Lovecraftian etymology

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:31 pm

Well, I've mentioned the origins of a few Mythos names here and there, so I figured I'd compile what I know. If anyone can add to this, or add any names I haven't mentioned, please let me know - despite how Professor Peaslee would have you believe, there's no such thing as too much knowledge.

Nyarlathotep: The Crawling Chaos himself is now believed to have been inspired, in name only, by two characters found in Lord Dunsany's writings - Alhireth-Hotep, and Myrnarthitep. Of course, the suffix '-hotep' (by the way, the 'th' is not pronounced as it is in 'the'. Ie, the name is 'Nigh-Arl-Aht-Hoe-Tep') is Egyptian, fitting with the version of Nyarlathotep presented in the story of the same name.

Dagon: Well, although a real-life mythological figure, there is still debate over the nature of Dagon, and the origin of his name. Using the commonly accepted spelling of 'Dagon', it has been thought to be an agglutinated Hewbrew word, when separated out, is 'Dag On', literally 'fish of sadness', supporting the idea that he was a marine or aquatic god. However, another common spelling of the name is 'Dagan', with an 'a', which is literally 'crops' in Hebrew, bolstering the agricultural deity claim. Neither has been verified or disproven.
Oh, and in the Old Testament, Book of Judges, Chapter 16 Verses 23-31, Samson destroys the Temple of Dagon in Gaza.

Miskatonic: The beloved and maligned Valley. Probably based on a river in Massachussets named the Housatonic - makes sense, since Arkham is supposedly Salem, Massachussets.

Arkham: Speak of the Devil... Oakham, in Massachussets again; and Arkwright, in Rhode Island, have both been suggested as influences. Both are equally feasible, I guess.

De La Poer: Of 'Rats in the Walls' fame. Not actually an attempt to disguise the letters 'E A Poe' - Edgar Allan Poe and his one time fiance Sarah Hellen Whitman were both related through an ancestor named De La Poer. The 'Poer' part devolved into Whitman's maiden name, Power.

Cybele: Again from 'Rats', she was a Phrygian goddess of fertility (worshipped by decadent eunuchs), also worshipped in Rome as 'Magna Mater' and in Greece as Rhea.

That's all I've got at the minute, I need to look up what I had read on a breakdown of Azathoth's name, and go over S.T. Joshi's notes to 'Dreams in the Witch House' again. Will be updating this soon.

E.A. Lovecraft · Post by **E.A. Lovecraft** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:35 am

Atis, also mentioned in "The Rats in the Walls," was Cybele's son or consort, spelled Atys or Attis, depending on whichever variation of the myth you happen to come across.

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 1:19 pm

Common knowledge and speculation.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:38 pm

E.A. Lovecraft wrote:Atis, also mentioned in "The Rats in the Walls," was Cybele's son or consort, spelled Atys or Attis, depending on whichever variation of the myth you happen to come across.

Nice, thanks for that.

More -

Sarnath: Supposedly, Lovecraft found the name in Dunsany’s work after having invented it independently; though this does not seem to be the case. However, Sarnath is a real location, the city in India where the Buddha first taught.

Kalos (‘The Tree’): Greek for ‘Handsome’.
Musides (‘The Tree’): Greek for ‘Son of the Muses’.

Meroë (‘Cats of Ulthar’): City in region now known as Sudan. Was capital of Nubian kingdom of Kush. Founded some time in 8th century, stood until fall in 250 AD

Ophir (‘Cats of Ulthar’): Biblical city, said to be rich in gold. Has not been identified. Has been placed in several locations - East Africa, the Far East and Arabia.

Hypnos ('Hypnos'): A Greek god, seldom mentioned. God of sleep; brother of Death, and the son of Nyx.

Crawford Tillinghast ('From Beyond'): Both "Crawford" and "Tillinghast" are the names of wealthy families who colonised Providence, Rhode Island.

Arthur Munroe ('The Lurking Fear'): Lovecraft was frineds with both Chester and Harold Munroe as a child, possibly derivation from this.

Azathoth: This is one I'm a little skeptical about, but in the Call of Cthulhu rulebook, Phileus Sadowsky states that 'Azathoth' is derived from 'Izzu Tahuti', meaning 'strength of Thoth'. Thoth is an Egyptian God, and has been identified with Nyarlathotep.

Post by **Aleister** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:04 pm

You forgot one of the most interesting ones

Abdul Alhazred - This is not a 'proper' Arabic name (because of it's structure), and according to the research of S. T. Joshi, and Lovecraft's letters, it was possibly a reference to Lovecraft's love of literature (Alhazred -> all-has-read). The common belief is that this name was given to Lovecraft when he asked the family lawyer to come up with an Arabic-sounding name, long before he had written about the character.

btw, Arkham was mostly based on Salem according to Lovecraft's letters as well.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:15 pm

Aleister wrote:You forgot one of the most interesting ones

Abdul Alhazred - This is not a 'proper' Arabic name (because of it's structure), and according to the research of S. T. Joshi, and Lovecraft's letters, it was possibly a reference to Lovecraft's love of literature (Alhazred -> all-has-read). The common belief is that this name was given to Lovecraft when he asked the family lawyer to come up with an Arabic-sounding name, long before he had written about the character.

btw, Arkham was mostly based on Salem according to Lovecraft's letters as well.

Lovecraft isn;t sure whether he asked the guy to come up with the name or to critique one he devised himself. Either way, it's erroneously spelled - shold be Al Azred.
And yes, Arkham is Salem and Kingsport is Marblehead.

Nicodemus Whateley · Post by **Nicodemus Whateley** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:23 pm

I've always wondered about Dunwich. It seems like an easy philological leap in the opposide direction from "Greenwich". I'm also convinced that it's at least partially based on the town of Whatley, Mass.

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 3:22 pm

I've yet to read anything set in Dunwich, I'll give you my opinion when I do. Should be getting another book on Friday, and I'll burn through it soon enough.

Lychgate · Post by **Lychgate** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:29 am

Dunwich is, in fact, a real place with a real mystery behind it. it was a small town on the coast of the English county Suffolk. A local legend there says that sometime during the Middle Ages most of the town was swept away during a huge storm, and that today you can still hear ringing the bells of the eight churches that were lost. In reality there is no record of this.

Yog-Sothoth · Post by **Yog-Sothoth** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:10 pm

so what, The Horror of Dunwich is Bells?

Lychgate · Post by **Lychgate** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 3:18 pm

Yog-Sothoth wrote:so what, The Horror of Dunwich is Bells?

Basically, yup.

odin2 · Post by **odin2** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 3:22 pm

THE BELLS THE BELLS!!!!!!! * Runs away screaming*

Jesus Prime · Post by **Jesus Prime** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:26 pm

Big invisible, living, writhing, undulating, festering, hungering non-bell of a bell.

Rodr-Evil · Post by **Rodr-Evil** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:15 pm

Interesting Jesus Prime, I did not know anything about Nyarlathotep and at the same time I confirm what I knew about Miskatonic and Dagon.