Count Fenring

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Count Fenring
House Corrino
SpouseMargot Fenring
ChildrenMarie Fenring
Relatives
  • Lady Chaola Fenring (mother)
  • Dalak, husband of
    Wensicia

Count Hasimir Fenring is a fictional character in the

Caladan Trilogy
(2020–2022).

Fenring is the longtime friend and advisor to

Shaddam IV, and a formidable fighter. He serves as Shaddam's agent, emissary, or assassin as necessary. Fenring is married to Bene Gesserit Lady Margot
.

Description

In Dune, Shaddam's daughter Princess Irulan writes via epigraph, "My father had only one real friend, I think. That was Count Hasimir Fenring...one of the deadliest fighters in the Imperium." She goes on to describe him as "a dapper and ugly little man".[1] Baron Vladimir Harkonnen calls Fenring "a killer with the manners of a rabbit...the most dangerous kind." The Baron's nephew Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen describes Fenring as "a small man, weak-looking. The face was weaselish with overlarge dark eyes. There was gray at the temples. And his movements—he moved a hand or turned his head one way, then he spoke another way. It was difficult to follow."[2]

As Shaddam's chief counsellor, Fenring is described as "the Emperor's errand boy" in the novel.

Kwisatz Haderach, crippled by a flaw in the genetic pattern—a eunuch, his talent concentrated into furtiveness and inner seclusion."[2]

Storylines

Dune

Prior to the events of Dune, Fenring serves as the Imperial Agent on

breeding program.[3] With the Count's knowledge and acceptance, Margot has been tasked with retrieving Feyd's genetic material through conception.[3] Impressed with Feyd but lamenting his Harkonnen upbringing, Fenring notes, "I can see now why we must have that bloodline".[3]

When Shaddam is forced into a corner by Paul Atreides, the Emperor and his

Reverend Mother Mohiam, realize that Shaddam's only option is treachery. Fenring is summoned and ordered to kill Paul, but refuses, aware that Paul represents the success of the Bene Gesserit breeding program of which Fenring himself is a failure.[2]

In "Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses)" in Dune, Herbert writes that Fenring is a cousin and former childhood companion of Shaddam, and is rumored to have poisoned Shaddam's father,

Salusa Secundus, and Fenring dies in 10,225 A.G.[6]

Prelude to Dune series

The Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson establishes that Fenring's mother is Chaola, a Bene Gesserit and lady-in-waiting to

Fafnir, killed to secure Shaddam's position as heir. In the novel, the Imperial concubines
call Fenring "the Ferret" because of "his narrow face and pointed chin."

In Dune: House Atreides, Fenring assassinates Shaddam's father, Elrood IX, using a slow-acting poison administered on orders from Shaddam himself. Shaddam subsequently gives Fenring the title of Imperial Spice Minister and orders him to supervise Elrood's

atomic weapons
and a biological plague, and threatening to destroy Arrakis. Eventually and with some reluctance, Shaddam again begins following Fenring's advice.

Sandworms of Dune

In

thinking machine
plot to dominate humanity.

In

Muad'Dib with it and nearly killed him"[7] sometime between the events of the novels Dune and Dune Messiah
(1969).

Paul of Dune

Hasimir and Margot are raising Feyd and Margot's daughter — whom they have named

Water of Life to help save him, and he lives; rather than kill the Fenrings, he banishes them to Salusa Secundus into permanent exile with Shaddam, whom they now loathe.[11]

In adaptations

Both Fenring and his wife Margot are omitted from David Lynch's 1984 film Dune.[12]

Fenring plays a minor part in the 2000

John Harrison's expansion of Irulan's role in the adaptation.[15][16][17]

Fenring is also omitted from Denis Villeneuve’s 2024 film Dune: Part Two, although his wife Margot does appear.

The character of Fenring was also to appear in the film adaptation of Dune planned by Alejandro Jodorowsky in the 1970s.[18]

References

  1. Tor.com
    . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Asher-Perrin, Emmet (February 28, 2017). "Rereading Frank Herbert's Dune: Dune, Part Fourteen". Tor.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. ^ Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. p. 329.
  5. ^ Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. The Count focused on Paul, seeing with eyes his Lady Margot had trained in the Bene Gesserit way...
  6. ^ a b Herbert, Frank (1965). "Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses): Count Hasimir Fenring". Dune.
  7. ISBN 0-7653-1293-X
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-7653-1294-5
    .
  9. ^ Herbert/Anderson. Paul of Dune. pp. 172–174.
  10. ^ Herbert/Anderson. Paul of Dune. pp. 447–448, 453–457, 464–465.
  11. ^ a b c Herbert/Anderson. Paul of Dune. pp. 488–510.
  12. ^ Bove, Kate (August 28, 2023). "Who Is Tim Blake Nelson Playing in Dune 2?". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  13. ^ Elderkin, Beth (April 23, 2020). "A Guide to Dune's Gargantuan Cast of Characters". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  14. ^ "Cast - Mini-Series - Dune - Behind The Scenes". DuneInfo.com. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  15. ^ Paterson, Robert (November 30, 2000). "Dune's Princess Irulan Speaks". Space.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2001. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  16. ^ Fritz, Steve (December 4, 2000). "Dune: Remaking the Classic Novel". Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008 – via Cinescape.com.
  17. ^ Dagan, Carmel (November 29, 2000). "Frank Herbert's Dune". Variety. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  18. Métal Hurlant. Archived from the original
    on April 29, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2014 – via DuneInfo.com.
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