Fremen Codexery

Melange

The spice is the universe's most valuable and addictive substance.

It prolongs life, heightens awareness, and in some users unlocks prescience.[1] Within Frank Herbert's Dune series, the fictional psychedelic substance known as melange is a central element.[2]

Quick Facts

Source
Dune
Date
1965
Creator
Frank Herbert
Genre
Science fiction
Uses
  • Ingested to lengthen lifespan
  • improve health
  • and heighten awareness
Affiliation
  • Bene Gesserit
  • CHOAM
  • Fremen
  • Sandworms

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Melange is produced only on the desert planet Arrakis from a pre-spice mass created by the sandworm's larval stage.[3] Harvesting is extremely dangerous because sandworms up to 400 meters long can destroy mining equipment.[4] Extensive use turns the user's eyes a deep blue called "blue-in-blue" or "the Eyes of Ibad"[4] The Padishah Emperor's power is secured by controlling Arrakis and its spice.[5]

In the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, the Bene Tleilax attempt to create synthetic melange through Project Amal.[6] The Tleilaxu later discover an artificial method using axlotl tanks between the events of God Emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune.[7] Addiction to melange is powerful, and ceasing its use inevitably results in death.[8] Through excessive melange consumption, humans are mutated by the Spacing Guild, granting them limited prescience to navigate heighliner starships across folded space.[1]

In the 2007 novel Sandworms of Dune, aquatic "seaworms" created by altering sandtrout DNA produce a highly concentrated spice variant called ultraspice.[9]

What the cited sources add

Ross's Screen Rant article notes that sandworms are vital to the empire's economy because Arrakis is the universe's only source of melange.[10] The same source states that the sandworms' terrifying nature defines the power dynamics at the center of Dune's lore.[10] The Science of Dune also contains Csilla Csori's essay "Prescience and Prophecy" analyzing the concept of prescience.[11] Mycologist Paul Stamets, in his book Mycelium Running, suggests that Frank Herbert's own encounters with psilocybin mushrooms partially influenced his creation of melange.[11]

Carol Hart's essay titled "Melange," found in the 2008 collection The Science of Dune, examines the drug concept.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michaud, "Dune Endures", July 12, 2013; Ross, "Dune Sandworms Explained: Why They're So Important", Screen Rant, November 5, 2021; Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Herbert, "Dune Messiah", 1969; Herbert, "Children of Dune", Berkley Publishing Corporation, 1976; Herbert, "Dune", 1965 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Children of Dune", 1976 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ross, "Dune Sandworms Explained: Why They're So Important", Screen Rant, November 5, 2021; Watercutter, "How the Dune VFX and Sound Teams Made Sandworms From Scratch", October 25, 2021; Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1984; Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Herbert, "Dune", 1965 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Dune", 1965 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Michaud, "Dune Endures", July 12, 2013; Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Herbert, "Dune", 1965 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Prelude to Dune", 1999–2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1984; Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1984; Herbert, "Heretics of Dune", 1984 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Dune", 1965; Ross, "Dune Sandworms Explained: Why They're So Important", Screen Rant, November 5, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Herbert, "Sandworms of Dune", 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Ross, "Dune Sandworms Explained: Why They're So Important", Screen Rant, November 5, 2021. facts only, no text reused. screenrant.com
  11. Wikipedia, "Melange (Dune)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stamets, "Mycelium Running", July 18, 2014; Hart, "The Science of Dune: An Unauthorized Exploration into the Real Science Behind Frank Herbert's Fictional Universe", BenBella Books, 2008, p. 1–19; "The Science of Dune", January 2008; Evans, "Review: Exploring Frank Herbert's 'Duniverse'", Daily Camera, March 14, 2008; "The Science of Dune", 2008, p. 111–126 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Melange (Dune) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Children of DuneGod Emperor of DunePaul of DuneDuneLeto II AtreidesPaul AtreidesChaniGurney HalleckDuncan IdahoGaius Helen MohiamArrakisSandworm

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