The Field of Arbol refers to the fictional Solar System used by C.S. Lewis as the setting for his Space Trilogy. While it comprises the same celestial bodies as in the real Solar System, there are significant differences in planetary geology, and history; including non-human indigenous extra-terrestrial civilisations.
The Old Solar names used for the bodies in the Field of Arbol are:
IAU Name | Old Solar Name |
---|---|
The Sun | Arbol |
Mercury | Viritrilbia |
Venus | Perelandra |
Earth | Thulcandra (The Silent Planet) |
The Moon | Sulva |
Mars | Malacandra |
Asteroid Belt | The dancers before the threshold of the Great Worlds |
Jupiter | Glundandra (Glund) |
Saturn | Lurga |
Uranus | Neruval |
[[Neptune | Not attested |
Languages
Though not as fully realised as the languages devised by Tolkien for Middle-earth; Lewis described three languages used in the Field of Arbol.
- Old Solar – also known as: Hlab-Eribol-ef-Cordi, language of the Fields of Arbol; Hressa-Hlab (erroneously), language of the hrossa; the Great Tongue; Language Herself; the language of Maleldil - spoken throughout the Field of Arbol, except in Thulcandra and Sulva.
- Language of the Pfifltriggi – spoken in the Great Valleys of Malacandra.
See also
References
- David C. Downing. Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of CS Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1992.
- Martha C. Sammons. A Guide Through CS Lewis' Space Trilogy. Westchester, IL: Cornerstone Books, 1980.
External links
- [http://webstudent7.basd.k12.wi.us/index.html Languages of the
Out of the Silent Planet Trilogy] – site discussing the languages of the Field of Arbol described in The Space Trilogy
- Malacandra.co.uk, a Wiki for CS Lewis fans.