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Eldila/Eldils
An Oyarsa is the head eldila that rules over a planet.
Oyarsa Quotes in Perelandra
The Perelandra quotes below are all either spoken by Oyarsa or refer to Oyarsa. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
"Do you feel quite happy about it?" said I, for a sort of horror was beginning once more to creep over me.
"If you mean, Does my reason accept the view that he will (accidents apart) deliver me safe on the surface of Perelandra?—the answer is Yes," said Ransom. "If you mean, Do my nerves and my imagination respond to this view?—I'm afraid the answer is No. One can believe in anæsthetics and yet feel in a panic when they actually put the mask over your face. I think I feel as a man who believes in the future life feels when he is taken out to face a firing party. Perhaps it's good practice."
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Chapter 16
Quotes
"The world is born to-day," said Malacandra. "To-day for the first time two creatures of the low worlds, two images of Maleldil that breathe and breed like the beasts, step up that step at which your parents fell, and sit in the throne of what they were meant to be. It was never seen before. Because it did not happen in your world a greater thing happened, but not this. Because the greater thing happened in Thulcandra, this and not the greater thing happens here."
"Elwin is falling to the ground," said the other voice.
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Get the entire Perelandra LitChart as a printable PDF.
Oyarsa Term Timeline in Perelandra
The timeline below shows where the term Oyarsa appears in Perelandra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...not only Mars’ inhabitants, but also creatures called eldila, including the ruler of Mars, the Oyarsa of Malacandra. The eldila are very different from earthly creatures. They don’t breathe, eat, reproduce,...
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...light, whose color he is unable to describe. Lewis is certain he is seeing the Oyarsa of Malacandra, the ruler of Mars.
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Chapter 2
...Instead he’s being sent to Perelandra, or the planet Venus. He reminds Lewis that the Oyarsa of Malacandra had hinted that Earth’s isolation from other planets might be ending. This is...
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...into the coffin and then stand by to await his return and unpack him. The Oyarsa of Malacandra will propel the coffin to Perelandra—Ransom doesn’t know how exactly. Lewis feels frightened...
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...practical details to be taken care of in Ransom’s absence. Lewis is presented to the Oyarsa and “sworn in.” Then they lug the big casket into the chilly dawn. Lewis ties...
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A little more than a year later—a year filled with war and cruelties—Oyarsa comes to Lewis. Then he and Humphrey, Ransom’s trusted doctor, find themselves once again in...
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Chapter 6
...by men who thought that Mars’s rulers would demand a human sacrifice. Of course Mars’s Oyarsa wanted nothing of the kind, but Professor Weston, Ransom’s main captor, had a less benign...
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Chapter 16
...the eldils speaking in their bell-like voices and realizes that one of them is the Oyarsa of Malacandra. The Oyarsa is telling its companion about Ransom and his world. Ransom asks...
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The Oyarsa of Malacandra explains that today is the “morning day,” the birth of this world. It’s...
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...as two immensely tall human figures burning white-hot, with a halo of indescribable colors. The Oyarsa of Malacandra shines with colder colors, that of Perelandra glows with warmer ones.
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Chapter 17
Ransom is so lost in wonder that he almost misses what the Oyarsa of Perelandra is saying. The Oyarsa grants all of Perelandra and its creatures into the...
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