Cthulhu Mythos celestial bodies
Encyclopedia
The following fictional celestial bodies
figure prominently in the Cthulhu Mythos
stories of H. P. Lovecraft
and other writers. Many of these astronomical bodies have parallels in the real universe, but are often renamed in the mythos and given fictitious characteristics. In addition to the celestial places created by Lovecraft, the mythos draws from a number of other sources, including the works of August Derleth
, Ramsey Campbell
, Lin Carter
, Brian Lumley
, and Clark Ashton Smith
.
----
Overview:
that revolves around seven star
s beyond Xoth. It is inhabited by metallic brains, wise with the ultimate secrets of the universe. According to Friedrich von Junzt's Unaussprechlichen Kulten
, Nyarlathotep
dwells or is imprisoned on this world (though other legends differ in this regard).
. On its fourth planet is the Great Library of Celaeno, which houses stone tablets containing secrets stolen from the Great Old Ones and Elder Gods. Professor Laban Shrewsbury spent some time here, transcribing the library's knowledge in his notebook—a manuscript that would later be known as the Celaeno Fragments.
name for the planet
Saturn
is Cykranosh
. It was the home of the god Tsathoggua
before he came to Earth, though several of his relatives, including his uncle, Hziulquoigmnzhah, still dwell there.
in Naacal
(the language of Mu), and is the star
where the Elder Gods came from to battle the Great Old Ones (though it may actually be the place where a gateway leads to Elysia
, the dimension where the Elder Gods are thought to live).
Hydra
, and is believed to be inhabited by the chthonian
s. Shub-Niggurath
is thought to have once dwelt here.
that is currently near the star Arcturus. The comet is unusually hot and has strange properties, such as the ability to travel faster than light.
On the surface of the comet is a huge building wherein dwells the being Fthaggua and his servants, the fire vampire
s. Fthaggua and his minions can guide the comet to travel between the stars, and will visit our solar system four centuries from now.
(or Pluto
?) on the edge of the solar system.
formless spawn came from.
. It is inhabited by metallic, cube-shaped beings with multiple legs. These creatures worship a minor deity known as L'rog'g (possibly another aspect of Nyarlathotep
), whose rituals require a yearly sacrifice in the form of the excising of the legs from a native.
When the Insects from Shaggai
(the Shan) arrived, the natives of L'gy'hx initially tolerated them and allowed them to build a huge city. After two centuries, the natives even came to see the Shan as co-rulers of the planet. In time, many Shan eschewed the veneration of Azathoth
and began to worship the L'gy'hx deity L'rog'g. But when some natives of L'gy'hx likewise turned to the worship of Azathoth, the event prompted the priests of L'rog'g to start an inquisition, inflicting gruesome punishments on the heretics. Relations with the Shan soured quickly as a result, and the priests of L'rog'g demanded that all temples of Azathoth be removed from L'gy'hx. A small group of the Shan, still faithful to the Azathoth sect, left L'gy'hx, teleporting
themselves and their deity's temple to the planet Earth.
.
, or Insects from Shaggai. The Shan's planet was destroyed eight centuries ago, possibly by Ghroth the Harbinger. The being known only as The Worm that Gnaws in the Night also resides here.
. According to the G'harne Fragments, the event was caused by a "seed of Azathoth
".
system near Baalbo (a dark star) and its companion Yifne (a green sun). The being Glaaki
is believed to have visited this world en route to Earth.
.
according to some writers. Its inhabitants created seven artificial suns to replace their dying natural sun. Lovecraft said that Nyarlathotep
dwells on the World of the Seven Suns, but he makes no connection with Fomalhaut.
Others connect the Seven Suns to the seven stars of the Pleiades
, the Hyades
, or possibly Ursa Major
.
and the dwelling place of the Great Old One Zathog.
Xoth (or Zoth) is the green binary star
where Cthulhu and his ilk once lived before coming to earth. According to the Xothic legend cycle
, it is where Cthulhu mated with Idh-yaa to beget Ghatanothoa
, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog.
