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A sketch of the fictional character Cthulhu, drawn by his creator, H. P. Lovecraft (May 11, 1934)
Cover of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (March 1944, vol. 37, no. 4) featuring The Trail of Cthulhu by August Derleth. Cover art by John Giunta.

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.

August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, coined Cthulhu Mythos to identify the system of lore originally employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name Cthulhu derives from a central figure in Lovecraft’s short stories, “The Call of Cthulhu” [1] [full citation needed] (which pulp magazine “Weird Tales” first published in 1928). The writer Richard L. Tierney later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish between Lovecraft's works and Derleth's later stories.[2]

Authors of Lovecraftian horror use elements of the Mythos in an ongoing expansion of the fictional universe.[3]: viii–ix 

History

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In his essay "H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos," Robert M. Price described two stages in the development of the Cthulhu Mythos. During his lifetime, Lovecraft formulated and guided “Cthulhu Mythos Proper,” which Price called the first stage. After his death,[4]: 8  August Derleth published Lovecraft's stories which guided the second stage in attempt to expand and categorize the Mythos.,[5]: 5 

First stage

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An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind when faced with these cosmic horrors that exist in the universe. Lovecraft made frequent reference to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep.[3]: viii  This was first established in "The Call of Cthulhu", where the minds of the human characters deteriorated they glimpse what exists outside their perceived reality. In the opening sentence of “The Call of Cthulhu,” Lovecraft emphasized the point by stating that "the most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."[6]

Writer Dirk W. Mosig notes that Lovecraft, a "mechanistic materialist,"embraced the philosophy of cosmic indifferentism. Lovecraft believed in a purposeless, mechanical, and uncaring universe. With their limited faculties, human beings could never fully understand this universe; the cognitive dissonance caused by limitation leads to insanity. Lovecraft's viewpoint made no allowance for religious belief which could not be supported scientifically; With regards to the incomprehensible in his stories, the cosmic forces of his tales have as little regard for humanity as humans have for insects.[7][8]: 22 

There have been attempts at categorizing this fictional group of cosmic beings. Phillip A. Schreffler argues that by carefully scrutinizing Lovecraft's writings, a workable framework emerges that outlines the entire "pantheon" – from the unreachable "Outer Ones" (e.g. Azathoth, who apparently 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 shoggoths and the Mi-go).[9]

David E. Schultz, however, believes Lovecraft never meant to create a canonical Mythos but rather intended his imaginary pantheon to merely serve as a background element.[10] 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[11][12]). At times, Lovecraft had to remind readers that his Mythos creations were entirely fictional.[8]: 33–34 

S. T. Joshi reinforced the view that there was no rigid structure stating that "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... [T]here was never a rigid system that might be posthumously appropriated... [T]he 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."[13][full citation needed][ISBN missing]

Alternatively, Price believed that Lovecraft's writings could be divided into categories and identified three distinct themes: the "Dunsanian" (written in the vein of Lord Dunsany), "Arkham" (occurring in Lovecraft's fictionalized New England setting), and "Cthulhu" (the cosmic tales) cycles.[5]: 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.[14] Although not formalized and acknowledged as a Mythos per se, Lovecraft did correspond with contemporary writers Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, and Fritz Leiber – a group referred to as the "Lovecraft Circle" – and shared story elements:[15][page needed][16][page needed] Robert E. Howard's character 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) and "The Shadow Out of Time" (1936).[5]: 6–7  Many of Howard's original unedited Conan stories also form part of the Cthulhu Mythos.[17]

Second stage

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Price's dichotomy dictates the second stage commenced with August Derleth. The principal difference between Lovecraft and Derleth was the latter's use of hope. Derleth believed the Cthulhu Mythos essentially represented a struggle between good and evil.[4]: 9  He is credited with creating the Elder Gods. He stated:

