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{{short description|Shared fictional universe based on the work of H. P. Lovecraft}}
'''Cthulhu mythos''' is the label coined by the writer [[August Derleth]] for the shared world based upon the themes, characters, and story elements found in the works of [[H. P. Lovecraft]], as well as his protegés and later writers influenced by him. Combined, they form a kind of [[mythos]]—a system of [[symbols]] upon which Lovecraft could craft his dreamy, richly resonant stories. However, it should be noted that much of the mythos published after Lovecraft's death is at great variance with Lovecraft's original concept of a valueless, meaningless universe of chaos. Derleth presents a codified mythos influenced by his own Christian values, a struggle of good versus evil. Lovecraft himself was an atheist who claimed [[Kant|Kant's]] "ethical system is a joke." Indeed, some Lovecraft scholars contend that the Cthulhu Mythos is merely a theory proposed by Derleth; it was never intended to be a cohesive, singular entity by Lovecraft, but rather a collection of images which can be used in separate works to provoke the same emotions.
[[File:Cthulhu and R'lyeh.jpg|thumb|An artist's visual representation of [[Cthulhu]]]]
The '''Cthulhu Mythos''' is a [[mythopoeia]] and a [[shared fictional universe]], originating in the works of American [[Horror fiction|horror writer]] [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. The term was coined by [[August Derleth]], a contemporary correspondent and [[protégé]] of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name "[[Cthulhu]]" derives from the central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]", first published in the [[pulp magazine]] ''[[Weird Tales]]'' in 1928.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lovecraft |first=H.P. |title=Tales |date=2005 |publisher=Library of America |isbn=1931082723 |edition=2nd |___location=New York |oclc=56068806 |author-link=H. P. Lovecraft}}</ref>
 
[[Richard L. Tierney]], a writer who also wrote Mythos tales, later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish Lovecraft's works from Derleth's later stories, which modify key tenets of the Mythos.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Price |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Price |date=November 1, 1982 |title=Cthulhu Elsewhere in Lovecraft |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |language=en-US |issue=9 |pages=13–15 |issn=1077-8179}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schweitzer |first=Darrell |title=Discovering H. P. Lovecraft |date=2001 |publisher=Wildside Press |isbn=978-1587154713 |edition=revised |___location=Holicong, PA |page=52 |author-link=Darrell Schweitzer}}</ref> Authors of [[Lovecraftian horror]] in particular frequently use elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.<ref name="Harms">{{Cite book |last=Harms |first=Daniel |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacthu00dani |title=The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana |date=1998 |publisher=Chaosium, Inc. |isbn=978-1568821191 |edition=2nd |___location=Oakland, CA |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|viii–ix}}
Derleth was able to insinuate his own concepts, which were frequently at great variance with those of Lovecraft, into common conceptions of Lovecraft's work in two ways. First, he was the publisher of Lovecraft's texts in book form, and provided them with introductions, giving his ideas greater influence on the reader's experience than they would otherwise have (he also spread these interpretations far and wide in magazine articles). Derleth tells us, for example, that
:"As Lovecraft conceived the deities or forces of his Mythos, there were, initially, the Elder Gods . . . these Elder Gods were benign deities, representing the forces of good, and existed peacefully at or near [[Betelgeuse|Betelgeuze]] in the constellation Orion, very rarely stirring forth to intervene in the unceasing struggle between the powers of evil and the [[race (fantasy)|race]]s of Earth. These powers of evil were variously known as the Great Old Ones or the Ancient Ones" -- August Derleth, ''Introduction to Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, viii''
This is all very unlike Lovecraft, in whose work the Elder Gods never appear (excepting one or two, who appear as Outer Gods, such as [[Nodens]] in "The Strange High House in the Mist"; but perhaps this is merely a limit case showing how "rarely" they stir forth -- never), and there is no unified pantheon of Great Old Ones. Indeed, the term "Ancient Ones" only appears in one story, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", and this says of the protagonist:
:"He wondered at the vast conceit of those who had babbled of the malignant Ancient Ones, as if They could pause from their everlasting dreams to wreak a wrath upon mankind. As well, he thought, might a mammoth pause to visit frantic vengeance on an angleworm." -- H. P. Lovecraft, ''Through the Gates of the Silver Key''
Derleth's work, on the other hand, is filled with recaps of his basic cosmic good guys vs. bad guys scenario. Derleth further tells us that "To supplement this remarkable creation [the Necronomicon], Lovecraft added . . . the R'lyeh Text". In fact, Lovecraft never referred to the R'lyeh Text, as it was invented by August Derleth after Lovecraft's death. Indeed, it was Derleth who falsely quoted Lovecraft as stating,
:"All my stories, unconnected as they may be, are based on the fundamental lore or legend that this world was inhabited at one time by another race who, in practicing black magic, lost their foothold and were expelled, yet live on outside ever ready to take possession of this earth again." -- attributed to H.P. Lovecraft by August Derleth
If anything, the collection of monsters in Lovecraft's writings are far from consciously hostile to humanity, but rather absolutely indifferent, and as such, causing harm with as little regard as an unaware human foot crushing an insect.
 
