by Daniel Harms
See Alhazred, Abdul; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Corsi, Bartolomeo; Eltdown Shards; flying polyps; Lemuria; Nug-Soth; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Pnakotus; Woodville, James; Yekub; Yith. (“False Containment”, Conyers; “The Changeling”, DeBill; “The Dark Brotherhood”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Horror from Yith”, DeBill; Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Shadow out of Space”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Shadow from Yith”, Gullette; “The Dreamer”, Herber; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); Necronomicon, Tyson.)
GREAT TREES
Sentient, telepathic plants thousands of feet tall. The Great Trees once lived on a world whose climate was becoming too cold for them to survive. The wizard Ardatha Ell bore away the life-leaves, or “seeds”, of the last three trees and planted them, one in Elysia, one in the hinterlands of Thalarion, and one in an undisclosed location. The trees are very empathic, but are often unable to defend themselves from attacks.
(Elysia, Lumley; Hero of Dreams, Lumley (O).)
GREAT WHITE SPACE
Extradimensional belt that connects positions trillions of miles apart. The Old Ones used it to journey through the universe, and hold it in reverence. The Earthly entrance to this place lies somewhere in the mountains of China or Mongolia, where a door five hundred feet high leads to a vast underground cavern with the Space at its far end. The minions of the Old Ones protect the Great White Space, so any journey there is inadvisable.
See Ethics of Ygor; Trone Tables. (The Great White Space, Copper (O).)
GREEN BOOK
Diary of an unnamed young girl, in which she tells of her many unwitting experiments in sorcery. Only one copy exists, but its contents have proved invaluable to those investigating the Mythos.
See Aklo; Alala; Chian; Deep Dendo; Mao; Voor. (“The White People”, Machen (O).)
GREEN DECAY
1) Incantation from the Book of Eibon that may convert its victim into a greenish pile of mold. The spell involves the creation of a bronze statue of the victim, which is buried, and the speaking of curses. The spell is slow-acting and degenerative, and many wizards dislike it due to the mess it creates. See Book of Eibon. (“The Man of Stone”, Lovecraft and Heald (O); “The Green Decay”, Price; “The Green Decay”, Sennitt.)
2) Affliction from which the undead servants of Glaaki suffer after they have served their master for sixty years or more. If one of these servants is exposed to direct sunlight, rapid putrefaction sets in, quickly destroying the servitor.
According to some, an extract made from those killed by the Green Decay is used in creating the zombies of Haiti. See Glaaki. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O).)
GREEN MAN
See Nyarlathotep (Green Man).
GREY RITE OF AZATHOTH
Spell from the Book of Eibon that, if performed by nine adepts, is said to force Azathoth to do one’s bidding, an operation of questionable efficacy. A lesser version of the rite might be used to provide some manner of protection. (Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Grey Rite of Azathoth”, Pulver.)
GRIMLAN, JOHN (March 10, 1630?–March 10, 1930)
Occultist. Grimlan’s date of birth is uncertain, and the assertion that he lived three hundred years is probably a misinterpretation of the data. (One scholar, a Von Boehnk, insists that he saw Grimlan in Vienna around 1880 and that he had not aged since, but this is most likely due to his faulty memory.) Whatever his origins, Grimlan was known as a knowledgeable scholar on the subjects of voodoo and Shintoism, though his unpleasant demeanor kept most potential students away. His travels took him as far away as Mongolia, but he spent the last twenty years of his life in a small town just outside San Francisco. After his death, his body was lost in a house fire, and his library was distributed among the bookstores of the nearby city.
[See note to Zarnak.]
(“Dig Me No Grave”, Howard (O); “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)
GROTH-GOLKA
Creature once worshiped on the isle of Bal-Sagoth. It resembles a tremendous bird with one foot and one eye, and dwells under the mountain Antarktos, somewhere near the South Pole. Shantaks revere and serve Groth-Golka.
Certain inscriptions within the ruins of Zimbabwe, supposedly built by the Fishers from Outside, bear the name of this god as well.
[See note for Gol-Goroth.]
(“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth”, Howard (O).)
GUGS
Huge black-furred beings native to the Dreamlands. A gug’s arms are split at the elbow, with each of their four forearms ending in a tremendous paw. The most hideous characteristic of a gug, though, is its face, with a pink eye on each side and its fang-lined mouth running vertically down its head. Despite their monumental stone architecture, the gugs seem unintelligent and make little use of tools, weaponry, or fire. Gugs worship the Other Gods, and give especial service to the “Nameless Mist”.
The gugs once dwelt upon the surface of the earth, where their great monoliths still remain. The gods of Earth, however, grew frightened of the gugs’ worship of Nyarlathotep and the Other Gods. Upon hearing one night of a great blasphemy these creatures had performed, the Great Ones banished the gugs to caverns below the earth’s surface. The gugs now live in a tremendous stone city near the vaults of Zin in the Dreamlands’ Underworld.
See ghasts; Koth; Koth, Sign of; Nameless Mist; Zin. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)
GULF OF S’GLHUO
See S’glhuo, Gulf of.
