Hit: Subtle Knife Meanings

[Shelley McCoy <mccoys@TEN-NASH.TEN.K12.TN.US>]

Here is a summary of the responses to the question about what Aeshaettr
(sp?) means:
*******************************
This is from the Random House web site.

   http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/subtleknife/glossary.html

   The Subtle Knife: also known as teleutaia makhaira, the last knife of
all,
   or Æsahættr an object of extraordinary and devastating power with the
   ability to cut invisible "windows" that can be used as gateways between
the
   worlds. There is nothing sharper - or more deadly.

   Marilyn Harfst, LMS
   Hannah Beardsley Middle School
   Crystal Lake, IL
   harfst@voyager.net
*************************
Being a fan of the trilogy, the question got under my skin and I kept
looking.
I broke the word down a bit, suspecting that Pullman grabbed parts of real
words to create his vocabulary.
Esa is a Norse name meaning inciter, or stirs to war.  See this site:
http://www.vikinganswerlady.org/ONWomensNames.htm

het in the Oxford English Dictionary means atom.

So maybe Esahettr means Atom stirrer, or atom inciter?  That's mostly guess
work though.  It would be interesting to hear what Pullman himself says.
 Perhaps the student could e-mail him through the Random House site.
----
Tony Doyle, Librarian
Livingston High School
1617 Main St.
 Livingston, CA 95334
****************************
The knife was called "Aesahaettr" ( with the "A" and "E" joined as in the
old
spelling of "Aetna", the volcano in Italy).
As far as I can determine, using different versions of the spelling, the
word
has no meaning. It's good that your student was interested enough to seek
your
help, though. Inquiring minds are the best minds!!

Judy Barbour
Western Middle School Library Aide
Elon, NC
*******************
Still no definitive answer.  Maybe asking Pullman himself is the only way,
but who knows whether he'd tell!

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