by Daniel Harms
The people of K’n-yan and Mu worshiped Zuchequon with the ringing of bells and chanting. The West Coast Native American tribes once knew how to summon it, but such information has probably been lost. Zuchequon is served by the “Hidden Ones”, whose leader is Tsunth.
See Ubbo-Sathla. (“Dead of Night”, Carter; “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; “Bells of Horror”, Kuttner (O).)
ZVILPOGGUA
See Ossadogwah.
ZYLAC
The mightiest mage of Hyperborea and teacher of the young Eibon. He is renowned for his role in preserving the Parchments of Pnom and his interest in the civilization of the serpent people. The latter is believed to have led to his demise. His knowledge survives in the book The Wisdom and Sacred Magic of Zylac the Mage, and the Repelling Sign of Blessed Zylac is used to ward off Azathoth.
(“The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith (O); “The Adoration of the Black Flame”, Pulver; “The Grey Rite of Azathoth”, Pulver; “The Ritual of the Outer Void”, Pulver.)
APPENDICES:
THE NECRONOMICON
* * *
Despite the research into the Cthulhu Mythos that has been done over the past five decades, this guide still, in the words of Douglas Adams, “has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate”. This caution applies particularly to the following appendices, which are a collection of notes concerning Lovecraft’s most famous creation, the Necronomicon. The information on the next few pages is likely to leave you somewhat baffled. Don’t worry; there are many people who have studied the Necronomicon and its concepts for years and are still bewildered.
APPENDIX A: CHRONOLOGY OF THE NECRONOMICON
c. 1000 BC — Date on which the oldest copy of the Necronomicon appeared — at least according to one source. [1] (Evil Dead II, Raimi.)
c. 730 — Abdul Alhazred writes the Kitab al-Azif. (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)
738 — According to Ibn Khallikan, the famous Arabian biographer, Abdul Alhazred is torn apart by an invisible beast in the streets of Damascus. [2] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)
760 — Shortly before this date, a translation of the Al Azif into Duriac, an obscure Middle Eastern dialect, was made. (“Preface” to Al Azif, de Camp.)
850 — Death of Alkindi, one of the Arab world’s first great philosophers. An alternate explanation of the Necronomicon’s origin states that it was a magical work entitled Book of the Essence of the Soul written by Alkindi. [3] (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.)
950 — Theodorus Philetas, a scholar of Constantinople who had discovered the Kitab al-Azif in the Imperial Library in that city, translates it from Arabic into Greek, renaming the volume Necronomicon. Philetas later is forced to recant and publicly burn his translation on the book on the church steps. (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; Necronomicon, Tyson.)
c. 1000 — Noted scholar, philosopher and alchemist Ibn Sina (or Avicenna) translates the Greek Necronomicon back into Arabic under the title Kitab al-Majmu, augmenting it with his own mystical resources. (The Fate, Detwiller and Ivey.)
1050 — Patriarch Michael [4], having heard rumors of the experiments attempted with this book, burns 171 copies of the Necronomicon. Olaus Wormius’s introduction to the Latin edition states that all Arabic editions were destroyed at this time. (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Necronomicon, Tyson.)
1099 — A copy of Al Azif (possibly the original) is found in Jerusalem. It later comes into the hands of the Comte de Champagne, who forms an order of knights called the Templars to guard it. (“Glozel est Authentique”, Rawling.)
c. 1100 — An unknown scribe makes a Bulgarian translation. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
13th century — The Necronomicon is translated into French during this period, and later turns up in the collections of several monasteries in southern France. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; The New Adam, Weinburg.)
1228 — Olaus Wormius translates the Necronomicon into Latin, basing his work upon three copies of the Greek. [5] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Necronomicon, Tyson.)
1232 — Pope Gregory IX places both the Greek and Latin editions of the Necronomicon on the Index Expurgatorius. [6] (Selected Letters II; Lovecraft.)
c. 1400 — German (?) black-letter printing of the Latin translation of Olaus Wormius. [7] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)
1472 — An Olaus Wormius translation is published in Lyons, France. [8] (The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and R. Wilson.)
1487 — Olaus Wormius, a secretary in the employ of Torquemada, the church official in charge of the Spanish Inquisition, finds a manuscript version of the Necronomicon, presumably in the belongings of one of the accused. He translates and publishes it, sending a copy to Trithemius, the famous abbot and occult scholar. Horrified by Wormius’s actions, Trithemius makes the facts known to church officials, who have Wormius burned at the stake with the copies of his translation. [9] (“The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low.)
1500–1550 — See 1567.
1519 — Death of Leonardo da Vinci. Before his death, he had received a Latin copy of the book captured by Francois I when he conquered Milan in 1515. The famous artist’s library is scattered after his death, and the location of this copy is unknown. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1550 — An unknown scholar makes a translation of the Necronomicon into Russian, using Cyrillic characters. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1567 — Lovecraft assigns this date to the publication of the Italian edition of the Greek text. [10] (Uncollected Letters, Lovecraft.)
