''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novels by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

. The trilogy consists of ''

Out of the Silent Planet ''Out of the Silent Planet'' is a science fiction novel by the British author C. S. Lewis, first published in 1938 by John Lane, The Bodley Head. Two sequels were published in 1943 and 1945, completing the '' Space Trilogy''. Plot While on ...

'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

named Elwin Ransom is the protagonist of the first two novels and an important character in the third.

Summary

The books in the

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

are: *''

'' (1938), set mostly on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

(Malacandra). In this book, Dr. Elwin Ransom is kidnapped and transported to Mars. While there, he meets the planet's various inhabitants and discovers that Earth is exiled from the rest of the Solar System. *'' Perelandra'' (1943). Also known as ''Voyage to Venus''. Here, Dr. Ransom journeys to an unspoiled Venus (Perelandra), where he participates in a good vs. evil battle. *'' That Hideous Strength'' (1945), set on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

. A scientific think tank called the N.I.C.E. (The National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments) is secretly in touch with demonic entities who plan to assume control of the Earth. In 1958, the publishing house Avon published an abridged edition of ''That Hideous Strength'' entitled ''The Tortured Planet''.

Publication history

*Lewis, C.S. ''Out of the Silent Planet''. London : The Bodley Head, 1938. *Lewis, C.S. ''Perelandra: A Novel''. London : The Bodley Head, 1943. *Lewis, C.S. ''That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-ups''. London : The Bodley Head, 1945.

Influences and approach

Lewis stated in a letter to

Roger Lancelyn Green Roger Gilbert Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and children's writer. He was an Oxford academic who formed part of the Inklings literary discussion group along with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkie ...

: The other main literary influence was David Lindsay's ''

A Voyage to Arcturus ''A Voyage to Arcturus'' is a novel by the Scottish writer David Lindsay, first published in 1920. An interstellar voyage is the framework for a narrative of a journey through fantastic landscapes. The story is set at Tormance, an imaginary pl ...

'' (1920): "The real father of my planet books is David Lindsay’s ''A Voyage to Arcturus'', which you also will revel in if you don’t know it. I had grown up on Wells's stories of that kind: it was Lindsay who first gave me the idea that the ‘scientifiction’ appeal could be combined with the ‘supernatural’ appeal." The books are not especially concerned with technological speculation, and in many ways read like

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventures combined with themes of biblical history and classical mythology. Many of the names in the trilogy reflect the influence of Lewis's friend J.R.R. Tolkien's

Elvish languages Elvish languages are constructed languages used by Elves in a fantasy setting. The philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien created the first of these languages, including Quenya and Sindarin. Tolkien's Elvish languages The philologist ...

Main character

The character of Elwin Ransom appears similar to Lewis himself: A university professor, an expert in languages and medieval literature, unmarried (Lewis did not marry until his fifties), wounded in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and with no living relatives except for one sibling. Lewis, however, apparently intended for Ransom to be partially patterned after his friend and fellow

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

professor J. R. R. Tolkien, since Lewis is presented as novelizing Ransom's reminiscences in the epilogue of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' and is a character-

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

in the

frame tale A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction * Framing ( ...

for ''Perelandra''. In '' That Hideous Strength'', Ransom--with his royal charisma and casual acceptance of the supernatural--appears more like Charles Williams (or some of the heroes in Williams's books). In ''Out of the Silent Planet'' it is suggested that "Ransom" is not the character's real name but merely an alias for a respectable professor whose reputation might suffer from his recounting such a journey to the planet Mars. In the following books, however, this is unaccountably dropped and it is made clear that Ransom is the character's true name. As befits a

, he provides an

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

: The name is a contraction of the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

for "Ranolf's Son". This may be another allusion to Tolkien, a professor of Old English. However, the name "Ransom" holds a deeper meaning. In ''Perelandra'', the voice of Maleldil (Jesus) tells Ransom, "'It is not for nothing that you are named Ransom'", and later adds, "'My name also is Ransom'".

''The Dark Tower''

An unfinished manuscript, published posthumously in 1977 and named '' The Dark Tower'' by Walter Hooper, its editor, features Elwin Ransom in a less central role as involved with an experiment that allows its participants to view on a special screen their own location in a parallel universe. Its authenticity was impeached by Lewis scholar Kathryn Lindskoog in her criticism of Walter Hooper, but in 2003

Alastair Fowler Alastair David Shaw Fowler CBE FBA (1930 – 9 October 2022) was a Scottish literary critic, editor, and an authority on Edmund Spenser, Renaissance literature, genre theory, and numerology. Life and career Alastair Fowler was born in Glasgow ...

established its authenticity when he wrote in the ''

Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...

'' that he saw Lewis writing the manuscript that would be subsequently published as ''The Dark Tower'', heard him reading it and discussed it with him; he further stated that he gained the impression that the piece was an abandoned first attempt to write a sequel to ''Out of the Silent Planet''.

