Thursday, 16 January 2025

Out of the Silent Planet? A tentative note on the Fauns' names in Prince Caspian

 

 


Some years ago, when teaching C S Lewis to undergraduates at university, I re-read the Narnia novels, and was puzzled by a list of names of fauns whom Prince Caspian meets, in the novel that bears his name (published 1951). Caspian is meeting the old Narnians, now in hiding under the rule of his cruel uncle. All at once, music is heard, and the little fauns appear, and begin to dance in a circle. "They footed it all round Caspian to their reedy pipes." They are:

Mentius, Obentinus, Dumnus, Voluns, Voltinus, Girbius, Nimienus, Nausus, and Oscuns.

Why nine of them? It's a highly significant number, and Lewis, who was steeped in Mediaeval literature, would have been entirely alive to the resonances of three, seven and nine. It seems curious to mention them at this point, when we never hear from them again. They sound a bit like Mr Tumnus (everyone's favourite), and are certainly Latinate in form. But what do they mean?

Lewis had by this point already written his science fiction novel, Out of the Silent Planet, which was published in 1938. In it, Earth is "the silent planet", because it has no ruling spirit, unlike the other planets, who all communicate with each other. In the list of fauns, "Dumnus" is the third. Now, Lewis was not entirely particular when it came to his names (unlike J R R Tolkien), and quite happily mingled etymologies and cultures. 

I wonder, then, if Dumnus could be read as a pun on "dumb", silent? And, since it's the third planet in, could it not be "the silent planet"?

This, then, would suggest that the nine fauns are representative of the nine planets, and their dance is a cosmic one. Michael Ward, in Planet Narnia, argues convincingly that the seven Narnia books are representative of the seven mediaeval planets. Could Lewis here be hinting at his planetary design? He may be punning in Latin, or he may be punning in English. Hence, my explanations are entirely tentative... and there may be a system to them that I can't yet discern. Or there may be none. Anyway, it's fun to think about. But much further research is needed.

Here's a few thoughts:

Mentius - as Mercury, the messenger god. "Mens, mentis" is mind, and Mercury comes to earth as swift as thought.

Obentinus - as Venus. Various possibilities occur: "obeo" can be used of heavenly bodies setting, and Venus appears at sunset; it could also be a hint towards "obedience", and you pay "obeisance" to your courtly lover; and there's also the closeness of the fricative "v" to the plosive "b". 

Dumnus - our silent planet.

Voluns - Mars - "volens" is willing; "volans" is flying; "volvens" is rolling about; but Mars is also Mavors in ancient Rome. A difficult one, this. He wasn't particularly willing, though he is willful; so I thought this might be more to do with him being rather "vol"atile; it could also (see below) point to the Volsci, a warlike tribe who inhabited ancient Italia. Camilla, the warrior maiden, is of the Volsci in the Aeneid.

Voltinus - Jupiter - the "volt" is a unit of electrical energy; perhaps a reference to the great god's thunderbolt?

Girbius - Saturn - is "gir"dled by rings...I have been unable to find any Latin word that begins with "girb". This is the most puzzling of them all, and the hardest to fit into the scheme. I think of "gyre" and "gimble" too. A "gyrfalcon" has the Latin name Falco rusticolus, and Saturn was a god of the countryside; "Falco" is also from the Latin "falx", or sickle, and Saturn was associated heavily with sickles.

Nimienus - Uranus - "nimius" means "too much" - perhaps a pearl-clutching reaction to scatalogical puns on Uranus? 

Nausus - Neptune - you'll be sea-sick if you're not a good sailor and pray to Neptune.

Oscuns - Pluto - the mouth of the underworld is in the Bay of Naples; the Osci / Oscans were a tribe who lived in Italy whose territory included the Bay of Naples; they, like the Volsci, assimilated with the Romans. "Osculo" is also kissing; it might be a bit of a stretch to say that this is the kiss of death, but hey, it's just for kicks.

An enjoyable parlour game, and if anyone has any thoughts, I'd be delighted to hear. 

By Philip Womack, 2025.



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