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6.6.3
 
Theology and children’s fantasy: The modern role of God and 
angels
In the following, we are going to examine the important role religion, ethics, god, 
angels and the entire theological background play in contemporary fantasy novels for 
children. In our multi-media age where society’s spiritual disorientation is being lamented 
everywhere, British fantasy for children occupies itself increasingly with philosophical and 
ethical issues. The profoundness with which these topics are discussed often takes on that of 
“high literature”. Important elements are questions concerning the existence, absence or 
interference of God, the nature, tasks and meaning of theology, but also the preoccupation 
with the phenomenon of angels. Contemporary authors often inquire into the possible 
existence and nature of those heavenly beings, their manifestations and roles, as well as their 
influence on the spiritual well-being of the modern human. In our corpus, several novels 
concern themselves with these issues, foremost angels. Each has its very own strategy and 
approach. By comparing and contrasting them, we get a wide spectrum of contemporary 
views on angels and the role they can play in our lives.
Almond’s debut novel Skellig confronts both characters and readers with perhaps the 
strangest version of an angel in current British children’s fantasy. The eponymous Skellig 
70
See for example Richard Abanes. Harry Potter: Fantasy oder Magie. Paderborn: Christliche 
Verlagsbuchhandlung Wedel, 2001, and Anelli, Harry, A History, pp. 177-202. 

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initially shocks by his degree of differentness. Discovered by the main character Michael
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in 
a derelict garage, he looks very dirty and nothing points to the fact that he is an angel.
72
Skellig contradicts every picture one might have formed about angels. The author does away 
with the cliché of a radiant being in a long gown adorned with wings. Instead, Almond’s dark-
haired and black-suited angel is as run down as his surroundings. Apathetic, he vegetates in a 
dark corner, covered in dead flies and has stinking breath.
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Skellig’s hunger is only partially 
stilled by insects, beer and the odd Chinese takeaway. Strangely enough, not only does he 
suffer from human ailments like hunger and thirst, but also from severe arthritis and chronic 
pains. This negative mould of traditional angels strikes as essentially alien. Yet, it is this 
abnormality which fascinates and spellbinds the reader. Skellig is stranded, abandoned and 
hopeless. The initial feelings of disgust and revulsion, which are rather paradox in face of an 
angel, soon yield to pity and compassion for his hard lot. It would seem that the angel himself 
is in desperate need for help. Literally hungry for human warmth, Skellig’s needs almost 
outweigh those of the main character and his family, who fear for the life of Michael’s 
newborn sister. In addition to the baby’s severe heart condition and the family’s instability 
resulting from it, Michael cannot rely on a stable environment outside his home, either. After 
a recent move, the boy is uprooted and still friendless. Despite all these adverse 
circumstances, the apparently hopeless venture develops into a rescue-mission not only for the 
baby, but also for Michael and Skellig themselves.
Where traditional angels are either prayed for, called or sent, Skellig is stumbled 
across. Still, he is needed and requires help in return. The relationship between Skellig, 
Michael and his new-found friend Mina is one of mutual support for a new start in life. On the 
one hand, Skellig performs the classic task of comforter and consoler, giving moral stability 
to the persons in need. On the other hand, he too benefits from charitable acts. Rather 
unconventional for angels, the attention Skellig receives consists not only of immaterial love 
and affection but also of cod liver oil and food. Optically more human tramp than angel, 
Skellig has very down-to-earth needs. This is what makes him so interesting and believable, 
since they are universal experiences for all humans. Hunger and pain having subdued him, he 
just wants to be left alone in his misery. By sharing the secret of the angel and by looking 
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The author’s naming of the main characters, Skellig and Michael, hints at the islands in the South-West of 
Ireland. The largest, Skellig Michael, is a listed UNESCO site. Thus distinguished, Skellig and Michael’s 
symbiosis forms an inseparable whole.
72 
David Almond. Skellig. London: Hodder Children’s Books, 1998, p. 1.
73
Almond, Skellig, pp. 7, 28. 

