Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Harms, Daniel

This being is the head of the Ancient Ones, as well as the guardian of the final gateway opened by the owner of the Silver Key. While most consider ‘Umr at-Tawil to be an avatar or manifestation of Yog-Sothoth, other sources refer to him as a human who passed through the Ultimate Gate, met Yog-Sothoth, and gave himself up to the god, thereupon becoming the Guardian of the Gate. The Book of Thoth states that dealing with this entity is fraught with peril, and none who he accepts ever return.

  It has been suggested that ‘Umr at-Tawil is a part of a person’s mind which must be overcome or destroyed to gain true knowledge. Others state that the spirit respects great warriors, rewarding great slaughter and calling spirits out of Limbo to give power to those who are worthy. Whether these rumors are true remains uncertain.

  See Ancient Ones; Book of Thoth; Klarkash-Ton; Silver Key; Yog-Sothoth. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; Cthulhu Dark Ages, Gesbert et. al., Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O).)

  UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (also the BLACK BOOK or NAMELESS CULTS). Volume by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt (1795-1840), an occultist and explorer of some note. Immediately after finishing Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt left for parts unknown. After returning from a trip to Mongolia, von Junzt shut himself up in his room and spent months writing a new manuscript. Six months following his return, he was found in his locked and barred room strangled, his notes torn and scattered about him. The contents of this document remain a mystery, for after von Junzt’s friend Alexis Ladeau pieced it together and read it, he burnt the pages and cut his throat.

  The Dusseldorf publisher Gottfried Mülder put out a German edition of Unaussprechlichen Kulten in 1839. Many who owned the book, however, destroyed it after they learned of its author’s fate. The book might have been forgotten if not for the Jesuit Pierre Sansrire’s French translation, presumably made in order to teach his students about the cults of the world. The book was printed in St. Malo in 1843; no copies are known to survive.

  The disreputable bookseller M. A. G. Bridewall found a copy of the French translation in a London store. He considered it so scandalous that he published the first English translation of it in 1845, giving it the title Nameless Cults. This edition was riddled with mistakes and misspellings, illustrated with cheap woodcuts, and served only to further discredit the original.

  Golden Goblin Press of New York took its own translation of the German book to the presses in 1909, which included color plates by Diego Velasquez. Though more accurately translated than the Bridewall edition, the translators expurgated over a quarter of the original volume, and the cost of the book was so high as to be prohibitive to the general public. An edition from the elusive Starry Wisdom Press was supposedly released in the same year, though no copies have yet been found. Though several attempts have been made by Miskatonic to publish a scholarly edition of the book, von Junzt’s heirs have refused to give permission for any new printings of the book.

  Copies of Unaussprechlichen Kulten are kept at the Miskatonic University Library, the Sanbourne Institute, the library of the ruined Starry Wisdom church of Providence, and the Huntingdon Library in California.

  Within his book, von Junzt discusses his findings regarding worship patterns across the world. Part of this volume deals with commonly known secret societies, such as the Thuggee and the African leopard societies. The main part of the work, which is prefaced by a lengthy essay entitled “Narrative of the Elder World”, deals with the worship of Cthulhu and his ilk, including the Tcho-tcho cults of Leng, the people of the Black Stone, the Hyborian Age, and the worldwide sects of Ghatanothoa. At certain points, von Junzt’s rational presentation of these cults breaks down into disjointed ramblings. His assertion that alicorns (unicorn horns) were real and his claim to have visited Hell are often cited as evidence of his instability. Nonetheless, much of his work is insightful and should not be dismissed.

  See Bran Mak Morn; Ghatanothoa; Kn’aa; Ladeau, Alexis; Mad Berkley’s Book; Mülder, Gottfried; Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom; Temple of the Toad; von Junzt, Friedrich; Yog-Sothoth. (Real Magic, Bonewitz; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The History of Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Thing on the Roof”, Howard; “Untitled Fragment”, Howard; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  UNIVERSITY OF NYINGTOVE. College in O’Khymer, Oregon, known for its library’s large collection of occult works.