GUSTAU, THELRED (?–1972)
Accomplished scientist who lost much of his standing in the scientific community due to his supposed translation of the Legends of the Olden Runes. After nine years of work with the manuscript, Gustau vanished after a mysterious explosion at his house in Woolwich.
See Legends of the Olden Runes. (“The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley (O); “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu, Lumley.)
GYAA-YOTHN
Animals resembling humans save for their size, bestial appearance, and horned head. The people of K’n-yan bred these from certain quadrupeds native to the caverns of Yoth and the remnants of conquered peoples. They use beasts for carrying burdens and as mounts. They do possess a rudimentary intelligence that proves useful to their masters. Some have speculated that the ghasts of the Vaults of Zin beneath Yoth and the gyaa-yothn are related in some way.
See K’n-yan. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); S. Petersen’s Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)
H
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HADDATH (also HADDOTH or possibly URAKHU)
World that was at one time the home of Shudde-M’ell. This fiery world is still the home of many cthonians. The star it circles may be the eye of the constellation Hydra.
(“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos (O); “The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)
HADOTH
Sealed valley by the Nile amidst the hills of Neb, possibly just east of the Pharaoh Akhenaten’s city of Tel el-Amarna. This vale holds the catacombs of Nephren-Ka, also known as the Labyrinth of Kish. Abdul Alhazred dwelt in Hadoth during his apprenticeship to the wizard Yakthoob.
(Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Doom of Yakthoob”, Carter; “The Thing under Memphis”, Carter; “The Outsider”, Lovecraft (O).)
HAGARG RYONIS.
Great One of the Dreamlands. Hagarg Ryonis usually appears as a huge reptilian monster with black scales, six irregularly spaced eyes, and obsidian claws and teeth. In Hyperborea, Hagarg Ryonis was considered the guard of tombs and houses who extracted justice upon the unjust. She is still worshiped in the Dreamlands, but has lost her beneficial traits and is sent out to kill when the Great Ones have been offended.
(“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al. (O).)
HALI (or HALEY)
Place or person often linked with the King i
n Yellow and Hastur. Three possible interpretations exist for this name.
1) Lake whose cloud-waves wash the shores of the alien city of Carcosa. Though some have suggested that this lake has dried up and its basin become the Gobi Desert, those who have seen it assert otherwise. The Lake is the dwelling of Hastur the Unspeakable One, and beneath its waters live tentacled horrors whose faces are terrible beyond words. Hastur or his minions visit those who gaze upon the Lake soon thereafter. See Carcosa; Great Old Ones; Hastur; King in Yellow. (“The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); “The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Ring of the Hyades”, Glasby; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson.)
2) According to Marion Zimmer Bradley, Hali is also the Arabic name for the constellation Taurus, in which Aldebaran and the Hyades lie. Since these constellations are said to be the home of Hastur and the King, this explanation is also possible.
3) Hali might also be a necromancer who lived in the Immemorial City on the planet of Carcosa. This Hali may be the one whose name has been given to the lake of Hali. See Revelations of Hali; Thale; Uoht; Yellow Sign. (“Carcosa Story about Hali” (fragment), Carter.)
[Two individuals have come to be known by the name “Hali” or “Haley”. The first of these, as Marco Frenschkowski points out, is Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah (668–704/709?), a potential heir to the caliphate who gave up his claim for the life of a scholar. Though there is nothing in the historical record to suggest it, he later became known as an alchemist, and many medieval treatises on the subject were attributed to him.
[The name “Hali” was also a corruption of Ali ibn-Ridwan, an Arabian doctor, philosopher, and astrologer of the eleventh century. He was one of the foremost medical authorities of his time and the author of over a hundred books, but at the end of his life he went insane after a servant-girl stole most of his money. This doctor was later mentioned in The Canterbury Tales.
These Halis may be unconnected with the one mentioned in The King in Yellow, but it is likely that at least Bierce was aware of one of them when he used the name in his stories.]
(“The Death of Halpin Frayser”, Bierce; “An Inhabitant of Carcosa”, Bierce (O); “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers.)
HAN (also DARK HAN)
Lesser deity of divination mentioned in De Vermis Mysteriis. It appears as a tall cloaked man with glowing eyes enshrouded in fog. Han provides insight into the future, but brings with him the risks of blindness and madness.
Han is often spoken of along with Yig, and may in fact be Yig’s child. It is known that the serpent people once worshiped both of them. Upon the return of the Great Old Ones, Han will come forth from the frozen Plateau of Leng.
[The Lakota of the Great Plains call their personification of darkness Han, but this is probably only a coincidence.]
(Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith; “Scales of Justice”, Mackey.)
HAON-DOR
Powerful prehuman sorcerer who lived in Hyperborea. He usually appears as a figure cloaked in a brown robe that keeps his face hidden, but he has also been known to manifest himself as a fifteen-foot rattlesnake.
