Harah

Harah was a Fremen woman of Sietch Tabr who became the wife by custom of Paul Atreides, the widow of Jamis, the nurse of Alia and of the Atreides twins Leto and Ghanima, and finally the wife of Stilgar. Her maternal devotion led her to lavish care not only on her own children but on those of the Atreides as well.

Life before the Atreides#

Harah was first won by the Fremen Geoff, with whom she had a son, Kaleff. Her life with him was disturbed when he was challenged by Jamis, a challenge that ended in Geoff's death and in Jamis taking Harah as his woman. As Jamis's wife and a desert fighter in her own right, she bore a second son, Orlop, and spent her days between the stillsuit shops, the planting areas and the raising of her sons. She recalled her years with Jamis as good years, full of family happiness, until news reached Sietch Tabr of his death at the Cave of Ridges. Bred a Fremen, she met the news with the resilience to accept what destiny held next.

Service to the Atreides#

By Fremen law, all of Jamis's possessions, including his wife and sons, passed to Paul Muad'Dib, who as Usul had killed Jamis in the Tahaddi Challenge. Harah became Paul's for one year, to take as wife or servant, after which she would be free to choose for herself. Over her objections Paul accepted her only as servant, and though her pride was hurt by the rejection of her charms, she set aside her vanity with a practicality that surprised him and devoted herself to serving one she respected and came to love. Her contentment grew when Lady Jessica asked her to nurse the infant Alia.

When the women and children of the sietch were forced to flee the Harkonnen governor's pogrom, Harah went as an honoured member of Paul's household, busying herself as Alia's guardian and governess. Controlling so unusual a child as Alia was a frustrating task, made harder by the girl's knowledge and speech beyond her years, but Harah's devotion never wavered, and she defended Alia against the fearful rumours of the other women. In return Alia loved her openly, her first words to her nurse being "I love you, Harah."

Mother to the twins#

Harah became the closest female friend of Chani. As Chani's intimate she stood at her side at the birth of the Atreides twins and watched, stone-faced, as Chani died. It fell to her to guide the now wholly blind Paul first to the creche that held his children and then to the pallet that held Chani's body, and to stand as observer of the holy truth at the deathstill. At Paul's request she stood beside him at the naming of his son Leto and his daughter Ghanima, objecting, as a Fremen, to a name that meant a spoil of war.

With Chani dead and Paul gone into the desert, Harah felt destiny had again called her to the role she excelled at, for the twins needed a mother. They proved as exasperating and unsettling as Alia had been, yet her Fremen background, sagacity and experience made her a match for them, and she came to love them as her own. She was devastated when Leto was reported slain by Laza tigers, and consoled herself by comforting Ghanima and by tending to Stilgar, now her husband, giving minute attention to his comforts and preparing his coffee exactly as he preferred, ground fresh and boiled at once with a pinch of melange. The even tenor of her days was broken again when Stilgar showed her the bodies of Javid and, unbelievably, the Duncan Idaho ghola, in the crisis that turned Sietch Tabr against the Regent and led to the metamorphosis of Leto.