  See Sorcerie de Demonologie. (“Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O).)

  UNNAMABLE, THE. Creature born of bestiality. After its discovery, its father was subsequently hung, but it was allowed to live. It dwelt in a colonial house near the old burying-ground in Arkham. The creature, said to have hooves and four-inch horns, seems to be dead but is nonetheless called forth when others speak or think about it. Randolph Carter based his story “The Attic Window” (1922) on it and may have participated in the exorcism of the spirit.

  [Lovecraft based this creature on the following passage from Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana: “At the Southward there was a Beast, which brought forth a Creature, which might pretend unto something of an Humane Shape. Now, the People minded that the Monster had a Blemish in one Eye, much like what a profligate Fellow in the Town was known to have. This Fellow was hereupon examin’d, and uppon his Examination, confess’d his infandous Bestialties; for which he was deservedly Executed.” It was Lovecraft who added the possibility that the creature was sorcerous in nature.]

  (“The Unnamable”, Lovecraft (O); The Unnamable, Ouellette.)

  UNSPEAKABLE PROMISE (also UNSPEAKABLE OATH). Bargain made with Hastur by unsuspecting magicians. The magician’s side of the bargain may differ, but the end result is the same: the Old One possesses his or her body upon death, taking on a humanoid form with boneless arms. The Unspeakable Promise is also said to bind Shub-Niggurath in some manner.

  (“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “The Evil Stars”, Herber; “The Lady in the Grove”, Lette.)

  UNTER ZEE KULTEN. German volume dealing with aquatic horrors. Two different versions of this book’s history have appeared. The more traditional tale states that a Graf Gauberg wrote it centuries ago, and that most copies of this book were destroyed in the seventeenth century. The other states that the book’s real title was Das Geheimnis der Unterzeerunen, which was published in Vienna in 1908. According to this source, the book was a translation of Yuggothian glyphs found at Ponape, Easter Island, and Stonehenge made by the German occultist Guido von List. The book was later made into a movie called Geheimnisse Einer Unterzeewelt (or “Unterzee Kulten”) which depicted many secret Polynesian rites and was finally banned in most countries. Which of these stories is correct, or if the two are referring to different books entirely, is uncertain.

  This book tells much about the deep ones and their ways of life, including a description of a strange mollusk the deep ones use for food and construction. The Cthaat Aquadingen quotes this volume at least once.

  (“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; “Fischbuchs”, Ross; “The Sound of a Door Opening”, Webb.)

  UNDERCLIFFE, ERROL (c. 1937-1967?). Brichester horror author who is thought to have been an influence on the young Ramsey Campbell. Little is known of Undercliffe, though he spent much of his life in Brichester. He vanished from his apartment in 1967 after investigating the death of Ronald Franklyn. At least one unconfirmed sighting of him has been made since then. His work has been collected in The Man who Feared to Sleep and Photographed by Lightning, and Harry Chang’s film Red Dreams is based upon his work.

  (“Errol Undercliffe: A Tribute”, Campbell (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)

  UOHT. 1) Royal contender for the throne
of Yhtill in the play The King in Yellow. See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)

  2) In the writings of Hali, the first king of Carcosa to emblazon the Sign of Koth in yellow upon his cloak. See King in Yellow. (House of the Toad, Tierney.)

  UPHAM, (PROFESSOR) HIRAM. Chair of the Miskatonic University mathematics department. His class saw several informal lectures by Walter Gilman on mathematical proofs of higher dimensions. Upham later joined with other Miskatonic professors in combating the Mythos.

  See Emeritus Alcove. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

  UPTON, DANIEL. (c. 1884-?). Arkham architect and friend (and murderer) of Edward Derby. Derby’s father was Bezalel Yehua ben-Daniel, but he later changed his name to Daniel Upton and moved to Arkham. (The younger Daniel Upton never learned this part of his family’s past.) Daniel Upton made friends with Derby at a relatively early age, and Upton even considered illustrating a book of Derby’s poetry at one time. After graduating from Harvard, Upton married and settled in Arkham. His son, Edward Derby Upton, was born in 1910.

