The Hidden Detail In Dune Most Fans Never Notice

As all fans of Frank Herbert's novel "Dune" can attest, Lady Jessica might be one of the story's most powerful characters. She belongs to the Bene Gesserit, a millennia-old order of witches who have been manipulating the various royal families in the galaxy for generations. As stated plainly, the Bene Gesserit were instructed by their order to only bear daughters, intending to induct them matrilineally. Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson in Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film adaptation of "Dune," was so in love with her husband (Oscar Isaac) that she dared to have a son named Paul.

Paul (Timothée Chalamet), although male, was still trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit. He was able to use "the voice," which was a way of speaking that psychically controlled the listener to a degree. Paul was also put through a ritual involving a poison called the gom jabbar. Paul was asked by a Bene Gesserit mother superior to insert his hand into a small wooden box. The mother then placed a poisoned needle to his neck, telling him that if he retracted his hand, she would jab him, killing him. His hand then experienced an overwhelming burning pain, inflicted psychically. 

To distract himself from the pain, Paul recited the Litany Against Fear, a special repeated prayer that focused his mind and kept him from feeling fright. It's the "I must not fear" quote. 

As it so happens, some hardcore "Dune" fans took a close look at "Dune," and found that the Litany Against Fear made a second appearance. Later in the film, Paul (Timothee Chalamet) has a vision of Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), wherein she had mysterious runes written across her face. It seems that the runes are the Litany Against Fear written in the language of the Fremen.

To put it as briefly as I can, Lady Jessica, Paul, and the whole of House Atreides were attacked, killed, or ousted from their positions as the new rulers of the desert planet of Arrakis. Paul and Jessica, in a panic, fled into the desert to hide. They were eventually taken in by the planet's natives, the Fremen. Paul's psychic abilities, and the timing of his appearance in the Fremen's midst, synched up Fremen prophecies about a savior figure. Jessica got Fremen facial tattoos, and pushed the idea that Paul was indeed the Fremen Messiah. Paul would eventually lead a Fremen uprising against the evil House Harkonnen, who had taken over Arrakis. 

The runes on Jessica's face were the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, which reads, in its entirety: 

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." 

The Fremen language was constructed by David Peterson, who also wrote conlangs (or constructed languages) for "Game of Thrones." Peterson has a website — gloriously old fashioned — where he posted written samples of the Fremen language as well, including an entirely penned-out rendition of the Litany Against Fear. Some very, very attentive "Dune" fans took to Reddit to compare the written-out Litany on Peterson's website with a facial shot of Jessica from the 2021 "Dune" movie, and found that Jessica's facial tattoos were indeed the same. 

As with all conlangs, though, it mostly exists in expanded universe sourcebooks and on websites. There was no language lesson in Villeneuve's "Dune" movie, clueing audiences into what the Fremen writing means. We know what it looks like, but there are no vocabulary tests or pronunciation guides in the film. As such, the Litany Against Fear will only be familiar to deep-cut nerds who have done a lot of extracurricular study. Know that I use the term "deep cut nerds" with the utmost affection. Without them, sci-fi wouldn't be nearly as rich or complex. 

It should be noted that David Peterson has actually constructed multiple fantasy languages for many films and TV shows. On "Game of Thrones," he was the one who constructed both Dothraki and High Valyrian, as well as the giants' language, Mag Nuk. He wrote the Castithan, Irathient, Indojisnen, and other alien languages for the 2015 series "Defiance," Lishepus for "Dominion," and even the witchy language for the Oz-set series "Emerald City." In movies, he wrote the Shiväisith language of the Dark Elves in "Thor: The Dark World," the Orcish language in "Warcraft," and even Firish, the language used by the flame people in Pixar's hit movie "Elemental." 

Most recently, Peterson came up with the Kryptonian language Suh Ankripton in James Gunn's "Superman," and Eridian, the musical language of Rocky in "Project Hail Mary." So the man knows what he's talking about. The Fremen language, then, wasn't just some random set of symbols tattooed on Jessica's face. Those words actually meant something. And thank goodness we have so many "Dune" fans who are paying close attention to such things.