Dr Carne

"I see the Master as a man having terrible choices to make; whatever he chooses will do harm, but maybe if he does the right thing, a little less harm will come about than if he chooses wrong."

—John Faa

Dr Carne
Biographical information
Age	Over 70
Title(s)	Master
Physical information
Gender	Male
Dæmon
settled as	a raven
Affiliation
World	Lyra's world
Occupation	Master of Jordan College
Loyalty	Jordan College

Dr Carne was the Master of Jordan College. His dæmon had the form of a raven, and he had a manservant named Cousins.

Biography

Dr Carne attempted to dispose of Lord Asriel by poisoning a decanter of Tokay which Asriel was to drink. He sat next to the Librarian when Asriel made his presentation and unsuccessfully attempted to argue against funding the Lord's next expedition.

He later gave the alethiometer to Lyra Silvertongue, warning her to keep it a secret from Marisa Coulter.

Abilities and skills

• Alethiometrist: Dr Carne was capable of reading an alethiometer.

Relationships

Charles

Charles, the Librarian at Jordan College was an old friend. The Master confided in him about his plan to murder Lord Asriel.

Dæmon

Dr Carne's dæmon took the form of an old female raven, who often settled on his shoulder.

Behind the scenes

• In The Golden Compass, Dr Carne is portrayed by Jack Shepherd. In original cuts of the film, Dr Carne is arrested early on by the Magisterium.
• In the new TV series adaptation, he will be portrayed by Clarke Peters.
• Dr Carne's dæmon was named Leonor for the BBC Radio dramatization. This name has etymological similarity to the name of the deceased wife, Lenore, who has central significance in Edgar Allen Poe's dark narrative poem The Raven.

Appearances

• Northern Lights
• The Golden Compass (film)