Malacandra

**Malacandra**, known on Earth as **Mars**, **Mavors**, and **Tyr**, was the fourth planet of the Field of Arbol and located between Thulcandra and Glundandra (Jupiter), just before the Asteroid Belt. It is the main subject of *Out of the Silent Planet*.

Like Thulcandra, Glundandra, Lurga and Neruval, it has its own moons.

## Name

The word Malacandra is a compound noun in Old Solar, formed with the prefix *Malac* and the noun *handra*, the latter of which means earth, land, or planet, and referring to the fourth planet from the Sun. Thus it may mean, "land of Mars". The same element can be found in the names of the planets Perelandra, Thulcandra and Glundandra, as well as the handramits and harandra. The Hebrew word for "messenger" or "angel" is (מַלְאַךְ, *malak*), and Malacandra is ruled by a mighty angel.

## History

The surface of Malacandra was once all inhabitable, but then The Bent One destroyed its outer layer, and the inhabitants of Malacandra where forced to live in handramits, large deep cracks or canyons in the ground. Only Sorns can live above the handramits. Malacandra is an old world, and is predicted to be one of the first worlds that will be removed from the Field of Arbol.

Malacandra is "the world that never fell" and remains a perfect, Edenic society. Technically, Malacandra was damaged in the Fall, but not in the moral sense. Oyarsa states that everyone used to live on the surface, but The Bent One damaged the planet, forcing him to dig out canyons or Handramits for most people to live in. Morally, however, all of Malacandra's inhabitants are upright. The real Edenic world however, is Perelandra, as some individuals on Malacandra are "bent".

## Atmosphere and climate

Unlike Perelandra, Malacandra can get cold and has a more varied climate. The low lying parts are most hospitable, but the uplands are cold and have thin air, and Ransom has trouble breathing in them.

## Landscape

The harandra (highlands) of Malacandra are dry and lifeless, with a thin atmosphere. The highlands contain large, cauliflower-like remains of trees and a multitude of caves. In the handramits (cracks in the earth), it is full of plants and signs of life such as trees, ground weeds, small oceans, and other life.

Kanakaberaka tells Elwin Ransom that his homeland is full of thick forests, but Ransom never gets the chance to visit there.

## Flora

Some parts of Malacandra such as the uplands are lifeless but some of the low lying areas are more fertile. Some of the trees are described as “the top of a gigantic red cauliflower.” During the Bent years, a lot of Malacandra's plants were killed off.

## Hnau (nau)

''See also Malacandrians''

There are three types of hnau on Malacandra: Hross, Sorn, and Pfifltriggi. The Hross are a humanoid that resembles a otter, and they excell in singing and fishing. The Sorn are the thinkers and cosmologists of Malacandra, and are tall, silver humanoids.The Pfifltriggi are miners and creators; they receive and build the inventions that the Sorns come up with. They also mine and make sculptures. Though there are variations in language, they communicate using Old Solar

## Fauna

Malacandra's flora is far less diverse than Earth's or Perelandra's, due to the attacks of The Bent One, which destroyed most of its oceans and thinned the air outside the Handramits.

There are four types of beasts on Malacandra which are mentioned in *Out of the Silent Planet*. The largest is a large unnamed beast resembling a giraffe, with a long neck and yellow fur. The smallest is a tiny red lizard that runs on two feet, somewhat like a tiny dinosaur. The only animal to be named in the book is the Hnakra, a vicious whale-like creature that the Hross hunt for sport. There are also fish which the hrossa live off. The last known hnakra is killed by Hyoi, a Hross friend of Dr. Ransom. The last animal that is mentioned is a giant bird-like animal that was killed during the destruction of the surface of Malacandra.

## A more complex world?

As Ransom leaves Malacandra he realises he has seen only a fraction of a much larger and complex world, with a intricate network of handramits extending in many directions. He also notices two Malacandrian moons, which he had not done from the surface.

## Background

### Scientific basis

Only a limited amount was known about Mars was known at the time Lewis wrote, and only from Earth-based observation. However, even by the thirties and forties, many suspected that Mars was uninhabitable, unlike Venus/Perelandra which hid under dense cloud.

It is likely that the Handramits are based on Lowell's (in)famous Martian "Canals", which inspired other authors including Herbert George Wells. However, a significant amount of real-life Mars is taken up with complex canyon systems, such as the Valles Marineris which dwarves Earth's Grand Canyon, extending a third of the way around the planet. There is also evidence of substantial cave systems on Mars, although these remain completely unexplored at the time of writing.

Malacandra is a colder, drier world than Earth, with a thinner atmosphere and a lower gravity. The real Mars shares these features, although to a much more extreme degree - Martian air pressure is 1% of Earth's - and its surface completely inhospitable to higher lifeforms. Even though the real Mars is inhospitable, it resembles Malacandra far more than Perelandra does the real Venus.

Mars does have two tiny moons which are mentioned in passing in the book but not by name.

### Astrological significance

Somewhat like Gustav Holst's musical suite, *the Planets*, written just before WW1, Lewis' conception of Malacandra/Mars owed as much to mediaeval astrology as modern astronomy. Mars is associated in astrology with the Roman god of war, both by name and by influence and the Earthmen attempt to introduce conflict and hatred to the planet. This is also an inversion of Herbert George Wells' *War of the Worlds* which features a hostile alien race invading Earth. At least one author sees this as a parallel to *the Chronicles of Narnia* published after the Space Trilogy which he says is also based on astrology. Mars' ancient connection to bloodshed may be a result of its red colour, which is visible to the naked eye when it comes into planetary opposition with the Earth.

Mars' associated day is Tuesday, *Mardi* in French. Its associated metal is iron.

## Pop Culture influences and references

In the *Martian Manhunter* comic book by John Ostrander published by DC Comics, the Martian word for "Mars" is "Ma'aleca'andra" as an homage to this trilogy.

"Malacandra" is used as a synonym for Mars, alongside "Barsoom" from Edgar Rice Burroughs' *A Princess of Mars*, in the song "Home With You" by Alan Moore, a vinyl record released as a tie-in to his graphic novel *The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier*.

The hrossa, séroni, and pfifltriggi are several of the races living on Mars in Larry Niven's 1999 novel *Rainbow Mars*; they are referred to as the "Pious Ones" by the Barsoomian races. The hrossa are called the "Fishers", the pfifltriggi the "Smiths", and the séroni the "High Folk". The pfifltriggi are one of the races who chose to ride to Earth on Yggdrasil.

In *Kirby's Return to Dreamland,* made by HAL Laboratories and published by Nintendo, there are remnants of a planet named "Halcandra" with a notably red landscape, seemingly a nod to Malacandra.

## Gallery

Malacandra as seen from the cover of the 2003 edition