"We think that when creatures of the hypersomatic kind choose to 'appear' to us, they are not in fact affecting our retina at all, but directly manipulating the relevant parts of our brain. If so, it is quite possible that they can produce there the sensations we should have if our eyes were capable of receiving those colours in the spectrum which are actually beyond their range." (Perelandra, Chapter 16)
Oyéresu (singular: Oyarsa) are people (usually eldila or angels) set to guard a world. Each planet in the Field of Arbol has its own oyarsa, and they communicate to one another in Old Solar.
The title Oyarsa seems to indicate the function of leadership, regardless of the leader's species; when the Perelandran human Tor assumes rule of his world, he styles himself "Tor-Oyarsa-Perelendri" (presumably "Tor, Ruler of Perelandra").
Each Oyarsa is appointed as the spiritual leaders of inhabited worlds. It is their jobs to monitor the spiritual evolution of hnau or sapient races, and ensure that they do not succumb to the influence of evil.
Each Oyarsa is allowed to guide each world and its moons as they fit, allowing various worlds to develop different cultures that match their spiriitual rulers' philosophies.
Once an Oyarsa turns to the "dark side", their world is quarantined by the eldila until they are defeated and their influence is eradicated. Fallen worlds usually end up becoming major battlegrounds.
Oyarsu are only seen occasionally by hnau. Ransom perceives the Oyarsa of Malacandra as a shimmering light. At the end of his visit to Perelandra, Ransom is shown the two Oyarsu of Malacandra and Perelandra, who remind him of Mars and Venus, the Roman gods.
Earth's oyarsa is The Bent One who is said to be corrupted and held within the orbit of the Moon. The ultimate head of all oyarsa and eldila is Maleldil.
Basis[]
The eldila are science-fictionalised depictions of angels, immortal and holy, with the Oyéresu perhaps being archangels or some higher order. (As Lewis implies in Chapter 22 of Out of the Silent Planet, the name Oyarsa was suggested by Oyarses, the name given in Bernard Silvestris's Cosmographia to the governors of the celestial spheres. Bernard's word was almost certainly a corruption—or a deliberate alteration—of Greek οὐσιάρχης [ousiarches, "lords of being"], used with the same meaning in the Hermetic Asclepius.) The eldila resident on—actually, imprisoned in—Earth are the Dark Eldila, those among the Eldila that became bent. The Oyarsa of Earth, "The Bent One", is Satan. Ransom later meets the Oyéresu of both Mars and Venus, who are described as being masculine (but not actually male) and feminine (but not actually female), respectively. The Oyéresu of other worlds have characteristics like those of the corresponding Classical gods; for instance, the great Glund-Oyarsa of Jupiter gives a feeling of merriment (joviality), and are also the basis for the Olympian pantheon.
Peter Nicholls describes Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra as "planetary romances with elements of medieval mythology. Each planet is seen as having a tutelary spirit; those of the other planets are both good and accessible, while that of Earth is fallen, twisted and not known directly by most humans. These two books are powerfully imagined, although their scientific content is intermittently absurd."
Oyéresu[]
- Glund-Oyarsa
- Oyarsa of Perelandra
- Oyarsa of Malacandra
- The Bent One