Xoth is also the native home of Ycnágnnisssz and Zstylzhemghi, and was the temporary home of the latter's "husband", Ghisguth, and their progeny, the infant Tsathoggua
. Tsathoggua later went to live on Yuggoth. Afterward, he fled to Cykranosh to escape Cxaxukluth's cannibalistic eating habits.
Xoth may be the star Sirius
, since "Xoth" is similar to "Sothis", the Egyptian name for the star. However, it is more likely that Xoth coincides with the star "Zoth" in Smith's writings.
, but to no avail. Eventually, the Dholes overwhelmed them and destroyed the Nug-Soth's civilization. Survivors of the catastrophe escaped, however, and hid on various planets. Life on Yaddith amongst the Nug-Soth and the Dholes that threatened them was first described in detail in Through the Gates of the Silver Key
as Randolph Carter
is stranded there for hundreds of years while sharing the body of Zkauba the wizard, though Lovecraft did not name the race that inhabited the planet.
Robert M. Price
's short story
"Saucers from Yaddith" (1984
) hints that Nug-Soth scientists have appeared on Earth performing various experiments on humans—some relatively harmless (such as changing a man's blood type
from B to A), some rather bizarre (two brothers in medieval
Germany claimed that an "angel" had switched their hands and eyes), and others utterly horrific or disgusting.
and is inhabited by strange fungous beings. Hziulquoigmnzhah dwelt here for a while after fleeing Yuggoth to escape Cxaxukluth's cannibalistic urges. Hziulquoigmnzhah was evidently worshipped by the Yakshians, but he soon tired of their venerations and moved to Cykranosh.
in the mysterious Gray Gulf of Yarnak. The now-deserted city of Bel Yarnak is on its surface. The world may have been the one-time home of the Great Old One Mnomquah.
. It is inhabited by a race of technologically-advanced beings that resemble huge centipede
s that are slightly larger than a human. The populace worships an entity known as Juk-Shabb, which appears as a glowing, color-shifting orb. Very little is known about this deity other than it is telepathic and is greatly revered by the denizens of Yekub.
The Yekubians destroyed all intelligent life in the galaxy where they dwelt and sought to extend their influence throughout the universe. As part of their grand scheme, they sent out cube-shaped probes that could effect a mind-swap
with any intelligent creature who found one. In this way, Yekubian agents could infiltrate the finder's world. One such cube landed on the Earth during the reign of the Great Race of Yith
. When several of its members were taken over, the Yithians realized the danger of the cube and sequestered it under heavy guard. Eventually, however, the cube was lost.
, according to the Eltdown Shards. It is described as a "black, aeon-dead orb in far space" ("The Shadow out of Time", Lovecraft). Its actual location is a mystery. Some scholars place it in our own solar system
, just beyond Pluto
; others say it is the fourth of the five planets that orbit the star Ogntlach. Yith is said to have a thin atmosphere and seas heated by geothermal energy
.
name for the planet Jupiter
.
as Abbith, Xoth, and Zaoth.
.
(or Iukkoth) is the dwarf planet Pluto
. It may alternately be an enormous planet that orbits on the rim of the solar system
.
s, several survivors of the catastrophe fled here.
Astronomical object
Astronomical objects or celestial objects are naturally occurring physical entities, associations or structures that current science has demonstrated to exist in the observable universe. The term astronomical object is sometimes used interchangeably with astronomical body...
figure prominently in the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
stories of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
and other writers. Many of these astronomical bodies have parallels in the real universe, but are often renamed in the mythos and given fictitious characteristics. In addition to the celestial places created by Lovecraft, the mythos draws from a number of other sources, including the works of August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell
John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
, Lin Carter
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
, Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...
, and Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
.
----
Overview:
- Name. The name of the celestial body appears first.
- Description. A brief description follows.
