Now that we've discussed Lovecraft's approach
to myth-making-how he adapts and appropriates his own creations the way cultures do with
their mythological iconography-we should probably talk about some of his actual mythos. That's a... surprisingly tall order though,
because Lovecraft's mythos kind of got away from him after his death. Some of his protege's-August Derleth and Donald
Wandrei-pushed Lovecraft's relatively obscure oeuvre into the limelight by extrapolating
on his work at length, and now there are so many additions by so many authors... there's
just no way to fit all that into one video. And Lovecraft never had an opportunity to
play with any of these new elements, so although he probably would've appreciated them, they
aren't quite a part of his personal mythology. So here, we're going to focus on the madness
of Lovecraft's own mind, keeping as close to what he directly came up with as possible. Let's talk about Five of the most important
gods in Lovecraft's mythos, and what they may have meant to him. "Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous
blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity-the
boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily
in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening
beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes." This is about as close as Lovecraft's mythos
ever come to establishing a "creator deity". It was Azathoth who birthed the Darkness and
the Nameless mists, from which nearly all the other gods and deities sprang. It was he who created the universe, and he
who will one day be its destruction. His "court"-if you can call it that-exists
at the "center of ultimate chaos", separated from reality by a strange and colorful barrier
that prevents him from entering the known cosmos by any means except through a very
particular summoning incantation. Only the most devoted nihilist would do so,
as anyone with that kind of knowledge would also know that Azathoth is neither malevolent
nor benevolent-that he is entropy incarnate; a mindless, indifferent force of pure chaos. The "Blind Idiot God". There is nothing to gain from calling on him,
and quite literally everything to lose. This is what Azathoth meant to Lovecraft. He is the epitome of cosmic horror in the
mythos, embodying the cold indifference of the cosmos and the sheer insignificance of
intelligent life. "Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the
gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth." Locked away at the border of our reality,
there exists an intelligence. Rather, the intelligence. All of it. Yog-sothoth holds the knowledge of all that
is, all that was, and all that will be. He guards the gates of cosmic ignorance, and
for those who worship him, represents the key. For this reason, he's one of the most heavily-worshipped
entities among the Outer Gods. His name is frequently invoked during the
rituals and incantations of those who seek hidden knowledge. And often, he answers. Sadly for the ones who call on him, the knowledge
he grants almost always leads to madness and self-destruction. Not because Yog-Sothoth is evil or malevolent-he
doesn't force anyone turn the key or step through the gate-he only lurks at the threshold,
now and then opening the way to paths no mind was ever meant to travel. To us, the apparent symbolism of Yog-Sothoth
is two-fold. He is both the danger of knowledge and the
inability of mankind to handle it. His role in the mythos mirrors Lovecraft's
own auto-didactic obsession with the sciences, as well as his academic failings. "Ever praises and abundance to the Black Goat
of The Wood. Ia! Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of The Wood
with a Thousand Young!" Imagine a roiling, miasmic mass of twisting
tendrils and drooling mouths, so tenuous in composition that its limbs vanish as quickly
as they materialize, its very form dividing constantly into a surplus of smaller abominations
that are either reabsorbed into its great form, or that escape to some hideous life
elsewhere. Not the spitting image of a "fertility goddess",
but this is as close as the mythos get. Shub-Niggurath may well be the most widely-revered
among the outer gods, influence reaching not only to the Greeks, Cretans, Egyptians, and
some druids, but to races so far-flung across the cosmos as the Mi-go of Yuggoth, and the
Dholes and Nug-Soth of Yaddith. The great spread of her worshippers likely
comes from the fact that, as the "spouse" of Yog-Sothoth, she birthed a great number
of the gods and deities in the mythos, including Nug, Yeb, Cthulhu, and Tsathoggua. Usually the creation of new life-especially
intelligent life-is held as a sacred act. Many humans derive joy and self-import from
the notion that their kind was toiled over by some kind of divine intelligence. Shub-Niggurath, with her blind, indifferent,
prolific procreation, undermines this idea. How can any one species claim special import
or artistry when the very gods of the cosmos were born of incidental undulations? Insignificant ripples across the belly of
an inky horror? Shub-Niggurath was Lovecraft's affirmation
that life itself is nothing extraordinary. "Into the lands of civilization came Nyarlathotep,
swarthy, slender, and sinister. Men advised one another to see Nyarlathotep,
