They are cylindrical creatures with no significant appendages, equipped with a fearsome array of crystalline teeth, used primarily for rasping rocks and sand, and more than capable of eating anything imaginable. Sandworms are animals similar in appearance to colossal terrestrial annelids and in other ways to the lamprey. The worms may also be referred to by Fremen as Shaitan, post God-Emperor. Virtually indestructible and with indefinite lifespans of potentially thousands of years, the giant sandworms are also referred to as the 'Old Man of the Desert', 'Old Father Eternity' and 'Grandfather of the Desert'.

In the series, the sandworms Template:Mdash called Shai-Hulud / Л€ Кѓ aЙЄ h К‰ Л€ l uЛђ d / ДЄmong the Fremen of the desert planet Arrakis (Dune) Template:Mdash are worshiped as manifestations of 'the earth deity of Fremen hearth superstitions.' The Fremen believe that the actions of the sandworms are the direct actions of God, and so the worms have been given numerous titles such as the 'Great Maker', 'The Maker', and the 'Worm who is God.'( God Emperor of Dune).

They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series. The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Sheeana stands before a sandworm, from the cover of Heretics of Dune'

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Sandworms dune