- References. Lastly, the stories in which the celestial body makes a significant appearance or otherwise receives important mention appear below the description. A simple two-letter code is used—the key to the codes is found hereCthulhu Mythos reference codes and bibliographyThe following Cthulhu Mythos reference codes and bibliography is for use with the tables included in the articles Cthulhu Mythos deities, Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature, Cthulhu Mythos biographies, Cthulhu Mythos celestial bodies.-Index table 1:-Index table...
. If a code appears in bold, this means that the story introduces the celestial body.
| Contents: | A C G H K L M S T V W X Y Z |
| References—Notes—External links |
Abbith
A planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
that revolves around seven star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s beyond Xoth. It is inhabited by metallic brains, wise with the ultimate secrets of the universe. According to Friedrich von Junzt's Unaussprechlichen Kulten
Unaussprechlichen Kulten
Unaussprechlichen Kulten is a fictional work of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's short stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone" as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P...
, Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
dwells or is imprisoned on this world (though other legends differ in this regard).
Celaeno
One of the seven stars of the PleiadesPleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
. On its fourth planet is the Great Library of Celaeno, which houses stone tablets containing secrets stolen from the Great Old Ones and Elder Gods. Professor Laban Shrewsbury spent some time here, transcribing the library's knowledge in his notebook—a manuscript that would later be known as the Celaeno Fragments.
Cykranosh
The HyperboreanHyperborean cycle
The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea . Various elements in Smith's cycle have been borrowed by H. P. Lovecraft, most notably the "toad-god" Tsathoggua...
name for the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
is Cykranosh
Cykranosh
Cykranosh is the fictional name for the planet Saturn in the Cthulhu Mythos. Cykranosh is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle...
. It was the home of the god Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
before he came to Earth, though several of his relatives, including his uncle, Hziulquoigmnzhah, still dwell there.
Glyu-Uho
Glyu-Uho (or Glyu-Vho or K'Lu-Vho) is the name for BetelgeuseBetelgeuse
Betelgeuse, also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis , is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel only rarely...
in Naacal
Naacal
Naacal is the name of an ancient people and civilization claimed to have existed by first Augustus Le Plongeon and later James Churchward. Though there is no scientific or archaeological evidence for the existence of the Naacals, various later fictional works have made use of them.-Augustus Le...
(the language of Mu), and is the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
where the Elder Gods came from to battle the Great Old Ones (though it may actually be the place where a gateway leads to Elysia
Elysia
Elysia may signify:*Elysia , a deathcore band*Elysia , a genus of gastropods*Elysium, a section of the underworld containing the Elysian Fields*Elysia, pure heart.*Elysia, a gas giant in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption....
, the dimension where the Elder Gods are thought to live).
Haddath
Haddath (also Haddoth or perhaps Urakhu) is a fiery planet, possibly found near the "eye" of the constellationConstellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Hydra
Hydra (constellation)
Hydra is the largest of the 88 modern constellations, measuring 1303 square degrees. It has a long history, having been included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. It is commonly represented as a water snake...
, and is believed to be inhabited by the chthonian
Chthonian (Cthulhu Mythos)
Chthonians are fictional creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos. The species is the creation of Brian Lumley and was first featured in his short story "Cement Surroundings" —though the creature never made a direct appearance...
s. Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath, often associated with the phrase “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”, is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft...
is thought to have once dwelt here.
Ktynga
Ktynga (or Norby's comet) is the name of a bluish cometComet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
that is currently near the star Arcturus. The comet is unusually hot and has strange properties, such as the ability to travel faster than light.
On the surface of the comet is a huge building wherein dwells the being Fthaggua and his servants, the fire vampire
Fire vampire
Fire vampires are fictional characters in the Cthulhu Mythos. The term refers to two distinct types of beings: the Flame Creatures of Cthugha, created by August Derleth, and the Fire Vampires of Fthaggua, created by Donald Wandrei....
s. Fthaggua and his minions can guide the comet to travel between the stars, and will visit our solar system four centuries from now.
