In an early, alternate Dune outline by Frank Herbert called
Spice Planet, the Fremen are called the "Free Men", convicts who had been transported to "Duneworld" to work for the spice operation of the "Hoskanners" in exchange for a reduction in their sentence.[1]
Plot
In
Shaddam IV
, placing himself on the throne.
In
Ghanima
, and a blinded Paul follows Fremen tradition and walks into the desert to die.
As regent for Leto II and Ghanima, Alia struggles to control Paul's virtually uncontrollable religion in
Muriz
from a cast out tribe of Fremen.
By
Sheeana
and a few Fremen descendants living on other planets.
Characteristics
In the series, the "native" Fremen of Arrakis live in communities called
sietches, each with its own leader, called a naib, who has ascended to the position by challenging his predecessor and proving himself the strongest in the tribe. The Fremen system of justice relies primarily on trial by combat, and individuals may challenge each other hand-to-hand duels to the death over matters of etiquette, law, or honor. The victor of these challenges becomes responsible for the wife, children, and certain possessions of the defeated.[3] The Fremen pay enormous spice bribes to the Spacing Guild to keep orbital space above Arrakis free of spy satellites,[3] and they have a long-term plan to terraform the planet.[4]
Each sietch also has a Sayyadina, a wise woman trained in the spiritual traditions of her people who can serve as a spiritual leader or as an acolyte to a holy woman who is the Fremen version of a Bene Gesserit
The Fremen worship the giant sandworms of Arrakis as manifestations of the earth deity they call Shai'Hulud. Though they cross the desert on foot in a specifically nonrhythmic pattern to avoid vibrations that would attract the deadly and destructive creatures, the Fremen are also able to ride the worms by "calling" and mounting them in a ritualized, controlled manner. As part of the sandworm life cycle, the spice drug melange is everywhere on Arrakis, and the Fremen diet is rich with it. Such a level of exposure to the spice tints the sclera, cornea and iris of the user to a dark shade of blue, called "blue-in-blue" or "the Eyes of Ibad".[5]
Water conservation
Herbert illustrates that living in the desert with no natural sources of water has spurred the Fremen to ritualize and build their society around the collection, storage, and conservative use of all moisture. They conserve the water distilled from their dead, consider spitting a sign of respect, and put a great cultural reverence on tears. Water is collected from the atmosphere in
stillsuit, a special body-enclosing suit designed to collect and recycle all the moisture the body releases through perspiration, urine, feces, and even the exhalation of water vapor in the breath. The special fabric is a micro-sandwich designed to dissipate heat and filter wastes while reclaiming moisture. The water is then held in catchpockets and made available to drink through a tube. A Fremen in a well-kept suit can survive weeks in the desert without any other source of water.[6] Herbert even suggests in Dune that the Fremen have adapted to the environment physiologically, with their blood able to clot almost instantly in order to prevent water loss.[7]
The dangerous conditions of Arrakis, which ensure that only the strongest survive, have also forged the Fremen into superior hand-to-hand combatants. In Dune, Paul trains his Fremen forces in the use of the "weirding way", the Fremen name for the specialized Bene Gesserit
Sardaukar soldiers, but have done the impossible and captured some as well. Herbert also writes that "Paul recalled the stories of the Fremen—that their children fought as ferociously as the adults." In the novel Shaddam notes, "I only sent in five troop carriers with a light attack force to pick up prisoners for questioning. We barely got away with three prisoners and one carrier. Mind you, Baron, my Sardaukar were almost overwhelmed by a force composed mostly of women, children, and old men."[3]
In Herbert's fictional universe,
maula pistols, lances and crossbows to great effect, but the most deadly and prized possession of a Fremen warrior is the crysknife. A crysknife is a personally-tuned blade ground from the crystal tooth of a sandworm, and is the formal and sacred weapon of the Fremen. It is a milk-white, double-edged curved knife, the blade about 20 centimetres (8 in) long. The crysknife comes in two forms, fixed and unfixed. Unfixed knives need to be stored in proximity to an electrical field produced by the human body or they will disintegrate after a period of time. Fixed crysknives are put through chemical processes to keep them permanently intact.[8] In Children of Dune, Leto II notes that "The crysknife dissolves at the death of its owner."[9] All young Fremen must go through a ritual confirming their adulthood, which is sealed with the gift of a crysknife to the adolescent warrior. According to the religious beliefs of the Fremen, a drawn crysknife must not be sheathed until it draws blood. The Fremen also forbid outsiders from possessing crysknives, and in Dune the Lady Jessica refers to "the fabled crysknife of Arrakis, the blade that had never been taken off the planet, and was known only by rumor and wild gossip." When the Shadout Mapes gives one to Jessica, the Fremen woman warns, "Who sees that knife must be cleansed or slain!"[3]
In the Dune games
The Fremen have been featured in the
Atreides banner. In Dune II (1992) and Dune 2000 (1998), the Fremen are special Atreides units, native elite guerillas invoked from the Palace. In Emperor: Battle for Dune
^Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. We change it...slowly but with certainty...to make it fit for human life. Our generation will not see it, nor our children nor our children's children nor the grandchildren of their children...but it will come...Open water and tall green plants and people walking freely without stillsuits.
^Herbert, Frank (1965). "Terminology of the Imperium: Ibad, Eyes of". Dune.
Game Rant
. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
^Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. [Jessica] tipped up the point, drew a delicate scratch with the blade's edge above Mapes' left breast. There was a thick welling of blood that stopped almost immediately. Ultrafast coagulation, Jessica thought. A moisture-conserving mutation?
^Herbert, Frank (1965). "Terminology of the Imperium: Crysknife". Dune.