==History==
Central to the mythos are the Great Old Ones, a fearsome assortment of [[deity|deities]] led by the dreaded [[Cthulhu]] (though there are other beings in the mythos that are even more monstrous), who lies in a state of hibernation in the lost and sunken city of [[R'lyeh]]. "When the stars are right," Cthulhu will awaken and wreak havoc upon the earth.
[[File:H. P. Lovecraft in DeLand Florida, June 1934.png|thumb|upright|H. P. Lovecraft, the creator of the Cthulhu Mythos|alt=A June 1934 photograph of H. P. Lovecraft, facing left]]
In his essay "H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos", [[Robert M. Price]] described two stages in the development of the Cthulhu Mythos. Price called the first stage the "Cthulhu Mythos proper". This stage was formulated during Lovecraft's lifetime and was subject to his guidance. The second stage was guided by August Derleth who, in addition to publishing Lovecraft's stories after his death, attempted to categorize and expand the Mythos.<ref name="Bloch">{{Cite book |last1=Lovecraft |first1=H.P. |title=The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre |last2=Bloch |first2=Robert |date=1987 |publisher=Ballantine Publishing Group |isbn=0345350804 |edition=1st |___location=New York |author-link2=Robert Bloch}}</ref>{{rp|8}}<ref name="Price">{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Price |title=H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos |date=1990 |publisher=Starmont House |isbn=1557421528 |___location=Mercer Island, WA}}</ref>{{rp|5}}
 
===First stage===
== Great Old Ones ==
An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe. Lovecraft made frequent references to the "[[Great Old Ones]]", a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful [[deities]] from space who once ruled the Earth and have since fallen into a deathlike sleep.<ref name="Harms" />{{rp|viii}} While these monstrous deities were present in almost all of Lovecraft's published work (his second short story "[[Dagon (short story)|Dagon]]", published in 1919, is considered the start of the Mythos), the first story to really expand the pantheon of Great Old Ones and its themes is "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]", which was published in 1928.
 
Lovecraft broke with other pulp writers of the time by having his main characters' minds deteriorate when afforded a glimpse of what exists outside their perceived reality. He emphasized the point by stating in the opening sentence of the story that "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lovecraft |first=H.P. |title=The Call of Cuthulhu |date=2014 |publisher=Start Publishing LLC |isbn=978-1609772697 |___location=Lanham, MD}}</ref>
The [[Great Old Ones]] are vastly powerful and ancient creatures who are often worshiped as gods by insane human cultists; many of them are made of unearthly substance which is not like normal matter. They have limits to their influence, even if those "limits" include an entire planet. Those Great Old Ones who are based in other solar systems can only extend their influence to Earth when the star of the solar system is in the night sky, along with the help of cultists performing various rituals.
 
Writer [[Dirk W. Mosig]] noted that Lovecraft was a "mechanistic materialist" who embraced the philosophy of [[Cosmicism#Cosmic indifferentism|cosmic indifferentism]] and believed in a purposeless, mechanical, and uncaring universe. Human beings, with their limited faculties, can never fully understand this universe, and the [[cognitive dissonance]] caused by this revelation leads to insanity, in his view.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mosig|first1=Yozan Dirk W.|publisher=Gothic Press|editor=[[Gary William Crawford]]|url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1311861|title=Lovecraft: The Dissonance Factor in Imaginative Literature|date=1979}}</ref><ref name="Mariconda">{{Cite book |last=Mariconda |first=Steven J. |title=On the Emergence of "Cthulhu" & Other Observations |date=1995 |publisher=Necronomicon Press |isbn=978-0940884816 |___location=West Warwick, RI}}</ref>
* [[Abhoth]], The Unclean One, Source of Uncleanness
* [[Aphoom-Zhah]], the Cold Flame, Lord of the Pole
* [[Atlach-Nacha]], the Spider God
* [[Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg]], the Bringer of Pestilence
* [[Bokrug]], the Great Water Lizard, the Doom of Sarnath
* [[Bugg-Shash]], The Drowner
* [[Byatis]], The Berkeley Toad, the Serpent-Bearded
* [[Chaugnar Faugn]], Horror from the Hills, The Feeder
* [[Cthugha]], the Living Flame, the Burning One
* [[Cthulhu]], the Sleeping God, Master of R'lyeh, Kthulhut
* [[Cthylla]], Secret Seed of Cthulhu
* [[Cyäegha]], the Great Tentacled Eye
* [[Cynothoglys]], The Mortician God
* [[Dagon]]
* [[Dweller in the Gulf]], Eidolon of the Blind
* [[Eihort]], the Pale Beast, God of the Labyrinth
* [[Ghatanothoa]], The Usurper, God of the Volcano
* [[Ghizguth]]
* [[Ghroth]], Whom Passeth in Darkness
* [[Glaaki]], the Inhabitant of the Lake, Lord of Dead Dreams
* [[Gloon]], the Corrupter of Flesh, Master of the Temple
* [[Gol-Goroth]], God of the Black Stone
* [[Hastur]], the Unspeakable, He Who is Not to be Named
* [[Hydra, Mother]]
* [[Hzioulquoigmnzhah]]
* [[Idh-Yaa]]
* [[Iod]], The Shining Hunter
* [[Ithaqua]], the Wind Walker, the Wendigo, God of the Cold White Silence
* [[Juk-Shabb]], God of Yekub
* [[Lloigor]] (Great Old One), The Star-Treader
* [[L&#8217;rog&#8217;g]], Bat God of L'Gy'Hx
* [[M&#8217;Nagalah]], The Great God Cancer
* [[Mnomquah]]
* [[Mordiggian]], The Charnel God
* [[Nug and Yeb]], The Twin Blasphemies
* [[Nyogtha]], The Thing which Should Not Be, Haunter of the Red Abyss
* [[Oorn]]
* [[Othuum]]
* [[Othuyeg]], the Doom-Walker
* [[Quachil Uttaus]], Treader of the Dust
* [[Rhan-Tegoth]], He of the Ivory Throne
* [[Rlim-Shaikorth]], The White Worm
* [[Saa&#8217;itii]], The Hogge
* [[Sfaticlip]]
* [[Shathak]]
* [[Shudde M'ell]], the Great Chthonian
* [[Tsathoggua]], the Sleeper of N'kai, the Toad-God, Zhothaqqua, Sadagowah
* [[Tulzscha]], the Green Flame
* [[The Worm that Gnaws the Night]], Doom of Shaggai
* [[Vorvadoss]], Troubler of the Sands, Whom Waiteth in the Outer Dark
* [[Vulthoom]], Gsarthotegga, the Sleeper of Ravermos
* [[Y'Golonac]], The Defiler
* [[Yibb-Tstll]], The Patient One, Watcher in the Glade
* [[Yig]], Father of Serpents
* [[Ythogtha]], the Thing in the Pit
* [[Zhar]]
* [[Zoth-Ommog]]
* [[Zushakon]], Old Night
* [[Zvilpoggua]], Ossadagowah, the Sky-Devil
* [[Zystulzhemgni]], Matriarch of Swarms
 
