What is "luden"

''For the brand of throat drops, see Luden's. For the genus of grass skipper butterflies, see '' Ludens (butterfly).

Ludens, singular - Luden (людены, люден), are a humanoid race in the fictional Noon Universe created by the brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. They appear principally in the novel " The Time Wanderers". The name "Luden" is probably a reference to Homo Ludens, a 1938 book by Johann Huizinga, and the Russian term lyudi (люди), "people". The term "Luden" is also an anagram to "Nelud" - "inhuman" in Russian.