His Dutch Materials wrote:Since I'm new to this forum, it's possible that these questions have already been asked, but I'd just like to know an answer!
Ok, my first question is about the form of dæmons. If I remember correctly one of the workers of Mrs. Coulter has a moth-formed dæmon. Also, at the beginning of Northern Lights, when Lyra is staying with Mrs. Coulter there's a woman with a butterfly-formed dæmon.
I found this sort of weird, because it seems very dangerous to have a very small insect-like dæmon. I mean, someone could easily sit on it, which would kill the dæmon and yourself! Maybe there's some sort of protection for this? Does anyone know?
Firstly, bear in mind that PP didn't work out the life-cycle of
Daemonis Vulgaris when he first started to write
HDM. He was - in his words - still discovering more things about them at the end of
TAS.
In other words, he left lots of room for speculation. This is a Good Thing, but it means that there are not necessarily any definitive answers to your questions.
Adele Starminster's daemon (I named him Lysander) may seem vulnerable, but although he's small he's also very mobile. He can get out of trouble quickly. Bear in mind that the physics of small things makes them less vulnerable to harm from, e.g., falling.
To speculate further, you might imagine that the daemon-touching taboo in Lyra's world might extend to a sort of sixth sense that tells you when you're (too) close to another person's daemon. People who were deficient in that sense would be regarded as socially maladroit.
My second question is about the names of dæmons. Who gives a daemon his of her name? Is it the parents of the born baby? Or maybe the parents' dæmons? It's all very vague to me!
Yes, it is. I would suggest that they may be no single simple answer to this question.
