Lankiveil

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In the Dune universe, Lankiveil is a planet ruled by House Harkonnen. It is cold and windy, and its seas are choked with pack ice and icebergs. Its oceans are home to the famous Bjondax whales, whose prized furs form the backbone of the Harkonnen economy. The rulers of Lankiveil have the noble title of Count, with their seat of government in the village of Tula Fjord, which is also the planet's foremost city. Although the Harkonnens are the official rulers of the planet, the native House Rabban has much influence in planetary politics. Lankiveil is also a stronghold of the Buddislamic religion, with the mountains and glaciers filled with monasteries, among which the most famous is the Bifrost Eyrie, suggesting that the planet's mythos is influenced by Norse paganism as well as Tibetan culture.

The planet was ruled by Vladimir Harkonnen's half-brother, Abulurd Harkonnen, until 10,174 A.G.

Lankiveil is where Baron Harkonnen hid his house's illegally owned, embezzled spice, in a false iceberg. Abulurd discovered this, but did not blackmail his brother the Baron or the Padishah Emperor, reasoning that he would not win either way. However, when Vladimir kidnapped his most beloved son, Feyd-Rautha, he decided to give all the illegal spice away to the population of Lankiveil, as a final revenge.

[edit] Whale fur

Whale fur, found only on icy Lankiveil, is a valuable commodity in the Imperium. Provided by the famous Bjondax whales native to Lankiveil, whale fur comes in many different colors (such as gray and blue) and can also be dyed. To wear it denotes wealth, and a large part of the Imperial market depends on the prices of whale fur. Since Lankiveil is owned by House Harkonnen, the price of whale fur forms the backbone of the Harkonnen economy. Whale-fur comes in many different forms, usually covering couches and adorning coats. Princess Irulan Corrino is noted wearing whale fur multiple times, including the scene in Dune Messiah in which she meets with her fellow conspirators.

Incidentally, terrestrial fur-bearing whales also exist in the future ice age of Michael Moorcock's novel The Ice Schooner.

[edit] History

In the year 88 B.G., the original Abulurd Harkonnen, was exiled from the League of Nobles, for cowardice, by Viceroy Faykan Corrino, and given the govenorship of Lankiveil. It was by manipulating the price of lankiveilan whale-fur, that Abulurd's descendants managed to make their way back into the Corrino Imperium and nobility.

Upon the death of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's father, Dmitri Harkonnen, the old Emperor, due to some mental deficiency, granted the governorship of Arrakis to the softhearted Abulurd, who managed to let spice production decline sharply in a mere seven years. Profits plunged, and he lost control to smugglers and sabotage. In disgrace, he was deposed from his position and sent off without official title to Lankiveil, where even he could do little damage to the self-sustaining whale-fur activities.