Panserbjørn

Iorek Byrnison, king of the armoured bears.

"When bears act like people, perhaps they can be tricked. When bears act like bears, perhaps they can't. No bear would normally drink spirits. Iorek Byrnison drank to forget the shame of exile, and it was only that which let the Trollesund people trick him."

—Serafina Pekkala

The armoured bears (pl. panserbjørne), also known as the panserbjorne, was a species of sapient polar bear. Panserbjørne were sentient and capable of speaking human languages. They were exceptionally difficult to deceive.

Physical traits

The armoured bear was similar to the polar bear in appearance. However, the bear had opposable thumbs and was very dexterous, capable of skilled metalworking. Their paws were covered in horny skin an inch or more thick, each claw was as long as a child's hand, and as sharp as a knife. They had notably small, black eyes.

Armour

The bear's fashioned their own armour from sky-iron. As they matured, they forged the pieces one by one. By the time they were adults, they had a complete suit. The bear considered their armour to be their soul.

Society

The armoured bears (Panserbjørne in Danish) were generally solitary creatures, but they had a loose society on the island of Svalbard. They were governed by a king who was usually determined by bloodline, but could be elected by combat.

Under the reign of Iofur Raknison, armoured bear society became more human-like. He built a palace and had plans for a university on the island of Svalbard. Acting like a human made Iofur less able to perceive deception and so he was defeated by Iorek Byrnison who restored armoured bear culture to its previous, more primitive state.

When the inter-dimensional rift created by Lord Asriel changed the climate of Svalbard, Iorek Byrnison led the armoured to the Himalayas. They soon realised, however, that the ecosystem of the mountains was unable to support them.

Notable Armoured bears

Some important known panserbjørne were:

• Iorek Byrnison
• Søren Eisarson
• Hjalmur Hjalmurson
• Iofur Raknison
• Ragnar Lokisson

Etymology

Panserbjørn is Norwegian and Danish for armoured bear. "Bjørn" is cognate with Old English "beorn", which also means bear.

Behind the scenes

• Early UK editions of the novels had armoured bear instead of ice bear. This was clearly a mistake as "panserbjørn" translated easily into Norwegian and Danish as "armoured bear" while "panzerbørne" is a grammatically incorrect way of saying "armoured children" in Danish.

Appearances

• Northern Lights
• The Golden Compass (film)
• The Golden Compass (video game)
• The Subtle Knife
• The Amber Spyglass
• Once Upon a Time in the North
• Peril of the Pole