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Lyra's World Trivia Quiz

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" was voted number 3 in the poll to find Britain's Best Read in 2003. This quiz is all about Lyra's world, which is different to ours in many ways.

A multiple-choice quiz by Elanor. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Elanor

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
161,921

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
2339

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. At the beginning of "Northern Lights", the first book of the trilogy (also known as "The Golden Compass" in the US), where does Lyra Belacqua live? Hint

Magdalen College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Jordan College, Oxford

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Question 2 of 10

2. What word would we use to describe what Lyra calls "anbaric"? Hint

electric

powerful

colourful

amber

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Question 3 of 10

3. What would we call the people known as "experimental theologians" in Lyra's England? Hint

philosophers

teachers

priests

physicists

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Question 4 of 10

4. Cinemas existed in Lyra's world, but without colour or sound.

True

False

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Question 5 of 10

5. Lyra and Roger explore the cellars of their college, and see (as well as sample) some of the many wines and spirits. One of them is brantwijn. What do we call this drink in our world?

Answer: (One Word - a type of alcohol)

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Question 6 of 10

6. What is the name for chocolate in Lyra's world? Hint

chocolate

chocalait

chocolatte

chocolatl

7. Both Lyra's world and our world have a company of trained professional soldiers, employed to serve the Church. The ones in Lyra's world are much more sinister and powerful than ours, however. What are both these forces called? Hint

Swiss Guard

Dutch Guard

French Guard

German Guard

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Question 8 of 10

8. What would Lyra call a photograph? Hint

photogram

pictograph

photovision

pictogram

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which country would be our equivalent of Lyra's Muscovy?

Answer: (One Word - six letters)

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Question 10 of 10

10. What form of transport is common to Lyra's world and ours, although it has become obsolete in ours and is essential in Lyra's? Hint

zeppelin

barge

gyropter

helicopter

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At the beginning of "Northern Lights", the first book of the trilogy (also known as "The Golden Compass" in the US), where does Lyra Belacqua live?

Answer: Jordan College, Oxford

When Lyra first visits the Oxford in Will's world, in "The Subtle Knife", she is shocked to see a totally different building where her Jordan home stood. Jordan College appears to be situated near Exeter College in our world, which is also where Philip Pullman studied.

2. What word would we use to describe what Lyra calls "anbaric"?

Answer: electric

Lyra and Will are confused and intrigued to discover that what Lyra calls "anbaric" is the equivalent to Will's electricity, and that what Will knows as amber is called "electrum" in Lyra's world. Pullman has said in interviews that he took the word "anbaric" from the old Greek word for electricity, which is the root of our word "amber"; (amber producing static electricity when rubbed).

3. What would we call the people known as "experimental theologians" in Lyra's England?

Answer: physicists

In Lyra's world the Church holds a much more powerful role than in ours, similar to the one held by the Catholic Church in pre-Reformation Europe. It controlled the scientfic study of things such as Dark Matter, or Dust.

4. Cinemas existed in Lyra's world, but without colour or sound.

Answer: false

Lyra was enchanted by the movies in Will's Oxford. She claimed to have seen nothing like that before. "We got some things better than you, but this was better than anything we got."

5. Lyra and Roger explore the cellars of their college, and see (as well as sample) some of the many wines and spirits. One of them is brantwijn. What do we call this drink in our world?

Answer: brandy

"Brantwijn" means "burnt wine" in Dutch, and is the origin of our word "brandy". Lyra's world also uses the word "jenniver" for gin, which is very similar to the Dutch word for gin, "genever".

6. What is the name for chocolate in Lyra's world?

Answer: chocolatl

This comes from the original Aztec word for a chocolate drink; chocolate originating from the cocoa bean grown in Central America.

Answer: Swiss Guard

The Swiss Guard in our world are highly trained soldiers (albeit in slightly silly costumes) who are employed to guard the Pope in Rome. In Lyra's world they are based in Geneva, along with the rest of the Church's most powerful bodies.

8. What would Lyra call a photograph?

Answer: photogram

Our word "photograph" comes from the Greek: 'photos' meaning light, and 'graph', an instrument for recording this.

9. Which country would be our equivalent of Lyra's Muscovy?

Answer: Russia

Muscovy was a former name for what later became Russia in our world, and the name carries a clear link to the current city of Moscow. There are many mentions of Muscovy in the novels, which are evidently allusions to the Russia of our world. The novels also contain other parallel country names, including New Denmark (America), New France (Canada?) and Nippon (Japan).

10. What form of transport is common to Lyra's world and ours, although it has become obsolete in ours and is essential in Lyra's?

Answer: zeppelin

Zeppelins were used in our world in the first half of the 20th Century, but were abandoned after several serious accidents. In Lyra's world they appear to hold the place that aircraft do in ours: a method of air transport that is used frequently and by many people.

The world that Lyra knows does not appear to have discovered the jet engine. A gyropter is the word in Lyra's world for what we call a helicopter.

Source: Author Elanor

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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