Zberaulaz Kilt, Ballads from the Border Stars Studies in Atrodean HiJtoty 263 (Pasco Inst of Galacto Freiaeo Culture), Ratal Anifca Zhaivz, Pre-Gmld Stories for CkUn* (Cakdan. INS), Dranuns PronimuE and G Dtise More Leaves from the Golden Bough (Fides Malthas) AMTAL or AMTAL ROLE. A philosophical concept with the basic premise that in order to know a thing well, one must know its limits In other words, only when ail object is pushed beyond its limits will its true nature be seen For societies that live in the harshest of environments, Amtal is the only logical test of objects upon which people depend for survival On Airakis, for example, dunng the years before Paul Muad'Dib, the Fremen were strict practitioners of Amtal Whether it be a stillsuit to hold the body's water, a thumper to call the great worms of Dune, or a maker hook for capturing and steering the worms, every design as well as every piece of material was tested until it was literally destroyed It is not difficult to understand why such societies would so zealously apply Amtal Theory could not be depended on if one's own life and the life of the community was at stake However, such societies rarely viewed Amtal as merely a practical way of reducing the dangers of failure For the Fremen, Amtal became religious ritual To mem, life on Arrakis was die ultimate test in which all things were known by how they were destroyed The hostile nature of the environ-neot was supersititiously personified by Shai- Hulud, the indestructible giant sandworm Only Shai-Hulud appears to have been exempt from Amtal, and the reason seems to be that this deity was the ultimate tester, the final applier of Amtal to all things on Arrakis With such a mythology, Amtal, in even its simplest forms, takes on a metaphorical dimension In any of its applications it represents life itself, and is applied finally to human beings as well as to objects If a failed stillsuit meant certain death for an individual Fremen, the failure of a Fremen to carry out a necessary task meant the death of an entire community All Fremen were, as a consequence, subject to Amtal at all stages of their lives Every act became a further test to prove the worth of each individual to the community If an individual failed that test, the consequences were the same as if an object had been pushed beyond its limits The individual was destroyed It must be pointed out, however, that an individual's failure and death did not neces sanly mean shame For the Fremen, how the individual faced that failure was highly significant After all, it was m the ending, in the extension beyond natural limits that the truth was revealed Thus for societies like the Fremen living on Arrakis thousands of years ago, Amtal was the very cycle of life and death Further references FREMEN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Defa 1 Famm Taaj ! Fremen 12 v (Salusa Secundus Morgan and Sharak) Anon The Traveler s Introduction to Arrakis Rakis Ref Cat 6-Z295 ANTEAC, REVEREND MOTHER TERT1US EILEEN.