Kynarth
A mysterious celestial body located past YuggothYuggoth
Yuggoth is a fictional planet in the Cthulhu Mythos. H. P. Lovecraft himself said that Yuggoth is the then newly-discovered planet Pluto. However, other writers claim that it is actually an enormous, trans-Neptunian world that orbits perpendicular to the ecliptic of the solar system.-In the...
(or Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
?) on the edge of the solar system.
Kythanil
Kythanil (or Kythamil or Kthymil) is a double planet orbiting the star Arcturus and is the place were Tsathoggua'sTsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
formless spawn came from.
L'gy'hx
The planet UranusUranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. It is inhabited by metallic, cube-shaped beings with multiple legs. These creatures worship a minor deity known as L'rog'g (possibly another aspect of Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
), whose rituals require a yearly sacrifice in the form of the excising of the legs from a native.
When the Insects from Shaggai
Insect from Shaggai
An Insect from Shaggai is a member of a fictional alien race in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being was created by British author Ramsey Campbell, who was inspired by a similar creature in H. P. Lovecraft's commonplace book...
(the Shan) arrived, the natives of L'gy'hx initially tolerated them and allowed them to build a huge city. After two centuries, the natives even came to see the Shan as co-rulers of the planet. In time, many Shan eschewed the veneration of Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
and began to worship the L'gy'hx deity L'rog'g. But when some natives of L'gy'hx likewise turned to the worship of Azathoth, the event prompted the priests of L'rog'g to start an inquisition, inflicting gruesome punishments on the heretics. Relations with the Shan soured quickly as a result, and the priests of L'rog'g demanded that all temples of Azathoth be removed from L'gy'hx. A small group of the Shan, still faithful to the Azathoth sect, left L'gy'hx, teleporting
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
themselves and their deity's temple to the planet Earth.
Mthura
Dark planet inhabited by crystalline beings and the dwelling place of the Great Old One Q'yth-az. The Nug-Soth of Yaddith journeyed to this world in hopes of finding a magical formula that would defeat the DholesDhole (Cthulhu Mythos)
Dholes, also called bholes, are creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.Below him the ground was festering with gigantic Dholes, and even as he looked, one reared up several hundred feet and leveled a bleached, viscous end at him....
.
Shaggai
Shaggai (or Chag-Hai) is a planet orbiting twin green suns and is the homeworld of the ShanInsect from Shaggai
An Insect from Shaggai is a member of a fictional alien race in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being was created by British author Ramsey Campbell, who was inspired by a similar creature in H. P. Lovecraft's commonplace book...
, or Insects from Shaggai. The Shan's planet was destroyed eight centuries ago, possibly by Ghroth the Harbinger. The being known only as The Worm that Gnaws in the Night also resides here.
Shonhi
Shonhi (also Stronti) is a transgalactic world frequented by the denizens of Yaddith.Thuggon
A planet where the Insects from Shaggai dwelt for a while. They initially believed the planet was uninhabited; but when their slaves began disappearing, they soon discovered the terrible truth. They left shortly thereafter.Thyoph
A huge planet that broke apart to form the asteroid beltAsteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
. According to the G'harne Fragments, the event was caused by a "seed of Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
".
Tond
A mysterious planet believed to be part of our solar system, though the predominant view places it in a binary starBinary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
system near Baalbo (a dark star) and its companion Yifne (a green sun). The being Glaaki
Glaaki
Glaaki is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Glaaki first appeared in "The Inhabitant of the Lake" , an early story by Ramsey Campbell.-Glaaki in the mythos:...
is believed to have visited this world en route to Earth.
Vhoorl
A planet in the "twenty-third nebula" and the supposed birthplace of Great CthulhuCthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
.
World of Seven Suns
Possibly a planet near FomalhautFomalhaut
Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Fomalhaut can be seen low in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere in fall and early winter evenings. Near latitude 50˚N, it sets around the time Sirius rises, and does not...
according to some writers. Its inhabitants created seven artificial suns to replace their dying natural sun. Lovecraft said that Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
dwells on the World of the Seven Suns, but he makes no connection with Fomalhaut.
