The Golden Compass Dog Names

Salcilia is the name of Roger Parslow's daemon in The Golden Compass. Daemons are animal companions where part of a person's spirit resides outside of their body. These animal companions are found in an alternate world where a powerful church called the Magisterium acts like a governing body. Salcilia often appears as a dog in the series, but she never reaches the age where she settled into a form. While her usual form is that of a terrier dog, she has also been seen as a rabbit, fly, moth, sparrow, cat, mouse, butterfly, or ferret. Eventually, Roger is murdered, which also ends the life of his daemon Salcilia.

Lyra is the name of the main character in The Golden Compass. The author of the book How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain named his Golden Retriever puppy after Lyra from The Golden Compass, a book that his family enjoyed reading. The author, Gregory Berns, talks about how his family wanted another dog after the loss of their Pug. Berns discusses how Lyra impacts his life in the book as well as his family's lives. In the book, he also uses science to try to answer questions about how dogs love humans using MRI scans of dogs' brains.

Daniel Craig plays Lord Asriel in the movie version of The Golden Compass. An avid dog-lover, Craig is known for showing off his precious pooch Spinee, a yellow Labrador Retriever. In fact, Craig loves his dog so much that he often tweets about Spinee. After Spinee had to have a risky surgery, the actor asked his Twitter followers to pray for the dog. He then kept his followers updated to Spinee's condition as she recovered from the anesthetic and surgery. Spinee might not be named after a character from The Golden Compass, but she is part of the family all the same.

Actress Dakota Blue Richards plays main character Lyra Belacqua in the movie version of The Golden Compass. Therapy Dog Dakota shares a name with the actress. Dog Dakota, who has his own Facebook page under the name Dakota DeSalvo, is a therapy dog who quickly became the star of the Southern Ocean Medical Center Donor Appreciation Reception earlier this year. Dakota is known for his ability to comfort hospital patients. Dakota loves reading, so here's to hoping that he gets a chance to experience The Golden Compass sometime soon.