There have been attempts at categorizing this fictional group of beings. Phillip A. Schreffler argues that by carefully scrutinizing Lovecraft's writings, a workable framework emerges that outlines the entire "pantheon"{{mdash}}from the unreachable "Outer Ones" (e.g., [[Azathoth]], who occupies the centre of the universe) and "Great Old Ones" (e.g., Cthulhu, imprisoned on Earth in the sunken city of [[R'lyeh]]) to the lesser castes (the lowly slave [[shoggoth]]s and the [[Mi-Go]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shreffler |first=Philip A. |title=The H. P. Lovecraft Companion |date=1977 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0837194820 |___location=Westport, CN |pages=156–157}}</ref>
== Great Ones ==
 
David E. Schultz said Lovecraft never meant to create a canonical Mythos but rather intended his imaginary pantheon to serve merely as a background element.<ref name="Connors">{{Cite book |last=Connors |first=Scott |title=A Century Less a Dream: Selected Criticism on H. P. Lovecraft |date=2002 |publisher=Wildside Press |isbn=978-1587152153 |edition=1st |___location=Holikong, PA}}</ref>{{rp|46, 54}} Lovecraft himself humorously referred to his Mythos as "Yog Sothothery" (Dirk W. Mosig coincidentally suggested the term ''Yog-Sothoth Cycle of Myth'' be substituted for ''Cthulhu Mythos'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mosig |first=Yōzan Dirk W. |title=Mosig at Last: A Psychologist looks at H. P. Lovecraft |date=1997 |publisher=Necronomicon Press |isbn=978-0940884908 |edition=1st |___location=West Warwick, RI |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Yog-Sothothery |url=http://www.timpratt.org/611.html |access-date=November 28, 2012 |publisher=Timpratt.org}}</ref> At times, Lovecraft even had to remind his readers that his Mythos creations were entirely fictional.<ref name="Mariconda" />{{rp|33–34}}
The so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, they are not nearly as powerful as the Great Old Ones, and not even as intelligent as humans. However, they are under the protection of the Outer Gods, especially Nyarlathotep.
 
The view that there was no rigid structure is expounded upon by [[S. T. Joshi]], who said
* [[Hagarg Ryonis]], the Lier-in-Wait
* [[Karakal]]
* [[Lobon]]
* [[Nath-Horthath]]
* [[Oukranos]]
* [[Tamash]]
* [[Zo-Kalar]]
 
{{blockquote|Lovecraft's imaginary [[cosmogony]] was never a static system but rather a sort of aesthetic construct that remained ever adaptable to its creator's developing personality and altering interests. ... There was never a rigid system that might be posthumously appropriated. ... The essence of the mythos lies not in a pantheon of imaginary deities nor in a cobwebby collection of forgotten tomes, but rather in a certain convincing cosmic attitude.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joshi |first=S. T. |title=Miscellaneous Writings |date=1995 |publisher=[[Arkham House]] |isbn=978-0870541681 |edition=1st |___location=Sauk City, WI |pages=165–166 |author-link=S. T. Joshi}}</ref>}}
== Elder Gods ==
 