Others connect the Seven Suns to the seven stars of the Pleiades
Pleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
, the Hyades
Hyades (star cluster)
The Hyades is the nearest open cluster to the Solar System and one of the best-studied of all star clusters. The Hipparcos satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster's center of ~153 ly...
, or possibly Ursa Major
Ursa Major
Ursa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...
.
Xentilx
A distant galaxyGalaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
and the dwelling place of the Great Old One Zathog.
Xiclotl
The sister planet of Shaggai. The Shan conquered this world and enslaved its native inhabitants, a race of carnivorous monsters. When Shaggai was destroyed, the Shan joined their brethren here and remained for some time.Xoth
[T]he spawn of CthulhuCthulhuCthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
... came down from remote and ultra-telluric Xoth, the dim green double star that glitters like a daemonic eye in the blackness beyond Abbith.
—Lin Carter, "Out of the Ages"
Xoth (or Zoth) is the green binary star
Binary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
where Cthulhu and his ilk once lived before coming to earth. According to the Xothic legend cycle
Xothic legend cycle
The Xothic legend cycle is a series of short stories by Lin Carter that are based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The cycle is centered on a trinity of deities said to be the "sons" of Cthulhu: Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog...
, it is where Cthulhu mated with Idh-yaa to beget Ghatanothoa
Ghatanothoa
Ghatanothoa is a fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being first appeared in the short story "Out Of The Aeons" by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. It is a large, amorphous, exceptionally hideous being comparable to Medusa.-Summary:...
, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog.
Xoth is also the native home of Ycnágnnisssz and Zstylzhemghi, and was the temporary home of the latter's "husband", Ghisguth, and their progeny, the infant Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
. Tsathoggua later went to live on Yuggoth. Afterward, he fled to Cykranosh to escape Cxaxukluth's cannibalistic eating habits.
Xoth may be the star Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, since "Xoth" is similar to "Sothis", the Egyptian name for the star. However, it is more likely that Xoth coincides with the star "Zoth" in Smith's writings.
Yaddith
Yaddith is a distant planet that orbits five suns. Aeons ago it was inhabited by the Nug-Soth, creatures with traits similar to mammals, reptiles, and insects. The Nug-Soth sought a way to prevent the destruction of their planet's crust by the DholesDhole (Cthulhu Mythos)
Dholes, also called bholes, are creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.Below him the ground was festering with gigantic Dholes, and even as he looked, one reared up several hundred feet and leveled a bleached, viscous end at him....
, but to no avail. Eventually, the Dholes overwhelmed them and destroyed the Nug-Soth's civilization. Survivors of the catastrophe escaped, however, and hid on various planets. Life on Yaddith amongst the Nug-Soth and the Dholes that threatened them was first described in detail in Through the Gates of the Silver Key
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
"Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is a short story co-written by H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price between October 1932 and April 1933. A sequel to Lovecraft's "The Silver Key", and part of a sequence of stories focusing on Randolph Carter, it was first published in the July 1934 issue of...
as Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
is stranded there for hundreds of years while sharing the body of Zkauba the wizard, though Lovecraft did not name the race that inhabited the planet.
Robert M. Price
Robert M. Price
Robert McNair Price is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus, including...
's short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Saucers from Yaddith" (1984
1984 in literature
The year 1984 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is widely read....
) hints that Nug-Soth scientists have appeared on Earth performing various experiments on humans—some relatively harmless (such as changing a man's blood type
Blood type
A blood type is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells . These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system...
from B to A), some rather bizarre (two brothers in medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Germany claimed that an "angel" had switched their hands and eyes), and others utterly horrific or disgusting.
Yaksh
Yaksh is the planet NeptuneNeptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
and is inhabited by strange fungous beings. Hziulquoigmnzhah dwelt here for a while after fleeing Yuggoth to escape Cxaxukluth's cannibalistic urges. Hziulquoigmnzhah was evidently worshipped by the Yakshians, but he soon tired of their venerations and moved to Cykranosh.
