Anirul Corrino
From Dune
This article or section refers to elements from both Original Dune and Expanded Dune.
Lady Anirul Corrino, nee Anirul Sadow-Tonkin, was a Bene Gesserit of Hidden Rank who married Shaddam Corrino IV, the 81st Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe.
She was the mother of Princess Irulan Corrino and the grandmother of Prince Farad'n Corrino.
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[edit] Kwisatz Mother
Anirul was the Kwisatz Mother, the Reverend Mother responsible for the entire Kwisatz Haderach breeding program. She had access to the entirety of Other Memory to help guide her in the direction of the program. She eventually succumbed to a sort of madness due to Other Memory pointing out a problem with the breeding program, namely Jessica Atreides having a son instead of a daughter. Anirul eventually died protecting the baby Paul from Piter de Vries.
[edit] Marriage and Motherhood
Anirul was instructed by the Bene Gesserit to produce only daughters and no male heirs for Shaddam, and thus end the direct line of male Corrinos that had continued for several thousand years.
Anticipating the imminent arrival of the Kwisatz Haderach, the Sisterhood wanted to open the door for the Atreides/Harkonnen offspring to marry a Corrino daughter and become Emperor. Anirul dutifully complied with her orders and gave birth to five daughters: Irulan, Wensicia, Josifa, Chalice and Rugi.
Anirul trained Irulan in the Weirding Way and the Prana-bindu methods of the Bene Gesserit.
[edit] Bene Gesserit Service
After Anirul had selected the Duke Leto Atreides I's concubine, Lady Jessica Atreides as an unwilling lady-in-waiting for the Imperial family, they all went over to the Hassik III Center for the Performing Arts. There Anirul discovered the true identity of her husband's long-lost half-brother, Prince Tyros Reffa and his allies, the Jongleurs, who were seeking vengeance on Shaddam for attacking the people of the planet Zanovar.
A few days later, the conspirators were executed for their crimes against the Corrino Empire.
[edit] Death
According to the Almanak en-Ashraf, Anirul died in 10,176 A.G. while trying to save the young na-Duke Paul Atreides from being abducted off-world by Piter de Vries, a Harkonnen Mentat.
[edit] Behind the Scenes
Expanded Dune sources relate the story that, fueled by an Other Memory realization that Paul Atreides was in fact the Kwisatz Haderach, and much to the confusion of the Bene Gesserit, Anirul gave her life in order to save the young Atreides from an assassination attempt by the twisted Harkonnen mentat Piter de Vries.
The character features heavily in the Prelude to Dune novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