and shuddered. And where Nyarlathotep went, rest vanished;
for the small hours were rent with the screams of a nightmare." So far most of these grand universal powers
have been indifferent and oblivious. Azathoth doesn't try to be the ultimate chaos,
Yog-Sothoth is only dangerous if you seek him out, and Shub-Niggurath is like a protean
wildfire of life. Nyarlothotep is nothing like them. He travels by his own laws, into and out of
the known cosmos, acting as a messenger to and from the Outer Gods. His strange personality-or perhaps the simple
fact that he has a personality-baffles them, and they regard him with everything from contempt
to esteem. To lesser intelligences, he's a trickster,
malevolent and cruel, bequeathing gifts of wisdom and power to those who seek it, and
whom he knows cannot handle it. Where Nyarlathotep goes, madness follows. He is "The Crawling Chaos", and as the only
direct offspring of Azathoth, he revels in it. To Lovecraft Nyarlothotep must have been a
perfect manifestation of his racism and xenophobia. He is not only is the "outside" seeping, but
a malevolent, undectable outside seeping in. On a greater, less prejudiced scale, Nyarlothotep
is the simple fear of one's comfort zone-their reality-being breached. "They worshipped, so they said, the Great
Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out
of the sky. Those Old Ones were gone now, inside the earth
and under the sea; but their dead bodies had told their secrets in dreams to the first
men, who formed a cult which had never died." Cthulhu is eponymous with the mythos. If you know nothing else of Lovecraft's body
of works, you at least know the visage of this subterranean horror. Which is interesting, because he's relatively
tame compared to the other entities on this list. Although he may be worshipped like a god by
many, he isn't one. Not really. In simple terms, one might call him a priest. He belongs to a prehistoric race who came
to this world in its infancy, and who ruled for untold millennia before the stars finally
fell out of favor and they could not survive on the surface. In time, R'lyeh and rest of their great cities
sunk into the sea and beneath the earth's crust, and in them The Great Old Ones lie
dormant under Cthulhu's spell, waiting in a sort of waking stasis. "Death", some call it, but not in the way
that we know, for "that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even
death may die". Since the dawn of man, these beings have been
guiding the species through dreams and through psychic manipulation. Someday, when mankind has abandoned its morals
and descended into madness, they will wake Cthulhu from his slumber, and he will raise
the Old Ones from death, and "all the world [will] flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and
freedom." This, you may have noticed, is a little closer
to home than others on the list. Cthulhu is not oblivious or indifferent to
mankind. He isn't even malevolent. He is Lovecraft's simple promise of evanescence. Nothing belongs to man. Not this world, not the home they've built
on it, not even the human mind. It is the ultimate destiny of this species
to unravel into primal chaos, as all things must. To the sounds of their laughter and exultant
shouts, all man has ever built will one day fade away. (sigh) ...about as bleak as the Greco-Roman
gods are beautiful, aren't they? Nevertheless, they were all powerful props
in the performance of Lovecraft's own psyche, and I imagine they'll be just as evocative
when we're using them to shine light on the dark corners of my mind... this upcoming short
story should be an interesting experience... If you want to be a part the writing process
or get sneak peeks at how the story is developing, you can join our patreon community! All patrons will get a little inside information,
but patrons at the $10 tier or higher have access to exclusive think tank sessions on
our discord server. You can also support the show for zero dollars
by starting a free one-month trial with audible.com. Sign up using the link in the description
and you'll get access to two free audiobooks of your choice from Audible's catalogue of
over 100,000 titles. Lately, the Tale Foundry team has been listening
to the "Complete H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus, Volumes 1 & 2", compiled
and read by Finn J.D John. If you haven't yet had a chance to catch up
on your Lovecraft, this is a great opportunity to do it while you drive or work or create
whatever art it is that you create. Anyway, that's all for this list! We've still got a Lovecraftian short story
on the way, and after that we'll be diving into the world of Slavic Mythology, so stick
around if you're as excited about that as we are. As always, thanks for watching, and keep making
stuff up! We'll see you... next time. Bye!
It was interesting to hear his pronunciation of the names. Very good episode.
But, no Dagon?
I imagine the old gods look like this but as larger monsters they portrayed in the video
The overall quality and analysis present in this video are top notch. I'm not sure I'd have placed Cthulhu above Nyarlathotep, and a lot of the art they chose for Yogg is a bit too "defined" imo, but otherwise a really great video.
That’s excellent!