hair tangled with river reeds below a rusty crown. He had greenish skin and a long beard that trailed down into the water of the River Thames. He carried a trident, implying he may have been a river god or a Giant merman, and stated that he too instruction from Old Father Thames. He was not outwardly malicious towards the trio, with a particularly fondness for Lyra, whom he referred to as 'the babby'.
Behind the Scenes
- The River Giant appears to draw a resemblance to the appearance of Triton in the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts.
- Malcolm's statement that 'maybe he's the god of a little tributary, like Old Father Thames is the god of the main river, perhaps' echoes a theme from Ben Aaronovitch 's Rivers of London series, in which the Thames is ruled by Father Thames, the 'Old Man of the River', at all points above Teddington Lock, whereas the passionate Mama Thames rules all below (and the entire river). The pair's motley collection of teenage children make up the gods of the tributaries, streams and brooks that follow the Thames; these include Beverley Brook, Oxley, Isis, Lady Tyburn, Fleet, Lea, Brent and Ash.