This evidence may answer at least some of the more pertinent questions about Paul Atreides, the Kwisatz Haderach, Muad'Dib. 'A ghoia to whom Paul eventually gave his fourteen-year-old sister, Aha, as a reward for fealty'-j b. ^That part would haw to be in the myth, wouldn't it?-j.b. ^This is because there is not room enough in two years for him to have done and learned all of the things he would have to have done and learned -j.b. 4These qualities together with his position as unchallenged ruler of the single vital planet in all the inhabited universe, the planet which was and is the sole source of melange.. -j.b 3Archaeologists have for centuries searched for the Skull Place, the legendary burial place of Leto Atreides. They've not found it. It confounds the mind to reflect upon what might be discovered if such a place ever comes to light'-t.d.f. 3 THE QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED Was Paul Atreides an historical personage? This, obviously, is the most important question. The answer is that almost certainly he was; and the answer is based on a number of considerations. In the fast place, Paul is the pivotal character both in noble and in Fremen folklore. This is particular significant. These two pools of folklore material, though possibly springing from a single pre-First ] Jihad source, were absolutely independent of ' each other at die beginning of the Second Jihad. Different motifs, different qualities praised in their gods and heroes, different moral orientations, different modes of existence both before and after the Second Jihad- yet Paul Atreides is at the center of both. The situation is unique.6 It seems much more likely that an actual, immensely popular and culture-catalyzing hero \vas adopted by the story tellers and balladeers of both groups than that two unrelated bodies of folk material happened to posit the same fictional, mythological hero at the same time.