Price said Lovecraft's writings could at least be divided into categories and identified three distinct themes: the "Dunsanian" (written in a similar style as [[Lord Dunsany]]), "[[Arkham]]" (occurring in Lovecraft's fictionalized [[New England]] setting), and "Cthulhu" (the cosmic tales) cycles.<ref name="Price" />{{rp|9}} Writer Will Murray noted that while Lovecraft often used his fictional pantheon in the stories he ghostwrote for other authors, he reserved Arkham and its environs exclusively for those tales he wrote under his own name.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Hise |first=James |title=The Fantastic Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft |date=1999 |publisher=James Van Hise |edition=1st |___location=Yucca Valley, CA |oclc=60496802 |asin=B000E9KQXS |pages=105–107}}</ref>
A group of beings who oppose the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones. Many people consider them to be un-Lovecraftian, since they bring a good/evil dichotomy to the cosmic indifference of Lovecraft's fiction. However, these beings are no more concerned with such human notions as "good" and "evil" than the things they oppose, and consider humans to be less than fleas.
 
Although the Mythos was not formalized or acknowledged between them, Lovecraft did correspond, meet in person, and share story elements with other contemporary writers including [[Clark Ashton Smith]], [[Robert E. Howard]], [[Robert Bloch]], [[Frank Belknap Long]], [[Henry Kuttner]], [[Henry S. Whitehead]], and [[Fritz Leiber]]{{mdash}}a group referred to as the "Lovecraft Circle".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joshi |first=S.T. |title=H.P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism |chapter=Lovecraft Criticism: A Study |date=1980 |page=23 |publisher=[[Ohio University Press]] |isbn=978-0821405772 |___location=Athens, OH}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last=Herron |first=Don |editor-last=Schweitzer |editor-first=Darrell |title=Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction: Essays on the Antecedents of Fantastic Literature |chapter=Of the Master, Merlin, and H. Warner Munn |date=1996 |page=129 |publisher=Wildside Press |isbn=978-1587150043 |___location=Gillette, NJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Weird Tales Story |date=1977 |editor-last=Weinberg |editor-first=Robert E. |editor-link=Robert Weinberg (author) |last=Long |first=Frank Belknap |author-link=Frank Belknap Long |page=49 |chapter=Recollections of Weird Tales |publisher=FAX Collector's Editions |isbn=0-913960-16-0}}</ref>
* [[Bast (Cthulhu Mythos)|Bast]], Goddess of cats, Pasht
* [[Hypnos (Cthulhu Mythos)|Hypnos]], Lord of sleep
* [[Kthanid]] (''according to some sources, an Outer God'')
* [[N'tse-Kaambl]] (''according to some sources, an Outer God''), Whose Splendor Hath Shattered Worlds
* [[Nodens (Cthulhu Mythos)|Nodens]], the Hunter, Lord of the Great Abyss
* [[Ulthar]]
* [[Yad-Thaddag]]
 
For example, Robert E. Howard's character [[Cthulhu Mythos biographies#Von Junzt, Friedrich Wilheim|Friedrich Von Junzt]] reads Lovecraft's ''[[Necronomicon]]'' in the short story "The Children of the Night" (1931), and in turn Lovecraft mentions Howard's ''[[Unaussprechlichen Kulten]]'' in the stories "Out of the Aeons" ([[1935 in literature|1935]]) and "The Shadow Out of Time" ([[1936 in literature|1936]]).<ref name="Price" />{{rp|6–7}} Many of Howard's original unedited ''[[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]]'' stories also involve parts of the Cthulhu Mythos.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Robert E. |url=https://archive.org/details/comingofconanc00robe |title=The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian |last2=Schultz |first2=Mark |date=2003 |publisher=Del Rey/Ballantine Books |isbn=0345461517 |edition=1st |___location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/comingofconanc00robe/page/436 436] |url-access=limited}}</ref>
== Outer Gods ==
 
===Second stage===
These beings have no limits to their influence, unlike the Great Old Ones, and are likely to embody cosmic principles. The Outer Gods are also known as the Other Gods.
Price denotes the second stage's commencement with August Derleth, with the principal difference between Lovecraft and Derleth being Derleth's use of hope and development of the idea that the Cthulhu Mythos essentially represented a struggle between good and evil.<ref name="Bloch" />{{rp|9}} Derleth is credited with creating the "Elder Gods". He stated:
 
{{bquote|As Lovecraft conceived the deities or forces of his mythos, there were, initially, the Elder Gods.... These Elder Gods were benign deities, representing the forces of good, and existed peacefully...very rarely stirring forth to intervene in the unceasing struggle between the powers of evil and the [[Race (fantasy)|races]] of Earth. These powers of evil were variously known as the Great Old Ones or the Ancient Ones....<ref>{{Cite book |last=Derleth |first=August |title=The Cthulhu Mythos |date=1997 |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |isbn=0760702535 |___location=New York |page=vii |author-link=August Derleth}}</ref>}}
* [[Azathoth]], Him in the Gulf, the Daemon Sultan, Seething Nuclear Chaos
* [[Daoloth]], the Render of the Veils
* [[The Hydra]], the Thousand-Faced Moon, Mormo
* [[Lesser Outer Gods]]
* [[Larvae of the Outer Gods]]
* The [[Nameless Mist]] / Magnum Innominandum
* [[Nyarlathotep]], the Crawling Chaos, messenger to Azathoth, the Black Man
* [[Shub-Niggurath]], the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, wife of the Not-to-Be-Named One
* [[Ubbo-Sathla]], the Unbegotten Source, the Demiurge
* [[Yog-Sothoth]], the All-in-One, the Beyond One, Opener of the Way
 