1576-9 — During this period Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, is a favored slave and prisoner in Algiers. He supposedly makes a Spanish translation of the Necronomicon while in captivity, giving it the title “El Libro de los Normos de Los Perdidos.” (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1586 — According to one source, it is in this year that John Dee translates the Necronomicon into English [11]. Usually, Dee is considered to have come across the manuscript while at the court of Rudolf II in Prague [12]. It is said that this translation contains material from the Latin edition of Olaus Wormius, a Greek manuscript found in the possession of a Transylvanian noble [13], and Dee’s own comments on certain subjects. Dee made use of the book’s ciphers and spells to further the Crown’s espionage. This edition is later published by a French language press in an edition of 169 copies. (“The Bookseller’s Second Wife”, DeBill; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller; “Eyes for the Blind,” Hallett and Isinwyll; “Castle Dark,” Herber; “The Space-Eaters,” Long; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)
1590 — A Latin edition is printed in Cadiz. This, supposedly the first printed edition, may or may not exist. (Peace, Wolfe.)
1598 — Baron Frederick I of Sussex, England, publishes his own English translation of the Latin Necronomicon of Wormius, entitling it Cultus Maleficarum. This edition, more widely known as the Sussex Manuscript, is very confused and is not considered reliable. [14] (The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)
1623 — Wormius’s translation printed once again, this time in Spain. [15] (Uncollected Letters, Lovecraft.)
1632–1680 — Portions of the book circulate widely in France, and are used as ritual material for many of the black masses of the period. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1641 — My Understanding of the Great Booke by Joachim Kindler published in the city of Buda. Within this volume, Kindler speaks of a volume of the Necronomicon written in Gothic, a tongue spoken by an ancient Germanic tribe. According to the author, this translation “offers proofs logickal and glorious” of the “stellar numbers, potentiated objecks, signs and passes, probatories, phylacteries, and craftsmanly artes” required for the rituals given therein — in other words, a Necronomicon with all the allegory and obscurity banished. Fortunately for the sake of humanity, Kindler might have
invented this new edition, as no copy has even been found — with possibly one exception (see 1944). (“The Lurker from the Crypt,” Miller.)
1664 — The Kaballist Nathan of Gaza circulates the Sepher ha-Sha’are ha-Daath (“Book of the Gates of Knowledge”) among his brethren. The book is a commentary on two chapters of what Nathan calls the “Book of the Alhazred”. According to Nathan, the mystic’s greatest quest was to go down to the land of the Qlipoth, the evil shards of a former creation, in order to redeem them. Nathan of Gaza later supported the would-be Messiah Shabbetai Tzevi, and was himself discredited when his prophet converted to Islam in 1666. (“The Necronomicon Anti-FAQ”, Low)
1670 — Around this date, Johann Lindenmuth of Nuremburg translates the Necronomicon into German under the title Die Totenrufen. It is never printed, and the manuscript is later lost. (“The Long-Lost Friend”, Lobdell.)
1722 — Breakup of the infamous cult of Kingsport, Massachusetts. The Necronomicon played an important role in the rituals of this group, though whether the raiders found a copy is unknown. (“The Festival,” Lovecraft; Kingsport: City in the Mists, Ross.)
1771 — A raid is made upon a farm outside Providence, Rhode Island owned by Joseph Curwen. Curwen was a reputed sorcerer who owned a Latin copy of the Necronomicon. He is supposedly killed, but little is damaged during the raid. [16] (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” Lovecraft.)
1811 — A mysterious foreigner leaves a Latin copy of the Necronomicon at the Bibliotheque Nationale. He is found the next day poisoned in his squalid apartment. (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)
1848 — Von Junzt’s German translation of the Necronomicon, Das Verichteraraberbuch, published at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, eight years after the translator’s death. [17] (Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy, R. Wilson.)
1895–1900 — Henry Armitage, recently appointed to the post of head librarian at Miskatonic University, purchases a copy of the Necronomicon from Providence businessman Whipple Phillips, the grandfather of H. P. Lovecraft. [18] (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)
1901 — Publication of Joachim Feery’s Original Notes on the Necronomicon, in both complete and expurgated editions. The authenticity of this volume is highly suspect, especially since Feery claimed to have inserted his own dreams into the passages from the dreaded book. (“Aunt Hester,” Lumley; “Name and Number,” Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1912 — Wilfred Voynich, an American bookseller, discovers an enciphered medieval manuscript in an Italian castle. Along with this document, which comes to be known as the Voynich Manuscript, Voynich finds a letter that asserts that the book is the work of the famous scientist Roger Bacon. [19] (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)
1912 — American millionaire Harry Widener adds a copy of the Necronomicon to his collection shortly before his fatal trip aboard the Titanic. After his death, his books are donated to Harvard University. (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)
1916 — Noted occultist Aleister Crowley publishes a limited edition English translation of the Necronomicon. [20] (Trail of the Loathsome Slime, Rowland.)
