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This article refers to elements from Original Dune Pages for this subject as it appears in other canons: |
- "May you die on Caladan![14]"
- ―Ancient Drinking Toast
Caladan, later renamed Dan, was the third planet orbiting the star Delta Pavonis. It was a lush oceanic world, and the ancestral home of House Atreides.
History[]
Caladan was the fiefdom of House Atreides. It was the birthplace of Duke Leto Atreides I, Paul Atreides, and most of Paul's ancestors that had been heads of House Atreides and rulers of the planet. The Atreides' traditional seat was Castle Caladan.
In 10191 AG, House Atreides was ordered to relinquish the fief of Caladan, which had been the family's home for more than 10,000 years. Instead, they were to take control of the fief of Arrakis, which had previously been managed by House Harkonnen, the ancient Atreides enemy.
After the Atreides moved to Arrakis, Count Hasimir Fenring was named Siridar-Absentia of Caladan. However, when House Atreides ascended to the Golden Lion Throne in 10193 AG following the Arrakis Revolt, Caladan once again came under the direct rule of the Atreides. This time, however, the fiefdom of Caladan was given to Gurney Halleck, who Paul trusted to rule in his absence.
In the 5000 years between the events of the Arrakis Revolt and the time the Lost Ones returned from The Scattering, Caladan's name was shortened to Dan, and all things pertaining to Dan were known as Danian.
Environment[]
The environment of Caladan was largely focused around rain being a common feature of the planet's meteorology. At numerous times, both Paul and Jessica told stories of how water would fall from the skies in abundance. The landscape, as a result, was scattered with rivers and mountains and hosted a diverse and complex underwater ecosystem. Presumably, although never stated, this complex ecosystem extended to land.
Economy and Culture[]
Caladan maintained a large agricultural industry. Under the Atreides, the planet's economy flourished through orchards (some of which were part of the Atreides family holdings), as well as exports of pundi rice and fine wines. Since much of the planet was ocean, a significant amount of trade on the planet was based on fishing. Indeed, fishing was such a large industry on Caladan that it became ingrained into the culture of its people. Any view of the sea from the coastline would frequently be dotted with fishing trawlers.
Governance and Military[]
The Great House of Atreides ruled all aspects of Caladan and maintained it as a Duchy and siridar fief under the Imperium. The Atreides ruled Caladan through dominance of both the sea and the air, while maintaining a regular standing army that was fiercely loyal. However, shortly before leaving for Arrakis, the Atreides had managed to train a small, elite force that was comparable in ability to the Imperial Sardaukar forces.
In 10,191AG House Atreides was ordered to relinquish the fief of Caladan, which had been the family's home for more than 10,000 years. Instead, they were to take control of the fief of Arrakis, which had previously been managed by House Harkonnen, the ancient Atreides enemy. In their stead, Hasimir Fenring assumed siridar-absentia of Caladan, however seldom ruled from Caladan itself.
After the Desert War in 10193AG, Caladan would later come under the rule of House Atreides once again. Gurney Halleck was given its fief, and shortly after, Jessica would return to Caladan accompanied by her son, Paul, to consecrate his leadership among the Imperium.
Differences to Arrakis[]
Upon their arrival on Arrakis, House Atreides was forced to undergo a significant adjustment, since their ancestral home had been one of lush greenery, large oceans, and rainfall. In contrast to this, Arrakis was a dry, hot and barren land. Early during Atreides rule of Arrakis, the Duke Leto Atreides experienced severe homesickness for Caladan, and did not believe that he would ever be able to call Arrakis his home. In order to ease their crossing, the Duke brought with him many artefacts and foodstuffs from Caladan, so that he, his family, and his men could gain some comfort in the uncertainty that was brought on by the change of fief and subsequent massive migration.
The Fremen of Arrakis appeared to be intrigued by stories of Caladan, since open, large bodies of water and rainfall had been considered a myth by those people for many generations. Moreover, Paul Atreides' seeming ability to know the ways of the desert as if native to them was made more significant by the fact that he had been raised on the lush, wet world of Caladan, where deserts were unknown.
