by Daniel Harms
During the reign of James I, an unknown scholar, presumably a translator of the King James Bible, translated the Book of Eibon into English. A dedicated searcher may still find a few of these copies. To the best of our knowledge, the Book has never been printed. A more recent French translation by the noted author Clark Ashton Smith vanished after his death. One Randall Flagg, a member of the Church of Starry Wisdom, created an unpublished set of Notes from the Book of Eibon.
It should also be noted that a copy was passed down among the van Kauran family of New York, though it is uncertain which edition they held.
A great deal of Eibon’s book is devoted to tales of his own youth, his magical experiments, and his journeys to Shaggai and the Vale of Pnath. The book contains information on the rites of Tsathoggua, the artist Rhydagand, and tales of the great Rlim Shaikorth. Incantations for calling the emanation from Yoth and the Green Decay are held within, along with formulas for a chemical that petrifies living flesh and a powder that will destroy certain star-spawned monstrosities.
Though the Book of Eibon covers a vast amount of knowledge, only a fraction of the original work survives. For instance, certain rituals intended to call down dholes to serve the summoner have survived have been lost, and an encoded one-page appendix regarding the Antarctic Old Ones is found in only a few volumes.
[A reconstruction of this work has been compiled by Robert M. Price and recently published.]
See Averoigne; Bugg-Shoggog; dark young; dholes; du Nord, Gaspard; Eye of Tsathoggua; Ghorl Nigral; Green Decay; Grey Rite of Azathoth; Hyperborea; Iagsat; Liber Ivonis; Livre d’Ivon; N’tse-Kaambl; Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom; Parchments of Pnom; Rhydagand of the Brush; Rlim Shaikorth; Selections de Live d’Ivon; Testament of Carnamagos; Zon Mezzamalech. (“The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Book of Eibon”, Carter; History and Chronology of the Book of Eibon, Carter; “In the Vale of Pnath”, Carter; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter; “Shaggai”, Carter; “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; “By the Bay, Part I”, Herber; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber; Dreams and Fancies, Lovecraft; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Man of Stone”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Thing at the Threshold”, McConnell and Sutton; “To Call Forth Tsathoggua to Smith Thy Enemy”, Pulver; “The Beast of Averoigne”, Smith; “The Colossus of Ylourgne”, Smith; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith; “The Holiness of Azedarac”, Smith (O); “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
THE BOOK OF HIDDEN THINGS
Volume mentioned in a manuscript discovered by Alonzo Typer. Nothing else is known of this book, though it may have to do with the lost city of Yian-ho.
(“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)
BOOK OF IOD
Book of unknown origin, though some attribute it to a mysterious author named “Khut-Nah”. Only one copy in the original “Ancient Tongue” (which may be a mixture of Greek and Coptic) exists. It has been suggested that the Druids used some of the rites therein. Johann Negus later published an expurgated Latin (or possibly English) translation, a copy of which is kept at the Huntingdon Library in San Marino, California.
The book discusses Iod, the Shining Hunter, Vorvadoss, and the being Zuchequon. Its philosophy seems to have much in common with that of the Gnostics.
See Pott, Johannes; Von Junzt, Friedrich; Vorvadoss. (“Bells of Horror” (O), Kuttner; Letters to Henry Kuttner, Lovecraft; “Beneath the Tombstone”, Price; “The Mythos Collector”, Sammons; “The Looking-Glass”, Worthy et. al.)
BOOK OF KARNAK
Tome of occult knowledge. From its title, it may consist of rituals taken from the Egyptian temple complex of Karnak. The book also contains information regarding Iod, the Hunter of Souls.
(“The Hunt”, Kuttner; “Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)
BOOK OF K’YOG
Work that was old even in the age of Eibon. It has been lost on Earth for millennia, but supposedly tells how Tsathoggua was brought to earth from Yuggoth by an alien species that built a city now beneath the waves.
(“The Haunting of Uthnor”, Cornford; “The Old One”, Glasby (O).)
BOOK OF NIGHT (also NOCTUARY OF VIZOORANOS)
Dangerous work on necromancy written by the Hyperborean wizard Vizooranos. Eibon is the only one known to have seen a copy, and he quickly rid himself of it.
(“Annotations for the Book of Night”, Price (O).)
BOOK OF SKELOS
Grimoire written by the blind sage Skelos and preserved by his devotees, though some attribute it to the serpent-people wizards of Valusia. There has been considerable disagreement as to whether “Skelos” penned one or several books, but wizards throughout the world have put great stock in his reputation. In the Hyborian Age only three known copies existed, and none of these is known to have survived until today. Although all of Hyboria’s mages coveted this book, we only know it contains information on an artifact called the Hand of Nergal and an isle on which monsters guard a great treasure.
(Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp; “Black Colossus”, Howard; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Pool of the Black One”, Howard (O); “The Hand of Nergal”, Howard and Carter.)