Yarnak
Planet with three moons that orbits BetelgeuseBetelgeuse
Betelgeuse, also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis , is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel only rarely...
in the mysterious Gray Gulf of Yarnak. The now-deserted city of Bel Yarnak is on its surface. The world may have been the one-time home of the Great Old One Mnomquah.
Yekub
A planet in a distant galaxyGalaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
. It is inhabited by a race of technologically-advanced beings that resemble huge centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
s that are slightly larger than a human. The populace worships an entity known as Juk-Shabb, which appears as a glowing, color-shifting orb. Very little is known about this deity other than it is telepathic and is greatly revered by the denizens of Yekub.
The Yekubians destroyed all intelligent life in the galaxy where they dwelt and sought to extend their influence throughout the universe. As part of their grand scheme, they sent out cube-shaped probes that could effect a mind-swap
Mind transfer
Whole brain emulation or mind uploading is the hypothetical process of transferring or copying a conscious mind from a brain to a non-biological substrate by scanning and mapping a biological brain in detail and copying its state into a computer system or another computational device...
with any intelligent creature who found one. In this way, Yekubian agents could infiltrate the finder's world. One such cube landed on the Earth during the reign of the Great Race of Yith
Great Race of Yith
The Great Race of Yith are aliens in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. They first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Out of Time" . They are called the Great Race because they are the only beings to have mastered time travel...
. When several of its members were taken over, the Yithians realized the danger of the cube and sequestered it under heavy guard. Eventually, however, the cube was lost.
Yith
The original homeworld of the Great Race of YithGreat Race of Yith
The Great Race of Yith are aliens in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. They first appeared in Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Out of Time" . They are called the Great Race because they are the only beings to have mastered time travel...
, according to the Eltdown Shards. It is described as a "black, aeon-dead orb in far space" ("The Shadow out of Time", Lovecraft). Its actual location is a mystery. Some scholars place it in our own solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, just beyond Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
; others say it is the fourth of the five planets that orbit the star Ogntlach. Yith is said to have a thin atmosphere and seas heated by geothermal energy
Geothermal power
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
.
Ylidiomph
The HyperboreanHyperborean cycle
The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea . Various elements in Smith's cycle have been borrowed by H. P. Lovecraft, most notably the "toad-god" Tsathoggua...
name for the planet Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
.
Ymar
A planet in the same star clusterStar cluster
Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...
as Abbith, Xoth, and Zaoth.
Yrautrom
Yrautrom is a distant planet orbiting the star Algol, said to be home to Zvilpogghua, an offspring of TsathogguaTsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
.
Yuggoth
YuggothYuggoth
Yuggoth is a fictional planet in the Cthulhu Mythos. H. P. Lovecraft himself said that Yuggoth is the then newly-discovered planet Pluto. However, other writers claim that it is actually an enormous, trans-Neptunian world that orbits perpendicular to the ecliptic of the solar system.-In the...
(or Iukkoth) is the dwarf planet Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
. It may alternately be an enormous planet that orbits on the rim of the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
.
Zaoth
A planet near Xoth. It is home to metal brains and houses a great library of Yuggothian books. After Yaddith was destroyed by the DholeDhole (Cthulhu Mythos)
Dholes, also called bholes, are creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.Below him the ground was festering with gigantic Dholes, and even as he looked, one reared up several hundred feet and leveled a bleached, viscous end at him....
s, several survivors of the catastrophe fled here.
Wikisource links
- "Fungi from Yuggoth", a poem by Lovecraft
- "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", by Lovecraft and Price
- "The Whisperer in Darkness", by Lovecraft
Other links
- "The Challenge from Beyond", a round-robinRound-robinThe term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
short storyShort storyA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by five mythos authors: C. L. MooreC. L. MooreCatherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction....
, A. MerrittA. MerrittAbraham Grace Merritt — known by his byline, A. Merritt — was an American editor and author of works of fantastic fiction.-Life:...
, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. HowardRobert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
, and Frank Belknap LongFrank Belknap LongFrank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to...