Shantak
Encyclopedia
A shantak is a fictional creature in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft
. It is also part of the Cthulhu Mythos
. The creature first appeared in Lovecraft's novella
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
(1926
).
A shantak is a huge, scaly, birdlike creature with batlike wings, slimy skin, and two strong talons that lives in the Cold Waste of Earth's Dreamlands. Shantaks are sometimes summoned to serve as steeds. They are hunted by the Elder God Nodens
and greatly fear nightgaunts.
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....
. It is also part of 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...
. The creature first appeared in Lovecraft's novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
(1926
1926 in literature
The year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....
).
Description
They were not any birds or bats known elsewhere on earth or in dreamland, for they were larger than elephants and had heads like a horse's. Carter knew that they must be the shantak-birds of ill rumour, and wondered no more what evil guardians and nameless sentinels made men avoid the boreal rock desert.
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
A shantak is a huge, scaly, birdlike creature with batlike wings, slimy skin, and two strong talons that lives in the Cold Waste of Earth's Dreamlands. Shantaks are sometimes summoned to serve as steeds. They are hunted by the Elder God Nodens
Nodens (Cthulhu Mythos)
Nodens is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Based on the Celtic deity, Nodens, is the creation of H. P...
and greatly fear nightgaunts.