BOOK OF THOTH (or SCROLL OF THOTH-AMMON)
Volume supposedly written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and magic who is said to have written thousands of books on occult subjects. Current scholarship holds that Thoth-Ammon, a powerful Stygian wizard and priest of Set, was actually the author. After the destruction of that continent, the Book of Thoth was preserved by the high priests of Egypt in their temple at Alexandria. The Roman emperor Caligula took this volume from Egypt for his own experimentation, but it was destroyed shortly before his death. Abdul Alhazred is known to have perused another copy, and others may exist in Tibetan monasteries, but no outsider has seen the book for many years.
The Book of Thoth discusses the being known as Tawil at’Umr, as well as the Great Old Ones and the history of Hyboria. It also contains a spell that confers life to the dead (of a temporary nature), extensive astronomical data, hints on the nature of Ngyr-Khorath, and the secret of humanity’s creation. The third volume of the Book may deal with the opening of gates. One spell claimed to be within is the Rite of Abomination, which supposedly can plunge the world into darkness.
[Though many different books that Thoth is said to have written have survived, there is not one specifically called the “Book of Thoth”. Many occultists use the term as another name for the Tarot deck, though in Mythos stories it is an actual text. The Mythos “Book of Thoth” should not be confused with Aleister Crowley’s treatise on the Tarot of the same name.]
See ‘Umr at-Tawil. (The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill; “The Dweller Beyond the Gate”, Glasby; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O); The Gardens of Lucullus, Rahman and Tierney; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Scroll of Thoth”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney; The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)
BOREA. World in a parallel universe upon which Ithaqua was at one time imprisoned. The world has three moons, Dromos, Numinos, and another unnamed satellite. Due to the physics of this particular dimension, however, none of these bodies turns around another, and the planet itself does not circle the sun. Thus, parts of Borea are left in perpetual cold, while others enjoy an eternal tropical summer.
Legend has it that the Elder Gods confined Ithaqua in a plateau near Borea’s southern pole following the revolt of the Great Old Ones. After many years, the Wendigo obtained his freedom and traveled to other worlds and dimensions, yet he still returns to Borea from time to time.
Ithaqua’s habit of taking away with him those who have stirred his displeasure is well known. Though Ithuaqua usually drops these victims from the sky after weeks or months, others are tak
en to Borea. Over the years, Ithaqua has brought many sorts of life to this world and its moons, including various sorts of plants, bats, wolves, bears, whales, and even humans. These unfortunates are altered so that not even the bitterest cold may affect them; this trait, however, also makes them somewhat vulnerable to the same forces that repel the Great Old Ones.
Upon their arrival, most of the humans are inducted into the Children of the Winds, Ithaqua’s cult on Borea, which boasts hundreds of thousands of members. Some, however, rebel against the Wind-Walker; colonies of these outcasts may be found in the plateau in which Ithaqua was imprisoned, as well as upon the Isle of Mountains on Numinos. These colonies are a consistent irritation for Ithaqua, but his cult’s forays against them have never been completely successful in eradicating them.
See Elder Sign; Ithaqua; Khrissa; Numinos; Silberhutte, Hank. (In the Moons of Borea, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley (O).)
BORELLUS
Writer on science and mysticism, most likely Petrus Borel (1620–1689), who wrote the following passage:
The essential Saltes of Animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious Man may have the whole Ark of Noah in his own Studie, and raise the fine Shape of an Animal out of its Ashes at his Pleasure; and by the lyke Method from the essential Saltes of humane Dust, a Philosopher may, without any criminal Necromancy, call up the Shape of any dead Ancestour from the Dust whereinto his Bodie has been incinerated.
[Borellus is a real-life figure. The passage quoted above comes from Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana. It has yet to be found in any of Borellus’ works.]
(“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft.)
BOWEN, (PROFESSOR) ENOCH (1795?-1868)
Noted occultist and archaeologist from Providence, Rhode Island. He taught at history and philology at Brown University, though another source states he taught at, and donated a valuable Biblical manuscript to, Miskatonic University. His most memorable accomplishment was his excavation of the crypt of the forgotten pharaoh Nephren-Ka in 1843. The following year, Bowen inexplicably stopped his excavations and, upon returning to Providence, established the infamous Church of Starry Wisdom. His books include Description of Excavations at Tell-Basta (1833), Sacrificial Cults in Ptolemaic Egypt (1839), Excavations of Early Dynastic Egypt (1842), and the secret manual of the cult, The Pathway to the Darkness.
In 1927, another individual named Enoch Bowen headed a branch of the Starry Wisdom cult in Arkham, but this can hardly have been the same person.
See Starry Wisdom cult. (“Coming of Age”, Ballon; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods, Vaughan.)