Price said the basis for Derleth's system is found in Lovecraft: "Was Derleth's use of the rubric 'Elder Gods' so alien to Lovecraft's in ''At the Mountains of Madness''? Perhaps not. In fact, this very story, along with some hints from "The Shadow over Innsmouth", provides the key to the origin of the 'Derleth Mythos'. For in ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is shown the history of a conflict between interstellar races, first among them the Elder Ones and the Cthulhu-spawn."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Price |first=Robert M. |date=June 23, 1982 |title=The Lovecraft-Derleth Connection |url=http://crypt-of-cthulhu.com/lovecraftderleth.htm |url-status=dead |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |issue=6 |pages=3–8 |issn=1077-8179 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217054944/http://www.crypt-of-cthulhu.com/lovecraftderleth.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2013}}</ref>
== Other supernatural beings ==
 
Derleth said Lovecraft wished for other authors to actively write about the Mythos as opposed to it being a discrete plot device within Lovecraft's own stories.<ref name="Connors" />{{rp|46–47}} Derleth expanded the boundaries of the Mythos by including any passing reference to another author's story elements by Lovecraft as part of the genre. Just as Lovecraft made passing reference to Clark Ashton Smith's ''[[Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature#Book of Eibon|Book of Eibon]]'', Derleth in turn added Smith's [[Outer God#Ubbo-Sathla|Ubbo-Sathla]] to the Mythos.<ref name="Price" />{{rp|9–10}}
''Some of these may in fact be Great Old Ones, Great Ones, Elder Gods, Outer Gods or Avatars; if so, please move them to the appropriate category.''
 
Derleth also attempted to connect the deities of the Mythos to the [[Classical element|four elements]] (air, earth, fire, and water), creating new beings representative of certain elements in order to legitimize his system of classification. He created "Cthugha" as a sort of fire elemental when a fan, Francis Towner Laney, complained that he had neglected to include the element in his schema. Laney, the editor of ''[[The Acolyte (fanzine)|The Acolyte]]'', had categorized the Mythos in an essay that first appeared in the Winter 1942 issue of the magazine.
* [[Basatan]], Master of the Crabs
* [[Beast in the Pit]]
* [[Beast of Averoigne]]
* [[The Dunwich Horror]], Son of Yog-Sothoth
* [[Fthaggua]], Lord of K'tynga
* [[Kali (Cthulhu Mythos)|Kali]]
* [[Knygathin Zhaum]]
* [[K'thun]] (female) & [[Noth-Yidik]] (male)
* [[Mlandoth]]
* [[Pharol the Black]]
* [[Saboth the Elder]], the Grinning Ghoul
* [[Shaurash-Ho]]
* [[Thing Hanging in the Void]]
* [[Xiurhn]], Guardian of the Dark Jewel
* [[Yhoundeh]], the Elk Goddess
* [[High Priest Not to Be Described|The High-Priest Not to Be Described]]
 
Impressed by the glossary, Derleth asked Laney to rewrite it for publication in the Arkham House collection ''Beyond the Wall of Sleep'' (1943).<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Price |first=Robert M. |date=June 23, 1985 |title=Editorial Shards |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |issue=32 |page=2 |issn=1077-8179}}</ref> Laney's essay ("The Cthulhu Mythos") was later republished in ''Crypt of Cthulhu #32'' (1985). In applying the elemental theory to beings that function on a cosmic scale (e.g., [[Yog-Sothoth]]) some authors created a fifth element that they termed ''aethyr''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
== Fictitious books in the Mythos ==
 
