Iofur Raknison is a "panserbjørn"---an armor-wearing, intelligent polar bear in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. He only appears in the first book, The Golden Compass/Northern Lights. Binomial name Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774 The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus), aka white bear aka northern bear aka sea bear, is a large bear native to the Arctic. ... Philip Pullman Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946), is a British writer, educated at Exeter College, Oxford, who is the best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels and a number of other books, purportedly for children, but attracting increasing attention by adult readers. ... The trilogy, in order of succession from left to right. ... Northern Lights (published in the US as The Golden Compass) is the first novel in the His Dark Materials series, written by British novelist Philip Pullman, and published in 1995. ... Northern Lights is a common name for the polar aurorae in the northern hemisphere. ...

Iofur Raknison is the king of all the panserbjørne and ruler of Svalbard, but wishes for more. He wants to be the equal of a human---to have a daemon and be baptized a Christian. To this end, he has commanded the bears to build a palace of stone, and induced them to wear gold and silver ornaments---ornaments that they had traditionally despised as beneath them. The term Daemon has several meanings: Daemon (mythology) - see also Demon Daemon (computer software), a background process Dæmon (His Dark Materials) in the Philip Pullman trilogy of novels His Dark Materials Daemon (Warhammer) Daemon (Warcraft) Daemon Sadi (SaDiablo) is a character in the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ...

Iofur has a secret: the fact that he killed his own father---a fact that the other bears do not know. Lyra Belacqua divines this with the use of her alethiometer, while convincing Iofur that she is the daemon of Iorek Byrnison, an armored bear driven into exile by Iofur for opposing his claims. Her knowledge convinces Iofur that she is telling the truth about being a daemon, and his will to believe that he, too, can have a daemon allows Lyra to manipulate him into a duel with Iorek. After his loss of the duel, and his life, Iorek is proclaimed the king, and his first command is that the bears discard their pseudo-human trinkets and tear down Iofur's palace. Lyra Belacqua is a fictional character created by Philip Pullman and the heroine of the His Dark Materials trilogy. ... In the Philip Pullman trilogy of novels His Dark Materials, an alethiometer is a device that tells the truth. ... Iorek Byrnison is a Panserbjørne (armoured bear) from Philip Pullmans trilogy His Dark Materials. ...