How Old Were Will and Lyra?

[Yrael]

Erm.. why at the beggining of the audio discs does it say that Lyra is ten? is that suggesting that their journey through the books takes three years?

Can someone quickly answer this question please.

[Zealous Monk]

No i always thought she was between 11 or 12

[JudyHNM]

It seems like the age issues with Lyra and Will have been resolved. Just a point of interest (to me, anyway), Mary Malone was 12 when she was at the party, was given the Marzipan and fell very much in love.

[Yrael]

I don't think that it actually said that Mary was twelve at the time.

[Will's.Lost.Fingers]

Lyra is 11 in the first books,and then 12 in the second and third.Since the first books takes place in several months and the second and the third just a few weeks.Will is 13.

[JudyHNM]

I don't think that it actually said that Mary was twelve at the time.

Yes, it says Mary is twelve in Chapter 33 - "Marzipan"

[Pausert]

I don't think that it actually said that Mary was twelve at the time.

Yes, it says Mary is twelve in Chapter 33 - "Marzipan"

Agreed. I checked because I doubted you.
Owatts, you may be thinking of her second marzipan encounter, the one that occurred when she was an adult.

[Undestined]

When I first read the books I was 14, and since Will and Lyra's age was vague enough that I could really put it anywhere, I pictured Will as 14 and Lyra as 13. But there's really not enough information to pinpoint it exactly. However, one of the biggest sticking points on thie thread has been how long all the action of the books has taken, specifically the *really long walk* through the land of the dead. Somebody said that it could only have been a few days because there was no way to replenish supplies but then...if you did run out of food and water in the Land of the Dead, would you die? Can you die in the afterlife? I think that the Land of the Dead is sufficiently exempt from the laws of time and space that we can really put the time spent there anywhere. I think.

[Trystobefunny]

When I first read the books I was 14, and since Will and Lyra's age was vague enough that I could really put it anywhere, I pictured Will as 14 and Lyra as 13. But there's really not enough information to pinpoint it exactly. However, one of the biggest sticking points on thie thread has been how long all the action of the books has taken, specifically the *really long walk* through the land of the dead. Somebody said that it could only have been a few days because there was no way to replenish supplies but then...if you did run out of food and water in the Land of the Dead, would you die? Can you die in the afterlife? I think that the Land of the Dead is sufficiently exempt from the laws of time and space that we can really put the time spent there anywhere. I think.

Yes you can die in the land of the dead. That’s why all those people that are not aloud to enter the gathering of the dead have to wait in the city. They are waiting for their deaths to take them to the boats.

[Undestined]

But they aren't IN the land of the dead. They're hanging out in the suburbs. Will and Lyra were IN the land of the dead. They got in the boat, left their daemons, and they were in the place where all the dead people are. If they had died there, where would they have gone, Detroit? [/Southparkreference]

[themanontherun]

Will was old enough for me to identify with him, and Lyra was consequently old enough for me to have a school boy crush on her. I think that's all that really matters for any reader

I should mention that I'm in college

[LadySylvia]

And yet they had sex in TAS, which is supposed to put everything in balance?

[Trystobefunny]

And yet they had sex in TAS, which is supposed to put everything in balance?

Some would say...but most do not.

[Jez]

When I first read the books I was 14, and since Will and Lyra's age was vague enough that I could really put it anywhere, I pictured Will as 14 and Lyra as 13. But there's really not enough information to pinpoint it exactly.

Perhaps not enough to pinpoint it exactly, but I think we can get a general idea. Summing up the evidence:

"Lizzie."
"Just Lizzie?"
"Lizzie Brooks."
"And how old are you?"
"Eleven."
Lyra had been told that she was small for her age, whatever that meant. It had never affected her sense of her own importance, but she realised she could use the fact now to make Lizzie shy and nervous and insignificant, and shrank a little as she went into the room.

Bolded for emphasis. Lyra is eleven in NL.