{| class="wikitable"
* [[The Book of Iod]]
|+ Derleth's elemental classifications
* [[The Book of Eibon]], [[Liber Ivonis]], or [[Livre d'Eibon]]
|-
* [[Book of Dzyan]], whose first six chapters antedate the earth
! Air
* [[Celaeno Fragments]]
! Earth
* [[Cthaat Aquadingen]], possibly Things of the Water
! Fire
* [[Cultes des Goules]], or Cults of the Ghouls
! Water
* [[De Vermiis Mysteriis]], or Mysteries of the Worm
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
* [[Eltdown Shards]]
| style="padding:0em 0.75em;" | [[Hastur]]<br />[[Ithaqua]]*<br />[[Nyarlathotep]]<br />[[Zhar (Great Old One)|Zhar and Lloigor]]*
* [[G'harne Fragments]]
| style="padding:0em 0.75em;" | [[Cyäegha]]<br />[[List of Great Old Ones#Nyogtha|Nyogtha]]<br />[[Shub-Niggurath]]<br />[[Tsathoggua]]
* [[The King in Yellow]]
| style="padding:0em 0.75em;" | [[List of Great Old Ones#Aphoom-Zhah|Aphoom-Zhah]]<br />[[Cthugha]]*<br />Yig
* [[Massa Di Requiem per Shuggay]]
| style="padding:0em 0.75em;" | [[Cthulhu]]<br />[[Deep One#Father Dagon and Mother Hydra|Dagon]]<br />[[Ghatanothoa]]<br />[[Deep One#Father Dagon and Mother Hydra|Mother Hydra]]<br />[[Xothic legend cycle#Zoth-Ommog|Zoth-Ommog]]
* The ''[[Necronomicon]]''; i.e., "An Image [or Picture ''sic''] of the Law of the Dead"
|-
* [[Kitab Al-Azif]], equivalent to the Necronomicon
| colspan="4" style="font-size: 90%;" | * Deity created by Derleth
* [[The Pnakotic Manuscripts]] or Pnakotic Fragments
|}
* [[Ponape Scripture]]
* [[Revelations of Glaaki]]
* [[The R'lyeh Text]]
* [[Saracenic Rituals]]
* [[The Testament of Carnamagos]]
* [[Unaussprechlichen Kulten]], or "Unspeakable Cults"
* [[Zanthu Tablets]]
 
== Fictional cults ==
== Non-human species of the Mythos ==
A number of fictional [[Cult (religious practice)|cults]] dedicated to "malevolent supernatural entities" appear in the Cthulhu Mythos, the loosely connected series of horror stories written by Lovecraft and other writers inspired by his creations.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zeller |first=Benjamin E. |author-link=Benjamin E. Zeller |date=2019-12-30 |title=Altar Call of Cthulhu: Religion and Millennialism in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos |journal=[[Religions (journal)|Religions]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=18 |article-number=18 |doi=10.3390/rel11010018 |doi-access=free }}</ref> These fictional cults have in some ways taken on a life of their own beyond the pages of Lovecraft's works. According to author John Engle, "The very real world of esoteric magical and occult practices has adopted Lovecraft and his works into its canon, which have informed the ritual practices, or even formed the bedrock, of certain cabals and magical circles".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Engle |first=John |date=October 15, 2014 |title=Cults of Lovecraft: The Impact of H.P. Lovecraft's Fiction on Contemporary Occult Practices |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26815942 |journal=Mythlore |volume=33 |issue=125 |pages=85–98 |jstor=26815942 }}</ref>
 
== Significance ==
* [[Beings of Ib]]
The Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft is considered to have been highly influential for the [[speculative fiction]] genre. It has been called "the official [[fictional religion]] of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, a grab bag for writers in need of unthinkably vast, and unthinkably indifferent, eldritch entities".<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Bialecki |first=Jon |date=2019-01-01 |title=America's Dark Theologian: The Religious Imagination of Stephen King. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=21509298&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA673438134&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=Religion and Society |language=English |volume=10 |pages=176–179}}</ref>
* [[Byakhee]]
* [[Cats from Saturn]]
* [[Cats from Uranus]]
* [[Chthonians]], The Burrowers Beneath
* [[Colours out of Space]]
* [[Crawling Ones]], The Worms that Walk
* [[Dark Young]] of [[Shub-Niggurath]]
* [[Deep Ones]]
* [[Dhole (fictional)|Dholes]]
* [[Dimensional Shamblers]]
* [[Elder Things]] / Old Ones
* [[Eryx, Natives of]]
* [[Fire Vampires]]
* [[Flying Polyps]]
* [[Formless Spawn]]
* [[Ghast]]s
* [[Ghoul]]s
* [[Gnoph-Keh]]
* [[Gnorri]]
* [[Great Race of Yith]]
* [[Gugs]]
* [[Gyaa-Yothn]]
* [[Hounds of Tindalos]]
* [[Hunting Horrors]]
* [[Insects from Shaggai]]
* [[Lamp-Eft]]
* [[Lloigor]] (a race)
* [[Men of Leng]]
* [[Mi-go]] / Fungi from Yuggoth
* [[Moon Beasts]]
* [[Nightgaunts]]
* [[Serpent People]]
* [[Servants of Glaaki]]
* [[Servitors of the Outer Gods]]
* [[Shantaks]]
* [[Shoggoth]]
* [[Spawn of Ubbo-Sathla]]
* [[Star-spawn of Cthulhu]] / Cthulhi
* [[Star Vampires]]
* [[Tcho-Tcho]]
* [[Voor]]
* [[Voormis]]
* [[Zoogs]]
 