As Lovecraft conceived the deities or forces of his Mythos, there were, initially, the Elder Gods... [T]hese Elder Gods were benign deities, representing the forces of good, and existed peacefully... rarely stirring forth to intervene in the unceasing struggle between the powers of evil and the races of Earth. These powers of evil were variously known as the Great Old Ones or the Ancient Ones...
—August Derleth, "The Cthulhu Mythos"[18]

Price suggests that the basis of Derleth's systematization is found in Lovecraft, stating: "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 we find the history of a conflict between two interstellar races (among others): the Elder Ones and the Cthulhu-spawn."[19] Derleth himself believed that Lovecraft wished for other authors to actively write about the myth-cycle as opposed to it being a discrete plot device.[10]: 46–7  Derleth expanded the boundaries of the Mythos by including references to other author's story elements by Lovecraft as part of the genre: just as Lovecraft made references to Clark Ashton Smith's Book of Eibon. Derleth in turn added Smith's Ubbo-Sathla to the Mythos.[5]: 9–10 

Derleth also attempted to connect the deities of the Mythos to the four elements (air, earth, fire, and water), but was forced to adopt artistic license and create beings to represent certain elements (air and fire) to legitimize his system of classification. [a] In applying the elemental theory to beings that function on a cosmic scale (e.g. Yog-Sothoth) some authors created a separate category termed aethyr.[citation needed]

Derleth's elemental classifications
Air Earth Fire Water
Hastur*
Ithaqua*
Nyarlathotep
Zhar and Lloigor* 		Cyäegha
Nyogtha
Shub-Niggurath
Tsathoggua 		Aphoom-Zhah
Cthugha* 		Cthulhu
Dagon
Ghatanothoa
Mother Hydra
Zoth-Ommog
* Deity created by Derleth.


See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Derleth created "Cthugha" when fan Francis Towner Laney claim Derleth had neglected to include a fire elemental in his schema. Laney, the editor of The Acolyte, had categorized the Mythos in an essay that first appeared in the Winter 1942 issue of the magazine. Impressed by the glossary, Derleth asked Laney to rewrite it for publication in the Arkham House collection Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1943). (Robert M. Price, "Editorial Shards", Crypt of Cthulhu #32, p. 2.) Laney's essay ("The Cthulhu Mythos") was later republished in Crypt of Cthulhu #32 (1985).

References

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  1. ^ Angell, George Gammell (1982). "Cthulhu Elsewhere in Lovecraft". 'Crypt of Cthulhu #9. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)'note: I do not know which is th proper citation for a fanzine, so I chose news but am leaving the ‘full citation needed ‘ tag
  2. ^ Schweitzer, Darrell (2001). Discovering H. P. Lovecraft (Revised ed.). Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press. p. 52. ISBN 9781587154713.
  3. ^ a b Harms, Daniel (1998). The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.). Oakland, California: Chaosium, Inc. p. viii-ix. ISBN 9781568821191.
  4. ^ a b Lovecraft, H.P.; Bloch, Robert (1987). The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Pub. Group. ISBN 0345350804.
  5. ^ a b c d Price, Robert M. (1990). H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont House. ISBN 1557421528.
  6. ^ Lovecraft, H.P. (2014). The Call of Cuthulhu. Lanham: Start Publishing LLC. ISBN 1609772695.
  7. ^ Mosig, Yozan Dirk W. "Lovecraft: The Dissonance Factor in imaginary Literature" (1979).
  8. ^ a b Mariconda, Steven J. (1995). On the Emergence of "Cthulhu" & Other Observations. West Warwick, Rhode Island: Necronomicon Press. ISBN 9780940884816.
  9. ^ Shreffler, Philip A. (1977). The H. P. Lovecraft Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Pr. pp. 156–157. ISBN 9780837194820.
  10. ^ a b Connors, Scott (2002). A Century Less a Dream: Selected Criticism on H. P. Lovecraft (1st ed.). Holikong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press. pp. 46, 54. ISBN 9781587152153.
  11. ^ Mosig, Yōzan Dirk W. (1997). Mosig at Last: A Psychologist looks at H. P. Lovecraft (1st ed.). West Warwick, Rhode Island: Necronomicon Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780940884908.
  12. ^ "Yog-Sothothery". Timpratt.org. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  13. ^ Lovecraft, H.P. "In Defense of Dagon" reprinted in Miscellaneous Writings (S. T. Joshi, ed.) Sauk City: Arkham, 1995; pp. 165–66 |isbn: 978-0870541681|url: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?977729
  14. ^ ( Murray, Will (January 1999). "In Search of Arkham Country I". In James Van Hise (ed.). The Fantastic Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft. Yucca Valley, CA: James Van Hise. No ISBN.)
  15. ^ Joshi, S. T. (1980). H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism. Athens, Ohio: Ohio Univ. Press. ISBN 9780821405772.
  16. ^ Schweitzer, Darrell (1996). Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction: Essays on the Antecedents of Fantastic Literature. Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press. ISBN 9781587150043.
  17. ^ Howard, Robert E.; Schultz, Mark (2003). The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (1st ed.). New York: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. p. 436. ISBN 0345461517.
  18. ^ Derleth, August (1997). The Cthulhu Mythos. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. p. vii. ISBN 0760702535.
  19. ^ "Lovecraft-Derleth Connection". Crypt-of-cthulhu.com. Retrieved 2012-11-28.

