Philip Pullman has said that the idea for Pantalaimon, Lyra’s daemon, came to him as the solution to a very
practical story-telling problem: how do you show what’s going on in a character’s head, without resorting to
clunky explanations? He continues: “Then I saw what the daemons were, and what they did, and how
important they were, and I realized that they were a very good way into the whole story.” Write an essay
exploring the appeal and function of daemons in Northern Lights.