== LocationsBiology ==
''[[Sollasina cthulhu]]'', an extinct [[Ophiocistioidea|ophiocistioid]] [[echinoderm]], is named after the Cthulhu Mythos.<ref>{{cite journal | journal =Proceedings of the Royal Society B | volume=286 | issue=1900 | pages=20182792 | year=2019|first1=Imran A. |last1= Rahman |first2=Jeffrey R. |last2=Thompson |first3=Derek E. G. |last3=Briggs |first4= David J. |last4=Siveter |first5= Derek J. |last5=Siveter |first6=Mark D. |last6=Sutton |title=A new ophiocistioid with soft-tissue preservation from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte, and the evolution of the holothurian body plan |doi=10.1098/rspb.2018.2792 | pmid=30966985 | pmc=6501687 }}</ref>
* [[Arkham]]
* [[Brichester]]
* [[Carcosa]], on the shores of [[Lake Hali]], on a planet somewhere in the [[Hyades]]
* [[Commoriom]], capital of Hyperborea
* [[Cykranosh]] (an ancient name for the planet [[Saturn (planet)|Saturn]])
* The [[Dreamlands]]
* [[Dunwich (H. P. Lovecraft)|Dunwich]], Massachusetts
* The [[Gulf of S'lghuo]]
* [[Mt. Hatheg-Kla]]
* [[Hyperborea]]
* [[Ib]]
* [[Innsmouth]], Massachusetts
* [[Irem of the Pillars|Irem]], City of Pillars (may be the historical lost city of [[Ubar]])
* [[Kadath]]
* [[Kingsport]]
* [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]], a lost continent
* [[Lomar]]
* [[L'Gy'Hx]] (a native name for [[Uranus]])
* [[Miskatonic University]]
* [[Mnar]], in the Dreamlands. Contains Ib and Sarnath
* [[Mu (Cthulhu Mythos)]] ([[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]], a sunken continent)
* [[The Nameless City]]
* [[Mt. N'granek]]
* [[N'kai, black realm of]], located underneath Yoth
* [[Olathoë]]
* [[Plateau of Leng]]
* [[Pnakotris]]
* [[Vale of Pnath]]
* [[R'lyeh]]
* [[Sarnath (Cthulhu Mythos)]]
* The [[Severn Valley]] region
* [[Shaggai]]
* [[Subterranean World of Xinaián]], or [[K'n-yan]], composed roughly of the kingdom of [[Tsath]]
* [[The Plateau of Tsang]]
* [[Tunguska]], Siberia
* [[Ulthar]]
* [[Uzaldaroum]], a city in Hyperborea
* [[Valley of Do-Hna]], located in Xinaián
* [[Valusia]]
* [[Voormithadreth, Mt.]], which contains the [[Cavern of Archetypes]]
* [[Yaanek]] / [[Yarak]]
* [[Mt. Yaddith-Gho]]
* [[Yaksh]] (Ancient name for [[Neptune]])
* [[Yian-Ho]], or [[Yian]]
* [[Yoth]]
* [[Yuggoth]]
* [[Abyss of Yhe]]
* [[the Vaults of Zin]], in the realm of N'kai
* [[Zothique]]
 
[[Yogsothoth_(protist)|Yogsothoth]] is a genus of centrohelid protists.
== Non-fictional elements in the Mythos ==
 
==See also==
* [[Aldebaran]], a star
* {{annotated link|List of Cthulhu Mythos characters}}
* [[Bast]], [[cat]] [[goddess]] of ancient [[Egypt]]
* {{annotated link|Cthulhu Mythos deities}}
* [[Celaeno]], also [[Celano]], home of [[Thomas of Celaeno]], author of the ''[[Dies Irae]]''
* {{annotated link|Cthulhu Mythos anthology}}
* [[Fomalhaut]], a star
* {{annotated link|Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture}}
* [[Hypnos]], god of [[sleep]] in [[Greek mythology]]
* {{annotated link|Weird fiction}}
* [[Irem of the Pillars|Irem]], a legendary buried city from [[Islamic mythology]], possibly based on [[Ubar]]
* [[Olathoë]], an ancient city frozen in ice. Reportedly in [[Alaska]].
* [[Pluto (planet)|Pluto]], identified by Lovecraft with Yuggoth
* The [[Voynich Manuscript]]
* [[Wendigo]], borrowed from [[Native American mythology]]
* [[Olaus Wormius]], Danish antiquary cited as translator of the Necronomicon
 