BOYD, CLAIBORNE
Student of Creole culture. Boyd was born in Mississippi, and later resided in New Orleans, from which he continued his studies. After the death of his grand-uncle, a former professor at Harvard, Boyd came into possession of his papers detailing his mythological speculations. Boyd vanished shortly thereafter, though not before mailing off his papers to Miskatonic University. He may have been killed in 1986 in Fort Myers, Florida.
(“The Gorge beyond Salanpunco”, Derleth (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)
BRAN MAK MORN (?-ca. 210)
King of the Pictish peoples of Caledonia (Scotland) during the Roman occupation of Britain. Bran was born as the son of a Wolf clan chief, but quickly gained power until he became the king of the Picts, who had been split into small feuding tribes for over five hundred years. Bran was a brave and just ruler who attempted to wean the Picts away from the bloody rituals that they once practiced. His most famous deed, however, was the summoning of the Worms of the Earth to take revenge against the Roman legions. Bran eventually fell in battle due to the treachery of a Roman officer, and his kingdom crumbled apart.
Over time, the tales of Bran’s deeds have become distorted, and many legends about his abilities have been invented. In his Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt mentions a statue of the king that the spirit of Bran inhabited after his death. This effigy was hidden in a cave, which remains the focus for a religion centering on Bran to this day. Members of this cult, made up of the descendants of the Picts, are expected to make a pilgrimage to this statue once in their lifetimes. According to this group’s teachings, one day the statue of Bran will return to life, and he and his people will come forth from his cavern to rule the world.
[One mythological Bran was a Welsh deity of tremendous size, while another was the British hero whose severed head protected the British Isles from invasion after his death. Howard seems to have been unaware of this tradition, and named his hero after Brennus, a barbarian at the siege of Rome, and Gol Mac Morn, an Irish folk hero.]
See Worms of the Earth. (“The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Dark Man”, Howard; “Kings of the Night”, Howard; “Men of the Shadows”, Howard; “The Worms of the Earth”, Howard; Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth, Inabinet; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft.)
BRAVING, MINNESOTA
Town in Minnesota notable for its numerous cases of missing persons and mysterious deaths. An uneasy air hovers over the town, and even Royceton University is known for the tension of its students and faculty.
(“The Deep-Lord Awakens”, Ambuehl; “Sculpture”, Ambuehl (O).)
BRICHESTER
Commercial hub of England’s Severn River Valley. Known in medieval times as Bicestre, today’s Brichester may be split into three parts: Mercy Hill to the north, Brichester proper, and Lower Brichester in the south. Brichester is home to Brichester University, one of the region’s most respected institutions of learning.
This town has been the site of many strange happenings. Brichester University once held a copy of the Revelations of Glaaki donated in 1958, but this has since disappeared or been destroyed. A congregation of Brichester University students worshiping the Great Old Ones was broken up in the Twenties, and many of the professors at that institution also possess knowledge of the paranormal events in the surrounding countryside. It was in Brichester that the eccentric cult leader Robert Franklyn lived and published his book on reincarnation We Pass from View. Finally, a man living on Mercy Hill was induced through dream-communications to write the twelfth volume of the Revelations of Glaaki.
See Devil’s Steps; Eihort; Glaaki; Goatswood; Mercy Hill; Revelations of Glaaki; Sentinel Hill; Severnford; Temphill; Undercliffe; We Pass from View. (“13 Place of Interest in Brichester”, Brownlow; “The Church in High Street”, Campbell (O); “Cold Print”, Campbell; The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell; “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)
BRICK CYLINDERS OF KADATHERON (also CYLINDERS OF KADATHERON)
Seven artifacts brought out of the Middle East by an expedition led by a Mr. Angstrom. They were translated through use of the late Gordon Walmsley’s work, but the characters are so archaic that only a few scholars can read them. The Cylinders are currently kept at the British Museum. The Dreamlands city of Kadatheron holds another set.
The Cylinders deal primarily with the history of the land of Mnar, especially as it relates to the pre-human city of Ib. They also include information on the Sarnath-sigil and tell the tale of the wizard Ilathos who went to speak with the high priest of Leng (though the ending of that story has been effaced). Another section provides the history and ruling dynasties of Kadatheron itself.
See Ib; Kadatheron; Lh-yib. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Lure of Leng”, DeBill; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley; “Passing of a Dreamer”, Myers.)
BRINGER OF PESTS
See Nyarlathotep (Bringer of Pests).
BROKEN COLUMNS OF GEPH
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Monuments located within the coastal jungles of Liberia. No one knows how old the columns of Geph are, but they are mentioned in the writings of Teh Atht, a great wizard from the primal land of Theem’hdra. Upon these pillars the elders of the Ptetholites carved warnings against those who would use black magic against their foes, as well as the images of the Great Old Ones. Though the followers of the Old Ones have struck out some inscriptions and attempted to destroy the Columns themselves, these monuments have survived to this day, and are thought to be the center of worship for the natives of that region. With the help of Professor Gordon Walmsley of Goole, the characters upon these monuments were deciphered several years ago.