Naib: leader of a Fremen sietch
Naib was the Fremen title borne by the leader of a sietch. The word carried the meaning of one who had sworn never to be taken alive by the enemy, and in older usage it signified a servant of the sietch. By custom a man became Naib by fighting and killing the leader who came before him.
Naib was the Fremen title borne by the leader of a sietch, the rocky desert community of the people of Arrakis. The traditional headdress of a Naib was made of knotted keffiya. Among the many who carried the title, the best known of the age was Stilgar, Naib of Sietch Tabr. (Dune; Children of Dune)
The title and its meaning#
Among the Fremen, Naib denoted the leader of a sietch. The word carried more than one meaning in their tongue. It signified one who had sworn never to be taken alive by the enemy, a vow fitting for a people who guarded the secrets of the desert and of the sietch above their own lives. In ancient times the same word had meant servant of the sietch, marking the Naib as one bound to the community he led rather than set above it. The glossary printed with Dune calls the vow the traditional oath of a Fremen leader, and Stilgar says it of himself: he is a Naib, never to be taken alive. In Children of Dune he explains the older meaning, servant of the sietch. (Dune; Children of Dune)
Office and succession#
The path to the office was a violent one: to become a Naib, a Fremen usually had to fight and kill the Naib who had held the title before him, so that leadership of the sietch passed to the strongest who would claim it. In Dune a leader takes the reins from the dead hands of his predecessor, or, if the leader dies in the desert, from among the strongest of the tribe, and that is how Stilgar rose to be Naib. The traditional headdress of a Naib was made of knotted keffiya, a mark by which the leader of a sietch could be known; the old Naib Ghadhean al-Fali wears one when he comes before the Regency court. (Dune; Children of Dune)
Many Fremen held the title across the sietches of Arrakis. The most renowned of the age was Stilgar, Naib of Sietch Tabr. Others named in the novels include the Naibs of the Council whom Paul's informers expose as traitors in Dune Messiah, among them Bikouros, Cahueit, Merkur, Fash and Takim. (Dune; Dune Messiah)
Frequently asked questions
- What was a Naib?
- Naib was a Fremen term used to denote the leader of a sietch on Arrakis. The traditional headdress of a Naib was made of knotted keffiya.
- What did the word Naib mean to the Fremen?
- In the Fremen tongue the word Naib meant one who has sworn never to be taken alive by the enemy. In ancient times the same word had meant servant of the sietch.
- How did a Fremen become a Naib?
- To become a Naib, one usually had to fight and kill the Naib who held the office before. The most renowned Naib of the era was Stilgar, leader of Sietch Tabr.
Sources
- BookDune, Frank Herbert, 1965
- BookDune Messiah, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969
- BookChildren of Dune, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1976
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Sietch
Sietch was the Fremen term for a community or village. Hidden within the rock outcrops and caverns of the deserts of Arrakis, a sietch was a self contained settlement housing hundreds or thousands of families and the industries that sustained them.
Arrakis
Arrakis, known as Dune and later as Rakis, was a harsh desert world in the Canopus system and the only natural source of the spice melange. Home to the Fremen and the sandworms, it became the seat of the Atreides empire and the center of the known universe.
Fremen
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Sietch Tabr
Sietch Tabr was a major Fremen community on Arrakis, led by Naib Stilgar. It was the first sietch to shelter Paul and Jessica Atreides after the fall of House Atreides, and it became the foundation of the Arrakis Revolt that launched Muad'Dib's jihad.
Stilgar
Stilgar is the Fremen Naib of Sietch Tabr who takes in Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica, becomes Paul's governor of Arrakis and his most loyal Fremen, and later helps raise the Atreides twins Leto II and Ghanima.
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