The eldila are interplanetary creatures that do not have bodies (at least not discernible to the human eye) and do not eat, reproduce, breathe, or die. Their spatial location is hard to pinpoint, and they regard Deep Heaven as their home. Each planet has a head eldil, or Oyarsa, who rules it. The eldila may be likened to angels (or, in Earth’s case, demons). They are powerful and intelligent; although the eldila of Deep Heaven are good, those inhabiting Earth are bad, having influenced Earth’s evil courses for centuries.
Eldila/Eldils Quotes in Perelandra
The Perelandra quotes below are all either spoken by Eldila/Eldils or refer to Eldila/Eldils. 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
“I'll tell you how I look at it. Haven't you noticed how in our own little war here on earth, there are different phases, and while any one phase is going on people get into the habit of thinking and behaving as if it was going to be permanent? But really the thing is changing under your hands all the time, and neither your assets nor your dangers this year are the same as the year before. Now your idea that ordinary people will never have to meet the Dark Eldila in any form except a psychological or moral form—as temptations or the like—is simply an idea that held good for a certain phase of the cosmic war: the phase of the great siege, the phase which gave to our planet its name of Thulcandra, the silent planet. But supposing that phase is passing? In the next phase it may be anyone's job to meet them . . . well, in some quite different mode."
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Eldila/Eldils Term Timeline in Perelandra
The timeline below shows where the term Eldila/Eldils appears in Perelandra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...has visited Mars. While there, Ransom met not only Mars’ inhabitants, but also creatures called eldila, including the ruler of Mars, the Oyarsa of Malacandra. The eldila are very different from...
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...Ransom requesting that he come down for a visit to discuss “business.” Lewis finds the eldila troubling; ever since his return from Mars, Ransom seems to be haunted by these beings....
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Part of Lewis’s discomfort with the eldila is that they don’t fit neatly into a single category—they could be classified as both...
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...and he’s really just trying to avoid his meeting with Ransom. He thinks about the eldila again. Ransom had explained that Earth has its own eldila, the Tellurian eldils, but they’re...
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Lewis’s earlier fears about the eldils and about Ransom fade, but he’s still uneasy. He senses that the creature in the...
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Chapter 6
...his goals on Malacandra, so he’s trying again here. Ransom wonders if, like Malacandra, Perelandra’s eldila might help him foil Weston. He asks the Green Lady about them. The Green Lady...
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Chapter 15
...strange feeling pervades the atmosphere, and Ransom realizes he is in the presence of two eldila.
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Chapter 16
Ransom hears the eldils speaking in their bell-like voices and realizes that one of them is the Oyarsa of...
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The King and Queen of Perelandra are climbing up the mountain even now, so the eldila—who have come to do them honor—decide to prepare visible shapes in order to make it...
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...fact that neither of them has sexual characteristics, there is a discernible difference between the eldila which Ransom is nevertheless powerless to describe. He grasps at it by saying, for example,...
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...a perfect morning light settles over the valley, the King and Queen appear, and the eldila bow before them.
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Chapter 17
...Heaven can be seen. At that time, Maleldil will make them different creatures, something like eldila. When Ransom asks if that will be “the end,” Tor is surprised. Rather, he explains,...
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At this point, the five of them—the eldila, the King and Queen, and Ransom—enter into a series of speeches. They speak of the...
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...describe the sort of vision he experiences, but when he comes back from it, the eldila are gone, and so are the animals. He and the King and Queen are still...
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The Queen says that soon the eldila will be coming to take Ransom back to his world. The King notices Ransom’s bleeding...
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