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after him together, Michael and the neighbours’ girl Mina become friends. Mina rightly 
suspects that there is more to their foundling than meets the eye. Her curiosity is rewarded 
when she takes off the angel’s jacket that concealed his wings as an ugly hump.
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Against 
tradition, Almond’s angel conceals rather than shows off his wings. When they are eventually 
unfurled, what we see is not a transcendental being in all its splendour but an extremely sad 
and tormented one. Touched by this picture of misery, the children resolve to alleviate 
Skellig’s suffering. Still children, they do not have much power themselves but do what they 
can for their newfound friend. In order to avoid the angel’s detection, Michael and Mina 
remove him from the garage and take him to the attic of an abandoned house in the 
neighbourhood. By transferring Skellig from a very low level to a higher one, the children 
symbolically elevate him, instinctively taking him closer to heaven.
With a sure instinct for stark contrasts, the author produces strong effects in his novels 
by the intended clashing of expectations and encountered realities. Accordingly, both 
atmosphere and setting of the key scene of Skellig are discordant. Littered by owl droppings, 
the attic, just like the garage, is far from being a special place. As inadequate a site for any 
spiritual experience as it appears to be, it is here that Michael, Mina and Skellig find inner 
peace. Suspended between heaven and earth, angel and children share the most intense 
moments together. With their sorrow momentarily taken off them, they can concentrate on 
their innermost feelings and concerns.
Above all, the attic is a place of transition. Firstly, it offers shelter to the coming and 
going tawny owls. Secondly, for Skellig, the place is one step closer to healing, heaven and 
eventually to his next task. Thirdly, for the children, the time in the attic has a big impact on 
the further development of their characters and lives. It is a crucial experience of inner 
healing. In combination with the intense feelings of community, friendship, self-awareness 
and belonging this furthers them on their way to maturity. Their unity and close bond are 
expressed by the three of them taking hands and forming a circle. Having neither beginning 
nor end, the ring is the symbol of eternity and perfect harmony. Whatever lies outside of this 
circle momentarily fades out, allowing them to find the way to their innermost selves. The 
intensity of their shared feelings is symbolised further by the strong allusions to the Holy 
Trinity.
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Still holding hands, all three rise into the air, where, adorned with transparent 
wings, the children strongly resemble angels themselves. This levitation marks their lightness 
74
Ibd., p. 89. 
75
Ibd., p. 110.

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and conveys their edifying emotions. Love indeed gives them wings. All this happens against 
the unconventional background of the lofty setting. Skellig knows the inner truth when he 
tells Michael and Mina: “Pair of angels, he said. That’s what you are.”
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Fed by the owls and looked after by the boy and the girl, Skellig regains his strength 
and even starts flying again. In his own way of saying good-bye, Skellig has carved a heart 
shape into the floorboards. Three small white feathers, the symbol of their trinity, lay in its 
centre. Just as Skellig works wonders within their intimate circle, he heals Michael’s baby 
sister. During a nightly encounter with the angel the Mother witnesses the dreamlike 
“transformation” of the infant.
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On Skellig’s leave, everybody’s situation has improved. The angel has found the 
comfort he needed. Michael and Mina have become friends, thus giving Michael the stability 
he lacked. The baby sister has overcome her dangerous illness and the parents have re-found 
their peace. So Skellig’s presence has culminated in a successful family reunification after a 
serious crisis. Not only did he bring back balance and harmony but also love and hope. His 
future remains cloudy, yet one can expect him to appear again in the strangest of places, to be 
stumbled across by someone else in need. The story continues, only elsewhere. Almond’s 
angel may satisfy the needs of all those involved; yet, despite the happy ending, the reader is 
left with many unanswered questions. No one can satisfactorily explain Skellig’s nature or 
presence. Again it is Mina who offers a wise and mature insight into the things between 
heaven and earth that elude man.
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Sometimes too many questions do not lead any further and 
it is wiser to accept strange things without having to know their innermost secrets. This is 
what keeps life mysterious and interesting.
In the current landscape of British Children’s fantasy, Pullman’s His Dark Materials 
stand out as novels with a most complex and profound philosophical background. Particularly 
inspired by John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667/ 1674), Pullman questions the power and 
role of God, inquires into the nature of angels and explores the possibility of an underworld. 
Throughout the trilogy, allusions, parallels, re-workings or open contradiction to the word of 
the Bible are the main thread by which the author orientates himself. The main characters 
Will and Lyra are modelled on the biblical Adam and Eve. Whereas their biblical 
predecessors forfeited their chance, Lyra and Will can and should seize theirs. However, they 
76
Ibd., p. 157.
77
Ibd., p. 150.
78
Ibd., p. 131.

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are to be kept unaware of their roles, so that they act in an unbiased way. Pullman’s couple 
appear in reverse order and priority. Will does not figure until the second volume, so Lyra 
clearly dominates the couple as well as the plot. Unlike the biblical Eve, the girl does not 
seduce Adam, i.e. Will, by means of a forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Instead, 
they mutually discover love and realise that Dust means understanding. Therefore, in His