The Alethiometer
The needle spins to reveal the hidden truth behind every question asked.
The alethiometer is a truth-telling device in His Dark Materials which can answer any question; it is also known as a symbol reader. It has a ring of 36 standard symbols on its rim, each with several levels of meaning; the anchor, for example, can mean steadfastness, hope or the sea. To phrase a question, three adjustable levers are pointed at symbols, and a fourth lever, made of an alloy sensitive to Dust, swings around and stops on different symbols to give the answer. Six alethiometers were constructed in Lyra's world, and no more can be built, because the special treatment of the rare metal they depend on has been lost.
Quick Facts
- First appearance
- Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)
- Primary user in story
- Lyra Belacqua
Facts from the source article.
Background
Alethiometers are one of the methods by which Dust is able to communicate with humans. Each symbol has several levels of meaning, and the number of times the lever stops at a symbol indicates which level is intended. The reader has to hold the level of meaning for each chosen symbol in their head; Lyra, unusually, is able to read it intuitively. Oxford has an alethiometer in its library, read by Hannah Relf; various other universities have one, and one was missing until Malcolm Polstead found it and it was given to the Master of Jordan College for safekeeping.
Did You Know?
- The word alethiometer is derived from the Greek words aletheia (truth) and metron (measure).
- The alethiometer has a ring of 36 standard symbols, but the instruments are all different; some have more elaborate decoration.
- At the time of Northern Lights, only two alethiometers other than Lyra's are known to have survived.
More in Theology & Metaphysics
Elsewhere in His Dark Materials
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