On page 342 of TAS, Mrs Coulter says that 'my daughter is now twelve years old' and that she is 'approaching the cusp of adolescence'. So at some point between NL and TAS, Lyra turned twelve. And if you don't trust Mrs Coulter to be reliable, this quote also confirms it:

He kissed her. She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived thirteen years before.

Depending on how flexible you want to be with 'thirteen years before' and how generous you want to be with the amount of time that has passed until Will and Lyra spend that fateful day together in the mulefa's world, then Lyra is most likely twelve at that point or possibly she might have turned thirteen.

Will's age is slightly harder to guess. I think his age is stated as twelve on the very first page of TSK. Depending on how close he was to his thirteenth birthday at that point and how much time has passed until TAS, I'd say he is either thirteen or has just turned fourteen by the end.

My best guess is that when Will and Lyra had sex or didn't depending on your point of view, Lyra was twelve and Will was thirteen. If anyone has any reasoning or evidence to suggest otherwise, feel free to disagree.

[Peter]

He kissed her. She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived thirteen years before.

Depending on how flexible you want to be with 'thirteen years before' and how generous you want to be with the amount of time that has passed until Will and Lyra spend that fateful day together in the mulefa's world, then Lyra is most likely twelve at that point or possibly she might have turned thirteen.

My best guess is that when Will and Lyra had sex or didn't depending on your point of view, Lyra was twelve and Will was thirteen. If anyone has any reasoning or evidence to suggest otherwise, feel free to disagree.

A child might claim to be a different age than she really is, but there's no reason for Lord Asriel (or PP) to do so at this point. Here, "thirteen" must mean "between thirteen and fourteen", not "nearly thirteen" or "thirteen in a few months", and Lyra must be at least 13 3/4 when her parents die, allowing for gestation time. For Lyra to be "turned thirteen", you'd have to change the text of TAS to read "She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived twelve years before".

[Riali]

He kissed her. She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived thirteen years before.

Depending on how flexible you want to be with 'thirteen years before' and how generous you want to be with the amount of time that has passed until Will and Lyra spend that fateful day together in the mulefa's world, then Lyra is most likely twelve at that point or possibly she might have turned thirteen.

My best guess is that when Will and Lyra had sex or didn't depending on your point of view, Lyra was twelve and Will was thirteen. If anyone has any reasoning or evidence to suggest otherwise, feel free to disagree.

A child might claim to be a different age than she really is, but there's no reason for Lord Asriel (or PP) to do so at this point. Here, "thirteen" must mean "between thirteen and fourteen", not "nearly thirteen" or "thirteen in a few months", and Lyra must be at least 13 3/4 when her parents die, allowing for gestation time. For Lyra to be "turned thirteen", you'd have to change the text of TAS to read "She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived twelve years before".

I think you've added gestation to Lyra's age rather than subtracting it...
If she was conceived between 13 and 14 years ago, then she was born between 12 years 3 months and 13 years 3 months ago.

[Peter]

He kissed her. She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived thirteen years before.

Depending on how flexible you want to be with 'thirteen years before' and how generous you want to be with the amount of time that has passed until Will and Lyra spend that fateful day together in the mulefa's world, then Lyra is most likely twelve at that point or possibly she might have turned thirteen.

My best guess is that when Will and Lyra had sex or didn't depending on your point of view, Lyra was twelve and Will was thirteen. If anyone has any reasoning or evidence to suggest otherwise, feel free to disagree.

A child might claim to be a different age than she really is, but there's no reason for Lord Asriel (or PP) to do so at this point. Here, "thirteen" must mean "between thirteen and fourteen", not "nearly thirteen" or "thirteen in a few months", and Lyra must be at least 13 3/4 when her parents die, allowing for gestation time. For Lyra to be "turned thirteen", you'd have to change the text of TAS to read "She felt as soft and light in his arms as she'd done when Lyra was conceived twelve years before".

I think you've added gestation to Lyra's age rather than subtracting it...
If she was conceived between 13 and 14 years ago, then she was born between 12 years 3 months and 13 years 3 months ago.

You're absolutely right Sorry, Jez.