Tula Harkonnen: the Harkonnen who wed and slew an Atreides
Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit. On the orders of her elder sister, Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen, she married Orry Atreides and murdered him on their wedding night to avenge their slain brother.
Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit, born of the Harkonnen line exiled to the cold world of Lankiveil. A younger sister of Valya Harkonnen, she became the instrument of her sister's long vendetta against House Atreides: she married Orry Atreides and killed him on their wedding night, one of several Atreides deaths she carried out in revenge for the killing of their brother Griffin Harkonnen.
Origins and the Bene Gesserit#
Tula belonged to House Harkonnen during the era when the family held no high station, its fortunes bound to the harsh world of Lankiveil. She was a sister of Valya and Griffin Harkonnen and a niece of Evgeny Harkonnen. Like her elder sister Valya, Tula entered the Bene Gesserit and was raised in the disciplines of the Sisterhood, training that made her a capable and unsuspected agent in the wider quarrels of the noble Houses.
The murder of Orry Atreides#
The Harkonnens carried a bitter feud with House Atreides, sharpened by the death of Griffin Harkonnen, and Valya, by then risen to Mother Superior, set herself to avenge him. Tula became the means of that revenge. She drew close to the Atreides on Caladan, in the years before that family had risen to the rank of a Great House, and married Orry Atreides. On their wedding night she killed him at her sister's command. She did not stop with her husband, striking down others of the line as well, among them Shander Atreides, who died on Caladan by her hand.
In time the Tula Fjord on Lankiveil was named after her, fixing her name to the homeworld of her House.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Tula Harkonnen?
- Tula Harkonnen was an early member of House Harkonnen and a sister of the Bene Gesserit. She was a younger sister of Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen and married Orry Atreides only to murder him on their wedding night at Valya's command.
- Why did Tula Harkonnen kill Orry Atreides?
- She killed Orry Atreides on the orders of her elder sister, Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen, as part of the Harkonnen vendetta against House Atreides waged in revenge for the death of their brother Griffin Harkonnen.
Sources
- WikiTula Harkonnen — Dune Wiki entry
- WikiOrry Atreides — Dune Wiki entry
- WikiShander Atreides — Dune Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Valya Harkonnen
Valya Harkonnen of Lankiveil rose from a promising student of Raquella Berto-Anirul to become the second Reverend Mother Superior of the order she renamed the Bene Gesserit. Consumed by a vendetta against House Atreides, she developed the technique of Voice and used it to seize sole leadership.
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit were an ancient order of women who wielded power from the shadows of the Imperium through a millennia-long breeding program, mastery of body and mind, and the religious engineering of the Missionaria Protectiva. Their goal was the Kwisatz Haderach, and through him the guidance of humanity.
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen was a Great House of the Landsraad seated on the industrial world of Giedi Prime and the historical enemy of House Atreides. Ruled by a Siridar-Baron, it built its power on the brutal exploitation of Arrakis before being shattered as a political force at the Battle of Arrakeen.
Lankiveil
Lankiveil was a cold maritime world of the Corrino Empire whose chief export was whale fur. Held by House Harkonnen, it was governed for a time by Abulurd, who renounced the Harkonnen name in favor of his wife's family name, Rabban.
Caladan
Caladan was a lush oceanic world orbiting Delta Pavonis, the ancestral seat of House Atreides for more than ten thousand years. Birthplace of Duke Leto I and Paul Atreides, it was a planet of rain, orchards, and fisheries before the family was ordered to Arrakis.
House Atreides
House Atreides was a respected House Major of the Galactic Padishah Empire, ruled by a Duke and seated for twenty generations on the ocean world of Caladan. Through Paul Muad'Dib and his son Leto II, the Atreides line rose to rule the Known Universe before passing into a bloodline scattered across the millennia.
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