Setting

Cosmology

Ransom gets much information on

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

from the Oyarsa (presiding angel) of Malacandra, or

. Maleldil, the son of the Old One, ruled the Field of Arbol (the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

). But then the Bent One (the Oyarsa of Earth, or Satan) rebelled against Maleldil and all the eldila (much as Morgoth rebelled against Eru and the other Valar in Tolkien's '' Silmarillion'') of Deep Heaven (outer space). The Bent One was frustrated by Maleldil decreeing that, once humans have been created, the Oyarsa of Earth would have to cede control of the planet to them - a concession not demanded of his colleague of Mars/Malacandra, who was left to rule over the planet's intelligent beings. The Bent One first tried to seduce the Martians, who then had the technology to build spaceships, to colonize Earth and live there as his subjects. This plan - directly contradicting Maleldil's plans for Earth - was foiled by the other Oyéresu. Thereupon, the Bent One attacked Mars and inflicted vast damage there, causing the complete extinction of its winged creatures (who might have been an additional intelligent species, birds, or both - the reference is not clear). Only with enormous effort was life on Mars preserved. This is, in effect, Lewis' version of the events known in Christian theology as

The War in Heaven In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the Book of Revelation describes a future war in heaven between angels led by the Archangel Michael against those led by "the dragon", identified as the devil or Satan, who will be defeated and throw ...

: 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. evelation 12:7–10 (NIV) In response to his destructive acts, the Bent One suffered confinement on Earth, where he inflicted great evil. He made Earth a silent planet, cut off from the Oyéresu of other planets; thus, Earth is referred to by the name 'Thulcandra', the Silent Planet. The Bent One, or Satan, seduced

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

and caused the

Original Sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 ...

in order to make humans unworthy of getting custody of the planet, as Maleldil intended. He then continues to tempt humans into evil, so as to continue their unworthiness. However, he hates the humans, whose advent was forced upon him by Maleldil, and he mistreats and tortures also the humans who submitted to him - as seen in his treatment of Professor Weston in "Perelandra" and of the N.I.C.E. directors in the end of "That Hideous Strength". Maleldil incarnated as a man on Thulcandra to save the human race. According to the Green Lady, Tinidril (Mother of Perelandra, or Venus), Thulcandra is favored among all the worlds because Maleldil came to it to become a man. Earth will remain a silent planet until the end of the great Siege of Deep Heaven against the Oyarsa of Earth. The siege starts to end (with the Oyéresu of other worlds descending to Earth) at the finale of the trilogy, '' That Hideous Strength''. But there is still much to happen until the Oyéresu put an end to the rule of the Bent Eldil and, on the way, smash the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

to fragments. In the Field of Arbol, the outer planets are older than the inner planets. Asteroids are called "dancers before the threshold of the Great Worlds."

Eldila

The ''eldila'' (singular ''eldil'') are super-human spirits. The human characters in the trilogy encounter them on various planets, but the eldila themselves are native to interplanetary and interstellar space ("Deep Heaven"). They can, if they want, remain fixed to one point on a planet's surface - but that requires a conscious act on their part, without which they would instantly drift away into space. Certain very powerful eldila, the ''Oyéresu'' (singular ''Oyarsa''), control the course of nature on each of the planets of the Solar System. They can manifest in corporeal forms. The title ''Oyarsa'' seems to indicate the function of leadership, regardless of the leader's species; when the Perelandran human Tor assumes rule of his world, he styles himself "Tor-Oyarsa-Perelendri" (presumably "Tor, Ruler of Perelandra"). The eldila are science-fictionalised depictions of

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

s, immortal and holy. (As Lewis implies in Chapter 22 of ''Out of the Silent Planet'', the name ''Oyarsa'' was suggested by ''Oyarses'', the name given in

Bernard Silvestris Bernardus Silvestris, also known as Bernard Silvestris and Bernard Silvester, was a medieval Platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century. Biography Little is known about Bernardus's life. In the nineteenth century, it was assumed that Berna ...

's '' Cosmographia'' to the governors of the

celestial spheres The celestial spheres, or celestial orbs, were the fundamental entities of the cosmological models developed by Plato, Eudoxus, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and others. In these celestial models, the apparent motions of the fixed stars ...

. Bernard's word was almost certainly a corruption—or a deliberate alteration—of Greek οὐσιάρχης 'ousiarches'', "lords of being" used with the same meaning in the Hermetic ''Asclepius''.) The eldila resident on Earth are "dark eldila"; in other words,

fallen angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said ...

s or

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

s. The ''Oyarsa'' of Earth, the "Bent One", is

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

. During the trilogy, Ransom meets the Oyéresu of both Mars and Venus, who are described as being masculine (but not actually male) and feminine (but not actually female), respectively. The Oyéresu of other worlds have characteristics like those of the corresponding classical gods; for instance, the Oyarsa of Jupiter gives a feeling of merriment (joviality). It is made clear that they are identical with the gods and goddesses of the Greco-Roman pantheon, but that the Greeks and Romans were wrong to worship them as gods—in fact, they are angels, faithful servants of the one and only true God, Maleldil. As noted by Lewis in the non-fiction book ''The Discarded Image'', the identification of the Greco-Roman gods as angels can be traced to late medieval and Renaissance times, when European intellectuals rediscovered and highly valued works of classical antiquity where references to these gods abound, and this needed to be reconciled with these intellectuals' Christian faith.

