... is an armoured bear. The armoured bears, also known as panserbjørn in Norwegian, are a race of creatures similar to polar bears, but with human level intelligence and opposable thumbs. They have no dæmons (as do the humans in His Dark Materials) and consider their armour, which is made of meteoric iron, to be their soul.
Iorek is a former king of the armoured bears in Svalbard, but was exiled after killing another bear in a fight. Lyra finds him working in a scrapyard, having lost his armour – which she helps him find. In return he helps Lyra, whom he names Silvertongue. Lyra arranges a fight between Iorek and Iofur, his usurper, which Iorek wins and so regains the throne.
© Haydn Thompson 2019