== Cults References==
{{reflist|30em}}
 
==Further reading==
* [[Black Brotherhood]]
* {{Cite book |last=Bloch |first=Robert |title=Strange Eons |publisher=Whispers Press |year=1978 |isbn=0918372291 |author-link=Robert Bloch}}
* [[Brotherhood of the Beast]]
* {{Cite book |last=Burleson |first=Donald R. |title=Survey of Science Fiction Literature |publisher=Salem Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-89356-197-0 |editor-last=Magill |editor-first=Frank N. |volume=3 |___location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |pages=1284–1288 |chapter=The Lovecraft Mythos}}
* [[Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh]]
* {{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Lin |title=[[Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos]] |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1972 |isbn=0-345-02427-3 |___location=New York |author-link=Lin Carter}}
* [[Brothers of the Yellow Sign]]
* {{Cite magazine |last=August |first=Derleth |author-link=August Derleth |date=August 1, 1996 |title=H.P. Lovecraft—Outsider |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |issue=3 |pages=16–18 |issn=1077-8179 |orig-year=1937}}
* [[Chesuncook Witch Coven]]
* {{Cite magazine |last=Dziemianowicz |first=Stefan |date=March 19, 1992 |title=Divers Hands |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |issue=80 |pages=38–52 |issn=1077-8179}}
* [[Chorazos Cult]]
* Dziemianowicz, Stefan. "The Cthulhu Mythos: Chronicle of a Controversy". In The Lovecraft Society of New England (ed) ''Necronomicon: The Cthulhu Mythos Convention 1993'' (convention book). Boston: NecronomiCon, 1993, pp.&nbsp;25–31
* [[Church of Starry Wisdom]]
* {{Cite book |title=Cthulhu and the Coeds: Kids and Squids |publisher=Twilight Tales |year=1999 |editor-last=Jens |editor-first=Tina |___location=Chicago}}
* [[Cult of Bubastis]]
* {{Cite book |last=Joshi |first=S.T. |title=H. P. Lovecraft |publisher=Starmont House |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-916732-36-3 |edition=1st |___location=Mercer Island, WA |author-link=S. T. Joshi}}
* [[Cult of the Bloody Tongue]]
* {{Cite book |last=Lovecraft |first=Howard P. |url=http://www.mythostomes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=70 |title=The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1999 |editor-last=S.T. Joshi |___location=London / New York |chapter=The Call of Cthulhu |author-link=H. P. Lovecraft |chapter-url=http://mythostomes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=70 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214041343/http://www.mythostomes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=70 |archive-date=December 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |orig-year=1928}}
* [[Esoteric Order of Dagon]]
* {{Cite book |last=Price |first=Robert M. |title=The New Lovecraft Circle |publisher=Random House, Inc. |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-345-44406-6 |editor-last=Robert M. Price |___location=New York |chapter=Introduction |author-link=Robert M. Price}}
* {{Cite book |last=Price |first=Robert M. |title=An Epicure in the Terrible: a centennial anthology of essays in honor of H. P. Lovecraft |publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]] / [[Associated University Presses]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8386-3415-8 |editor-last=Schultz |editor-first=David E. |___location=Rutherford, NJ / Cranbury, NJ |chapter=Lovecraft's 'Artificial Mythology' |editor-last2=Joshi |editor-first2=S.T.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Turner |first=James |title=Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos |publisher=Random House |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-345-42204-0 |edition=1st |chapter=Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Frank Walter |title=Watchers of the Light |publisher=Lake Forest Park Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9774464-0-7 |edition=1st printing |___location=Lake Forest Park, WA}}
 
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote|Cthulhu Mythos}}
{{Wikisource portal}}
* [http://www.hplovecraft.com/ Lovecraft Archive]
* {{Cite web |last=Joshi |first=S.T. |author-link=S. T. Joshi |title=H. P. Lovecraft |url=http://www.themodernword.com/scriptorium/lovecraft.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050718080221/http://www.themodernword.com/scriptorium/lovecraft.html |archive-date=July 18, 2005 |access-date=July 20, 2005 |website=The Scriptorium}}
* [http://www.siamorama.com/lovecraft/index.htm The Virtual World of H. P. Lovecraft] a mapping of Lovecraft's imaginary version of New England
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9VCf5einY Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown] – full documentary at the Snagfilms company YouTube channel
* [https://www.schematax.org/schemata/other-topics/schematax_lovecraft_call-of-cthulhu.pdf Schema on Lovecraft's »The Call of Ctuhulhu« and the Cthulhu Mythos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329043950/https://www.schematax.org/schemata/other-topics/schematax_lovecraft_call-of-cthulhu.pdf |date=2023-03-29 }}
 
{{Cthulhu Mythos}}
* [http://members.tripod.com/~danharms/mythos.htm The Official Cthulhu Mythos FAQ]
{{H. P. Lovecraft}}
* [http://members.tripod.com/~danharms/timeline.htm A time-line of the Cthulhu Mythos]
{{The Shadow Over Innsmouth}}
* [http://www.cthuugle.com/ Cthuugle], the H. P. Lovecraft search engine
{{The Call of Cthulhu}}
* [http://www.hplovecraft.com/ The H. P. Lovecraft Archive]
{{At the Mountains of Madness}}
* [http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/lurker.htm The Lurker at the Threshold of Interpretation: Necronomicon Hoaxes and Paratextual Noise]
{{Hugo Award Best Series}}
* [http://yog-sothoth.com Yog-Sothoth.com], a discussion site about the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game
{{Narrative}}
* [http://www.shoggoth.net/ Shoggoth.net], a Cthulhu Mythos [[web log]].
{{Fantasy fiction}}
* [http://www.userfriendly.org/ User Friendly the Comic Strip] (Cthulhu is an occasional visitor to this online comic.)
* The [http://www.cthulhu.org/ Cthulhu for President] homepage
* [http://www.hello-cthulhu.com/ The Hello Cthulhu comic]
* Entry in the Jargon File: [http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/cthulhic.html cthulhic]
 
[[Category:Cthulhu Mythos| ]]
== See also ==
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
*[[References to the Cthulhu Mythos]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into plays]]
 
[[Category:CthulhuFictional Mythosuniverses]]
[[Category:Horror genres]]
 
[[Category:Mythopoeia]]
[[de:Cthulhu-Mythos]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into video games]]
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[[Category:Shared universes]]
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[[pl:Wielcy Przedwieczni]]
[[fi:Cthulhu-mytologia]]