Dune's Sandworms EXPLAINED: The Secret of the Spice

Dune’s Sandworms Explained Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're planting our thumpers and watching for wormsign as we plumb the mysteries of the mighty Shai-Hulud. Giants of the Desert-Sea Colossal beasts that traverse the desert, Dune’s sandworms are iconic, and have influenced creature designs in franchises as diverse as “Tremors” and “Star Wars”. “Dune” author Frank Herbert took inspiration from European dragons such as the treasure-hoarding fire-drake in “Beowulf”. Like dragons, Herbert’s worms are armored in scales and fiercely territorial, in effect ‘guarding’ the planet Arrakis’ treasured resource, the Spice Melange. Prodigious forces of nature, they resemble giant versions of our own earthly worms, with toothed mouths recalling lampreys. The largest worms can exceed 400 meters, or 1300 feet. In fact, the worm that Paul summons when he becomes a sandrider is over half a league long - that’s more than 1.5 miles! While Herbert doesn’t go into great detail, their bodies are arranged into ring segments, which may contract and relax to facilitate their movement through the sand, similar to earthworms. They’re drawn to vibrations, and will attack anything on the sand; but they feed primarily on sand plankton, as well as smaller worms. Incredibly tough, they live for thousands of years. Their main weakness is water, which is poisonous to their systems. Sandworms have a central place in the ecology of Arrakis. In fact, much of the sand on the planet is due to sandworm action. So is the oxygen, a byproduct of their digestive ‘factories’. The worms are also at the center of Fremen culture and, beyond Arrakis, of galactic civilization - in a way that very few suspect … Shai-Hulud Dune is a desolate planet, but home to a thriving indigenous population, and of course, the all-important Spice. Sandworms are at the heart of both. The planet’s native people, the Fremen, revere the worms as manifestations of the divine. Descended from the Zensunni wanderers, whose religion is rooted in Islamic and Buddhist traditions, the Fremen have adapted to the planet’s unforgiving environment and its flora and fauna. For them, the worms are ‘Makers’, or ‘Shai-hulud’ - which can be translated as Old Man of the Desert, Grandfather of the Desert, or Old Father Eternity. Fremen culture has become inextricably linked to the worms. They’ve learned to walk without rhythm to avoid attracting them. From the teeth of dead worms, they craft ‘crysknives’, sacred blades that, according to tradition, must taste blood once drawn before returning to their sheath. Worms also provide a means of transportation across the endless desert. Using a thumper, Fremen lure in a worm, and employ ‘maker hooks’ to pry open a ring segment; sand enters the soft tissue between segments, irritating the worm, which rolls over to bring the exposed tissue higher above the sand - lifting the sandrider with it. Additional hooks allow for steering. Perhaps most importantly, primitive, stunted worms are drowned, releasing a liquid exhalation that the Fremen call the ‘Water of Life’. Fremen priestesses, or ‘Sayyadina’, who ingest it, experience what’s called the ‘Spice Agony’, which sees them unlock the ‘genetic memory’ of female ancestors. As with the Bene Gesserit, women who undergo this ritual become Reverend Mothers. The Spice! It’s the complex life cycle of the sandworms, however, that opens the door to their deepest mysteries - and holds the key to the Spice! The sandworms are strongly associated with the Spice Melange, which only exists on Arrakis. Their ‘protection’ of the spice is really just territorial - but Paul also notices that worms and the spice have the smell of cinnamon in common. A miracle drug, the Spice prolongs life and unlocks greater awareness. For some, such as the Bene Gesserit, and the Guild Navigators, whose excessive spice consumption mutates them into fishlike humanoids, it also bestows prescience. This prescience allows Guild Navigators to navigate interstellar space. It’s no wonder Spice is the most coveted resource in the galaxy. So what are sandworms? And … the worm, the spice, is there a relationship? When you think Dune, you think sandworms: so it might surprise you to learn that sandworms are an introduced species, from back when Dune was a wet planet. But it’s their life cycle that’s truly astounding. It begins with microscopic sand plankton, which feed upon the Spice, and upon which sandworms themselves feed. Sand plankton burrow down and become sandtrout, known to the Fremen as Little Makers - flat, diamond-shaped, leathery creatures that are “half-plant-half-animal”. Attracted to water, sandtrout band together, blocking off the planet’s water into pockets - thus the desertification of Arrakis. Sandtrout excretions combine with water to produce a ‘pre-spice mass’, a stage of “fungusoid wild growth”. This results in a “spice-blow” - with the mass exploding onto the surface. Exposed to sun and air, the mass becomes … drumroll … the Spice Melange! The sandtrout who survived the blow enter hibernation, emerging six years later as small, 10-feet long sandworms. As planetary ecologist Liet-Kynes observes, the relationship is circular: “Little Maker to pre-spice mass; little maker to Shai-Hulud; Shai-Hulud to scatter the spice upon which fed microscopic creatures called sand plankton; the sand plankton, food for Shai-Hulud, growing, burrowing, becoming Little Makers.” As for how the sand plankton propagate … it isn’t specified, but plankton on Earth reproduce through various means, depending on the type of plankton - for example, cell division or sexual reproduction. The Spice is thus a byproduct of the sandworm life cycle. This is the secret that few understand, and the link between the sandworm and the Spice. We’ll let Paul sum it all up: “The worm is the spice. The spice is the worm.” Have YOU ever tried to walk without rhythm so you don’t attract the worm? Be honest! It's harder than you'd think right?! Tell us in the comments.