Hnau

''Hnau'' is a word in the Old Solar language which refers to "rational animals" such as humans. In the book, the Old Solar speaker specifies that God is not ''hnau'', and is unsure whether eldila can be termed "hnau", deciding that if they are ''hnau'', they are a different kind of ''hnau'' than humans or Martians. The term was adopted by some others, including Lewis's friend J. R. R. Tolkien; Tolkien used the term in

The Notion Club Papers ''The Notion Club Papers'' is an abandoned novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, written during 1945 and published posthumously in '' Sauron Defeated'', the 9th volume of ''The History of Middle-earth''. It is a time travel story, written while ''The Lord of ...

, which were not published in his lifetime. Tolkien distinguished ''hnau'' from beings of pure spirit or spirits able to assume a body (which is not essential to their nature). Similarly, a character in

James Blish James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his '' Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel '' A Case of Conscie ...

's science fiction novel ''

A Case of Conscience ''A Case of Conscience'' is a science fiction novel by American writer James Blish, first published in 1958. It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation ...

'' wonders whether a particular alien is a ''hnau'', which he defines as having "a rational soul". The term has been used by

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Thomas I. White in "Is a Dolphin a Person?" White asks if dolphins are persons, and if they are, whether they can also be reckoned as ''hnau''.

Old Solar language

According to the Space Trilogy's cosmology, the language of all the inhabitants of the Field of Arbol is Old Solar, or ''Hlab-Eribol-ef-Cordi''. Only Earth lost the language; this loss was due to the Bent One's influence. Old Solar can be likened to the Elvish languages invented by Lewis's friend, Tolkien. The grammar is little known, except for the plurals of nouns. The plurals of some words (''hross, eldil'') are simple, only adding a final ''-a'' or ''-i''; others (as for ''Oyarsa, sorn, hnakra''), are quite complex

broken plural In linguistics, a broken plural (or internal plural) is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages and other Afroasiatic languages such as Berber. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern of consonants a ...

s, adding an internal ''-é-'', and adding or altering a final vowel (usually to ''-i'' or ''-u''), and may also include internal metathesis (''Oyéresu, séroni, hnéraki''). Old Solar is also referred to as "the Great Tongue":

Terms used throughout the trilogy

*''Eldil'' (pl. ''Eldila''): An everlasting, rational, "multidimensional energy being" that is not organic; an

. Some act in the capacity of "Oyarsa" of a planet. *''

Field of Arbol ''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), ''Perelandra'' (1943), and '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named E ...

'': The

. *''Glund'' or ''Glundandra'':

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

. *''Hnau'' or nau'': A rational being, capable of speech, intellect, and personhood, and containing a soul. *''Handra'': A planet or land. *''Hrū'': Blood. *''Lurga'':

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

. *''

Malacandra ''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), ''Perelandra'' (1943), and '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named E ...

'':

. *''Maleldil'': The Christian

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, described in ''Perelandra'' as having been incarnated as

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. *''Oyarsa'' (pl. ''Oyéresu'')(title): Ruler of a planet. A higher-order angel. *'' Perelandra'':

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

. *''Sulva'': The

. *''Thulcandra'':

, literally "The Silent Planet". *''Viritrilbia'': Mercury.

Parallels and adaptations

The cosmology of all three books—in which the ''Oyéresu'' of

and

somewhat resemble the corresponding gods from classical mythology—derives from Lewis's interest in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

beliefs. Lewis discusses these ideas in his book ''The Discarded Image'', which was published much later than the Space Trilogy. Lewis was intrigued with the ways medieval authors borrowed concepts from pre-Christian religion and science and attempted to reconcile them with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, and with the lack of a clear distinction between natural and supernatural phenomena in medieval thought. The Space Trilogy also plays on themes in Lewis's essay "Religion and Rocketry", which argues that as long as humanity remains flawed and sinful, our exploration of other planets will tend to do them more harm than good. Furthermore, much of the substance of the argument between Ransom and Weston in '' Perelandra'' is found in Lewis's book ''

Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

''. Links between Lewis's ''Space Trilogy'' and his other writings are discussed at great length in Michael Ward's ''Planet Narnia'' and in Kathryn Lindskoog's ''C.S. Lewis: Mere Christian''. In ''That Hideous Strength'', Lewis alludes several times to Tolkien's Atlantean civilization Numinor (spelt

Númenor Númenor, also called Elenna-nórë or Westernesse, is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was the kingdom occupying a large island to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was the greatest civil ...

by Tolkien), saying in the foreword, "Those who would like to learn further about Numinor and the True West must (alas!) await the publication of much that still exists only in the MSS. of my friend, Professor J. R. R. Tolkien."

References

External links

*
Is Man a Myth? — C. S. Lewis and the Abolition of ManC.S. Lewis, ''That Hideous Strength'': Science and Magic, Spirit and Matter, and the Figure of Merlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Space Trilogy Book series introduced in 1938 British science fiction novels Science fiction novel trilogies Christian science fiction Fiction about the Solar System The Bodley Head books

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