Further reading

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  • Bloch, Robert (1978). Strange Eons. Whispers Press. ISBN 978-0-918372-30-7.
  • Burleson, Donald R. (1979). "The Lovecraft Mythos". In Frank N. Magill (ed.) (ed.). Survey of Science Fiction Literature (Vol. 3 ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press. pp. 1284–8. ISBN 978-0-89356-197-0. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  • Jens (ed.), Tina (1999). Cthulhu and the Coeds: Kids and Squids. Chicago, IL: Twilight Tales. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  • Joshi, S. T. (1982). H. P. Lovecraft (1st ed.). Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House. ISBN 978-0-916732-36-3.
  • Lovecraft, Howard P. (1999) [1928]. "The Call of Cthulhu". In S. T. Joshi (ed.) (ed.). The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories. London, UK; New York, NY: Penguin Books. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  • Murray, Will (January 1999). "In Search of Arkham Country I". In James Van Hise (ed.) (ed.). The Fantastic Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft. Yucca Valley, CA: James Van Hise. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help) No ISBN.
  • Price, Robert M. (1996). "Introduction". In Robert M. Price (ed.) (ed.). The New Lovecraft Circle. New York, NY: Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-345-44406-6. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  • Price, Robert M. (1991). "Lovecraft's 'Artificial Mythology'". In David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (ed.) (ed.). An Epicure in the Terrible: a centennial anthology of essays in honor of H. P. Lovecraft. Rutherford, NJ and Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press and Associated University Presses. ISBN 978-0-8386-3415-8. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  • Turner, James (1998). "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!". Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1st ed.). Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-42204-0.
  • Thomas, Frank Walter (2005). Watchers of the Light, (1st printing ed.). Lake Forest Park, WA: Lake Forest Park Books. ISBN 978-0-9774464-0-7.
  • August, Derleth (Lammas 1996) [1937]. "H. P. Lovecraft—Outsider". Crypt of Cthulhu. 15 (3). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link) Robert M. Price (ed.), West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press. Original publication: Derleth (June 1937). "H. P. Lovecraft—Outsider". River. 1 (3).
  • Dziemianowicz, Stefan (Eastertide 1992). "Divers Hands". Crypt of Cthulhu. 11 (2). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link) Robert M. Price (ed.), West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press.
  • 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, MA: NecronomiCon, 1993, pp. 25–31
  • Carter, Lin (1972). Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-02427-3.
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