Abulurd Harkonnen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Two characters are named Abulurd Harkonnen in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The first is the grandson of Xavier Harkonnen; the second is the younger half-brother to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the father of Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha.
Contents |
[edit] Abulurd Harkonnen I
In the Legends of Dune trilogy, Abulurd Harkonnen was born in 126 B.G. as Abulurd Butler, the third child of Wandra Butler, daughter of Xavier Harkonnen. Wandra (and later her husband, Quentin Vigar) had changed her name from Harkonnen to Butler, her mother Octa's maiden name, to avoid the scandal created when Xavier's reputation was sullied by Butlerian Jihad propaganda after his death. Abulurd's eldest brother was Faykan Butler, who would later change his name to Faykan Corrino and establish the Corrino empire as the first Padishah Emperor.
Abulurd changed his name to Harkonnen after learning that his grandfather Xavier had been wrongly demonized and that he was in fact a hero. Abulurd attempted to redeem Xavier's name with the help of his mentor, Vorian Atreides, who was good friends with Xavier and the only person who knew the truth. This attempt became futile, however, when during the Battle of Corrin, Abulurd and Vorian had a moral disagreement.
As Supreme Bashar of the Army of Humanity, Vorian had control over the entire force. The Thinking Machine Erasmus came up with a solution to make a last ditch defense of Corrin, by using all the human slaves on Corrin as a human shield. If the fleet came any closer to Corrin, the hostages would die. Twenty years previously, the Army of Humanity had destroyed countless lives in their purge of Omnius from the universe, only held back by the defenses at Corrin. Vorian felt that after such a slaughter, another two million lives would not matter in the grand scheme of things. After failing to convince Vorian of the mistake he was about to commit, Abulurd decided to disable the weapons system to give his friend time to reconsider. However, Vorian pressed his attack against the Thinking Machines, and saw Abulurd's act as cowardice rather than an act of wisdom.
After disobeying Vorian's orders, Abulurd was deemed a coward and the Harkonnen name was irredeemable. Vorian disowned his protege, which triggered the beginning of the Atreides-Harkonnen feud:
You failed me at the moment I needed you most. Never again will I look upon your face. This I swear: From this day forth, let all who bear the name Atreides spit on the name of Harkonnen!
– Vorian Atreides, Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Abulurd was exiled to Lankiveil, where his descendants stayed for several generations, until finally being accepted back into the young empire.
[edit] Abulurd Harkonnen II
The second Abulurd Harkonnen was the younger half-brother of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and son of Dmitri Harkonnen through his second wife. Abulurd married Emmi Rabban, and fathered Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha.
In Dune: House Atreides, an epigraph from the post-Jihad edition of the Landsraad Encyclopedia of Great Houses said of Abulurd:
The paintbrush of history has depicted Abulurd Harkonnen in a most unfavorable light. Judged by the standards of his older half brother, Baron Vladimir, and his own children Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha Rabban, Abulurd was a different sort of man entirely. We must, however, assess the frequent descriptions of his weakness, incompetence, and foolhardy decisions in light of the ultimate failure of House Harkonnen. Though exiled to Lankiveil and stripped of any real power, Abulurd secured a victory unmatched by anyone else in his extended family: He learned how to be happy with his life.
Before the events of House Atreides, House Harkonnen was in charge of the all-important and valuable melange harvesting operations on the planet Arrakis. After seven years of management, Abulurd was removed from his duties by his brother the Baron, who claimed Abulurd was responsible for increasing equipment losses and decreasing production. Abulurd was stripped of his noble title and relegated to the quiet, Harkonnen-controlled planet of Lankiveil.
In the Prelude to Dune trilogy, Abulurd petitioned and was granted permission to change his last name from Harkonnen to Rabban, sickened by the self-serving, underhanded and violent actions of his brother and oldest son Glossu Rabban. A peace-loving man and the polar opposite of his older brother Vladimir, Abulurd was happy to be rid of Arrakis. Unfortunately, Abulurd's peace-loving nature and selflessness had dire consequences. Glossu Rabban went on a whale-hunting rampage when on Lankiveil, thus driving the whales away from that area indefinitely. Maddened by this severe crippling of the whale fur market, Abulurd slapped Rabban. Rabban, disgusted with his father's 'weakness', preferred to side with his uncle, and left Lankiveil. Abulurd now went to the Landsraad to get the official governorship over Lankiveil, and to get out of the Harkonnen family. In addition, the Baron took Abulurd's newly-born son and heir, Feyd-Rautha, in order to make Feyd his heir-apparent. Discovering one of the Baron's illegal spice hoards, Abulurd decided to seek retribution by giving the melange to Lankiveil's people. Upon discovery of this, Glossu Rabban strangled Abulurd to death; Rabban's patricide gave him the nickname "Beast".
[edit] Origin of the name
The name Abulurd is definitely inspired by Arabic. Abū l-Ward means 'father of the flower'. This fits to the soft incapable description of Abulurd. But more probable is a direct taking from Abū lūrd, "father of lord", lord is taken here as name rather than as noun.