Haon-Dor is one of an obscure species driven from their homes on the isle of Ultima Thule by the “Voors”. Haon-Dor once had a glimpse of the tablets of Ubbo-Sathla, and this vision left him fearful of light and the sky for the rest of his life. To control his phobia, he took up residence beneath Mount Voormithadreth in Hyperborea, where he was accompanied by thousands of vampiric familiars. Later, Haon-Dor departed for the Hyperborean colony of Krannoria; when Abhoth attacked that colony, he used Eibon’s gateway to Saturn to escape. He now lives on in the Dreamlands, where he may be developing a way to reattain his former power in our world.
As with many other sorcerers, Haon-Dor left behind his own grimoire known as the Testament of Haon-Dor. Little is known of its contents, save for the eleventh chapter dealing with reincarnation. No records of it have been found since the time of Hyperborea, however.
See Atlach-Nacha; Mnomquah; Voormish Tablets. (“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Pits of Bendal-Dolum”, Lyons; “The House of Haon-Dor”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith (O); “The Letter”, Vance.)
HARAG-KOLATH
Underground city in southern Arabia to which Shub-Niggurath came when she left her former home on Yaddith. She waits here, served by her spawn, until Hastur is free to come to earth once again. It has been said that “dreams” swarm here, though what this means is unknown.
See Shub-Niggurath. (“Harag-Kolath”, Tierney (O); “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney.)
HASTUR (also known as THE UNSPEAKABLE ONE, HE WHO IS NOT TO BE NAMED, ASSATUR, XASTUR, or KAIWAN)
Great Old One who lives or is imprisoned on a dark star near Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus. He is related to Carcosa, the Yellow Sign, the Lake of Hali, and the King in Yellow, and is often associated with decadence, nihilism, and stagnancy. Paradoxically, the Unspeakable One also is sometimes referred to as the patron of shepherds.
There is considerable confusion about Hastur’s appearance, with possibilities ranging from an invisible force that can only be sensed psychically, to a two-hundred-foot bipedal lizard covered with tentacles. He has at least one avatar, the Emerald Lama, an alien-looking monk in a green robe. In the rare cases of possession, the victim’s skin becomes scaly and their limbs seem boneless. The nature of Hastur’s true form (if he has a “true form”) is still a mystery.
The Tcho-Tchos and the people of K’n-yan are both known to worship Hastur. In the past, he was also revered in Samaria, Attluma, and Hyboria. His cult is considered particularly abhorrent, even when compared with those of the other Great Old Ones. The members of the cult are dedicated to bringing Hastur to Earth, as well as torturing mi-go to gain knowledge. Worshipers may call up Hastur when Aldebaran is in the sky (the best time being Candlemas Night when Mercury is in trine), usually in the presence of nine monoliths in a V-shape in imitation of the constellation Taurus.
In addition to his cults, Hastur is served by the interstellar race known as the byakhee. Some say the mi-go and Ithaqua are Hastur’s minions, but there is little evidence to support this and much to contradict it. The Outer God Shub-Niggurath and Hastur are closely linked, having mated to produce their own foul offspring called the Thousand Young. There seems to be some conflict between Hastur and Cthulhu; when the minions of the two beings have met, they have endeavored to destroy each other.
According to some sources, Hastur is not an actual entity at all, but rather an embodiment of the cosmic principle of entropy.
[In Bierce’s “Haïta the Shepherd”, Hastur is the benevolent god of shepherds. Chambers later appropriated Hastur and used the term as both a person and a place in his own stories. Derleth took Hastur from Chambers’ fiction and referred to it as a Great Old One. The title “Him Who Is Not to be Named” does appear in Derleth, but the idea of people being destroyed merely for speaking his name appears first in the Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, and later in Call of Cthulhu.]
See Alar; Aldones; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; byakhee; Cthulhu; Demhe; elemental theory; Great Old Ones; Hali; Hastur; Ithaqua; King in Yellow; K’n-yan; Legends of the Olden Runes; L’mur-Kathulos; Magnum Innominandum; Nug and Yeb; Outer Gods; Pallid Mask; Sapientia Magorum; Set; Shub-Niggurath; Tcho-Tchos; Unspeakable Promise; Yellow Codex; Yellow Sign; Yhtill; Yog-Sothoth; Zann, Erich. (“Haïta the Shepherd”, Bierce (O); “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski; “The Ring of the Hyades”, Glasby; Necronomicon, Levenda; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness
”, Lovecraft; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)
HATHEG
Town on the Dreamlands’ river Skai established forty thousand years ago, at the same time as Nir and Ulthar. Hatheg is a quiet town renowned for its iridescent textiles. In the desert beyond it lies the mountain Hatheg-Kla.
See Hatheg-Kla; Lerion. (“In ‘Ygiroth”, DeBill; “The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft.)
HATHEG-KLA, MOUNT
Peak in the Great Stony Desert beyond the Dreamlands town of Hatheg. On certain nights, the gods of Earth come to Hatheg-Kla in their cloud-ships to dance upon its summit and recall the days of their youth.