Chapter 6, Lighted Fliers Summary

Lee Scoresby arrives in Nova Zembla in search of Lyra and information about Stanislaus Grumman. The men in the bar of a hotel tell Lee what they have seen and what rumors they have heard. Grumman was considered a shaman by residents of Nova Zembla and had his skull trepanned. The men confirm that Grumman was interested in studying and measuring star light and the aurora, and was also a formidable man. Lee is directed to the observatory. He travels there with a Tarter dog sled runner who explains that the changes happening in the world, like the shifting of the magnetic poles, happened before, long in the past, and that it is part of a huge war that is going to happen, just like it did many thousands of years ago.

The astronomers at the observatory tell Lee...