Gallery[]
Illustrations[]
.jpg "The Illustrated Dune - Jessica and Paul meeting with Mohiam at Castle Caladan (art by John Schoenherr).jpg (630 KB)")
Apocrypha[]
![Caladanan [Sic] Exports - Dune: Eye of the Storm card artwork by Mark Poole.](/wiki/File:Eye_of_the_Storm_-_Caladanan_Exports.jpg "Eye of the Storm - Caladanan Exports.jpg (139 KB)")
![[?] Castle Caladan - Dune CCG](/wiki/File:2f0071ce5037b786d9c2d2392be98ba1ec8683947a23c1b4b4f1a5fea7ab4d73-1.png "2f0071ce5037b786d9c2d2392be98ba1ec8683947a23c1b4b4f1a5fea7ab4d73-1.png (170 KB)")
Adaptations[]
.jpg "Caladan planet (1984 Dune film).jpg (13 KB)")
.png "Caladan (concept art by Mark Simpson a.k.a. Jock, cancelled Paramount film, early 2010s).png (229 KB)")
.png "Guild Heighliner in orbit over Caladan - view from above (Dune, 2021).png (434 KB)")
.jpg "Castle Caladan outside panorama (Dune 2021).jpg (292 KB)")
Videos[]
Leitmotifs[]
Some of the screen adaptations also use particular themes or leitmotifs to represent the planet Caladan.
Appearances[]
- Dune
- Dune Messiah (mentioned only)
- Children of Dune (mentioned only)
- God Emperor of Dune (mentioned only)
- Heretics of Dune (mentioned only)
- Chapterhouse: Dune (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ Dune - Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses): LETO ATREIDES (10,140-10,191) A distaff cousin of the Corrinos, he is frequently referred to as the Red Duke. House Atreides ruled Caladan as a siridar-fief for twenty generations until pressured into the move to Arrakis.
- ↑ Dune - Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses): COUNT HASIMIR FENRING (10,133-10,225) A distaff cousin of House Corrino, he was a childhood companion of Shaddam IV. (The frequently discredited Pirate History of Corrino related the curious story that Fenring was responsible for the chaumurky which disposed of Elrood IX.) All accounts agree that Fenring was the closest friend Shaddam IV possessed. The Imperial chores carried out by Count Fenring included that of Imperial Agent on Arrakis during the Harkonnen regime there and later Siridar-Absentia of Caladan
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 4: Paul shrugged. "Then she said a good ruler has to learn his world's language, that it's different for every world. And I thought she meant they didn't speak Galach on Arrakis, but she said that wasn't it at all. She said she meant the language of the rocks and growing things, the language you don't hear just with your ears.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 1: It was a warm night at Castle Caladan, and the ancient pile of stone that had served the Atreides family as home for twenty-six generations bore that cooled-sweat feeling it acquired before a change in the weather.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dune - Chapter 1: Jessica crossed to the window, flung wide the draperies, stared across the river orchards toward Mount Syubi. "You'll learn about . . . the gom jabbar soon enough," she said.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Heretics of Dune - Chapter 24: The other dishes, clockwise to the right from the far end of the table, are aplomage sirian, chukka under glass, coffee with melange (note the hawk crest of the Atreides on the urn), pot-a-oie and, in the Balut crystal bottle, sparkling Caladan wine.
- ↑ Dune - Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune: Now, they came in with deeper plantings -- ephemerals (chenopods, pigweeds, and amaranth to begin), then scotch broom, low lupine, vine eucalyptus (the type adapted for Caladan's northern reaches), dwarf tamarisk, shore pine -- then the true desert growths: candelilla, saguaro, and bis-naga, the barrel cactus.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 3: It was near sunset at Castle Caladan on the day of Paul's ordeal... She stepped close to Paul, stared down at him. "Goodbye, young human. I hope you make it. But if you don't -- well, we shall yet succeed."
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dune - Chapter 16: Paul glanced at Halleck, took in the defensive positions of his guards, looked at the banker until the man lowered the water flagon. He said: "Once, on Caladan, I saw the body of a drowned fisherman recovered. He--"
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 16: "Shall we have our dessert now?" Jessica asked. "I've had our chef prepare a Caladan sweet: pongi rice in sauce dolsa."
- ↑ Dune - Terminology of the Imperium: PUNDI RICE: a mutated rice whose grains, high in natural sugar, achieve lengths up to four centimeters; chief export of Caladan.
- ↑ God Emperor of Dune - Chapter 15: Idaho sampled the drink: melange-coffee. He recognized the fruit, the soft Caladan melon called paradan.
- ↑ God Emperor of Dune - GREAT HOUSES: The lone exception held a diversified portfolio, including a substantial investment in antique whale fur from Caladan.
- ↑ Heretics of Dune - Chapter 42