Kerin suggested that a settled form could not be chosen, but could be ‘helped’. Roofers, tilers and steeplejacks had daemons that could fly or fit in a pocket to make ladder work viable. Forms were sometimes linked to professions: both Mr Croker, a woodwork teacher, and Mr Taphouse, a carpenter, had woodpecker dæmons. An example given by Jerry was of a sailor who couldn't leave his ship due to his dæmon settling as a dolphin, and who was only truly happy when he was finally buried at sea.

ĭæmons didn't always settle into a permanent form their humans wanted. When dæmons took the form of an animal, they were never really animals, and all other animals would only be able to sense a human. It may also have been possible to assume the form of an extinct animal. Pan was able to turn into a small dragon and both he and Salcilia could take on the form of gargoyles it is unclear whether dæmons could settle as fictional forms, or if these abilities were a result of youthful creativity that would be lost upon reaching adulthood. This form represented the personality of their human. When the human and their dæmon reached maturity, the dæmon would settle into a permanent form. Asta believed it was a question of feeling ‘moleish’ rather than knowing about them. Sister Fenella did not know how dæmons were able to take forms they had never come across before but her dæmon, Geraint, used to be a mole when he was frightened. Uncertainty in children translated into uncertainty in which form to take. Asta was able to add the characteristics of one animal to another form. Frequent changing of forms and a wide variety of forms were generally thought to be a good indicator of intelligence in a child. This change could be due to emotion, need for a particular skill such as night-vision, or simply a whim. During the childhood of a human, a dæmon could shapeshift into any kind of animal.

2.1 People known to have been separatedĭæmons were named by the dæmons of the child's parents.

Beyond the golden compass