1921 — Professor W. Romaine Newbold declares that he has deciphered the Voynich Manuscript. In his account, Newbold claimed the document was a scientific treatise proving that Roger Bacon had developed the microscope centuries before Leeuwenhoek. Unfortunately, Newbold dies in 1926 before he can finish deciphering the manuscript. (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)
1922 — H. P. Lovecraft makes the first mention of the Necronomicon in his story “The Hound.” (“The Hound,” Lovecraft.) [21]
1928 — A Greek copy is found in the library of Ivan the Terrible, and walled up beneath the Kremlin. Stalin later finds the book, and has it translated into Russian for himself. (“Secrets of the Kremlin”, Erkes.)
1929 — Benjamino Evangelista is found murdered, along with the rest of his family, in his home in Detroit. The investigation into his death finds that Evangelista was a faith healer and cult leader, and had written a divinely-inspired book called The Oldest History of the World. This book is notable because it contains references to a volume of magic called “Necremicon,” “Necromicon,” and “Necronemicon”, which is also titled “Al Azif”. These passages were supposedly written before Lovecraft ever used the Necronomicon in his stories. [22] (The Philosopher’s Stone, C. Wilson.)
1931 — A Professor Manly, looking over Newbold’s notes on the decipherment of the Voynich Manuscript, deduces that Newbold’s supposed “cipher” is in fact the result of fading of the manuscript’s ink. Newbold’s results are discredited by the scientific community. (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)
1932 — Lovecraft infiltrates an order of Ommiade monks in Boston, bearing away their copy of the Necronomicon. (Necronomicon, Yuzna.)
1938 — The house of Doctor Laban Shrewsbury of Arkham, Massachusetts, is burned to the ground shortly after he sent the first volume of his work Cthulhu in the Necronomicon to the printers. Although no trace of Shrewsbury was found in the ruins, it is believed that he perished in the fire. (“The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth.)
1939 — Cthulhu in the Necronomicon by Doctor Laban Shrewsbury published (?). (“Books of the Cthulhu Mythos,” Herber and Ross.)
1944 — In the spring of this year, Nazi occultists supposedly uncover a copy of the Gothic Necronomicon. A translation is made, but the Germans are unable to make proper use of it before the Third Reich falls. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes.)
1946 — The New York bookseller Philip C. Duschnes advertises a Latin copy in his spring catalog. (“The Necronomicon”, Duschnes.)
1956 — Henrietta Montague completes her task of translating the British Museum’s Necronomicon into English at the request of that institution’s directors. This expurgated translation is later published in an edition intended for scholarly use only. Sadly, Montague succumbed to a wasting disease shortly after the project’s completion. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1965 — Miskatonic University Press issues The Annotated Necronomicon, a combined Latin/English text translated by A. Philip Highgas. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
1967 — Professor Lang of the University of Virginia takes up his study of the Voynich Manuscript, discovering that it is written in Greek and Latin using Arabic letters. His work, which is taken up after his disappearance in 1969 by other scholars, proves that the Voynich Manuscript is actually a commentary on certain passages of the Necronomicon written by a monk named Martin Gardener. (The Philosopher’s Stone, C. Wilson; “The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)
1967 — The noted author L. Sprague de Camp, while sightseeing in Baghdad, purchases a manuscript in the Duriac language from a government official in the Directorate General of Antiquities. Later, he finds that looters found the document in ruins near Duria; three different Iraqi scholars had attempted to translate it, but all had vanished shortly after they had begun. [23] (“Foreword” to Al Azif, de Camp.)
1972 — In the spring of this year, two monks from an Eastern Orthodox denomination are found to have stolen valuable books from libraries and private collections across the country. One of these, a ninth-century Greek manuscript purporting to be the Necronomicon, comes into the hands of a New York priest named “Simon”, who begins its translation. (The Necronomicon Spellbook, Levenda.)
1973 — Owlswick Press of Philadelphia publishes the edition of Al Azif discovered by de Camp. A copy may be found in the Brown University library.
1977 — “Simon” publishes his own version of the Necronomicon, which soon thereafter is released as a paperback. The “translator” claimed to have derived the volume from a Greek manuscript, of which only parts were included in his book. (Necronomicon, Levenda.)
1978 — The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names published by Neville Spearman. According to Colin Wilson, the original manuscript existed in cipher among John Dee’s papers at the British Museum, and constitutes part of the Arabic
scholar Alkindi’s Book of the Essence of the Soul. By use of computer analysis, the authors were able to decode the volume and present it to the public. [24] (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.)