  Upton watched the destructive marriage of Derby and Asenath Waite with some concern, but he was unable to stop its tragic ending. Upton seemed concerned about his friend, which made his subsequent murder of Derby at Arkham Sanitarium even more baffling. Some have hinted that a macabre practical joke may have been the impetus for the crime.

  Upton was committed, but contradictory accounts of what happened later have emerged. Some say that influential friends at Miskatonic were able to free him, while others hold that he remained confined for the rest of his life.

  See Derby, Edward; Waite, Asenath. (“The Revenge of Azathoth”, Cannon; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Statement of Richard Daniel Upton”, Jantsang, Gerber, and Ley; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

  URALTE SCHRECKEN (roughly Ancient Fears). Monograph written by Graf von Könnenberg in the nineteenth century, and published in 1823. An English translation by “Crowley” appeared in London in 1854, as did another in 1903. In his book, von Könnenberg asserted that he had traced the myth-patterns of all cultures back to their origins as projections of something he called Mlandoth. Who, what, or where Mlandoth is, von Könnenberg did not explain; this likely explains the book’s cool reception among the public and reputable scholars alike.

  Aside from Mlandoth, this volume also mentions such entities as Ngyr-Khorath (who he warns strongly against), ‘Ymnar, and Yidhra.

  See Chthonic Revelations; ‘Ymnar. (“The Barrett Horror”, DeBill; “The Bookseller’s Second Wife”, DeBill; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

  URILIA TEXT. See R’lyeh Text.

  UZULDAROUM. Capital city of Hyperborea. When the people of the former capital city of Commoriom fled their homes due to the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion or other less pleasant causes, they established Uzuldaroum a day’s journey from the deserted metropolis.

  See Commoriom, Hyperborea; Satampra Zeiros. (“The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “The Testament of Athammaus”, Smith.)

  V

  VACH-VIRAJ INCANTATION. Chant used to ward off the Great Old One Nyogtha, and which is efficacious to a lesser degree against Cyäegha and the cthonians. This is one version of the Vach-Viraj chant, supposedly written in the Senzar tongue:

  Ya na kadishtu nilgh’ri stell-bsna Nyogtha;

  K’yarnak phlegethor l’ebumna syha’h n’ghft.

  Ya hai kadishtu ep r’luh-eeh Nyogtha eeh,

  S’uhn-ngh athg li’hee orr’e syha’h.

  It is believed that the Vach-Viraj, when spoken in reverse, may release the same earth elementals it will normally disperse. It has been suggested that “Vach-Viraj” is another title for Azathoth; what significance this might have is unknown.

  [Blavatsky suggests that Vach-Viraj symbolizes the union of the male and the female principles, though she does not speak of an incantation in which they are used.]

  See Circles of Thaol; cthonians; Necronomicon (appendices); Nyogtha. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

  VALE OF BERKELEY. Volume by Lord Arthur B. Wilshire on the folklore of this area of the Severn River Valley, published in 1928. Supposedly two editions of this work were issued. The most unusual tales included are of the Berkeley Toad, a dungeon-dwelling creature that ate corpses, and the Berkeley Witch. The other stories are conventional tales of ghostly clergymen and women.

  (Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, Aniolowski and Sumpter; “The Room in the Castle”, Campbell (O), “Unseen”, Love.)

  VALE OF PNATH. See Pnath, Vale of.

  VALUSIA. Ancient land of the serpent people. It consisted of modern southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and northern Africa. Humans conquered Valusia, driving the serpent people away, and one hundred thousand years ago, Valusia was the most powerful of the Seven Empires. The most famous king of Valusia was Kull the Atlantean.

  See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Kull; serpent people. (“Exile of Atlantis”, Howard; “The Shadow Kingdom”, Howard (O).)

  VATICAN CODEX. Mayan document found several years ago in the Vatican Library. It is on a piece of bark paper eight inches wide and seven feet long, painted with various colors. This is the only known copy of this work, one of the few Mayan books to have survived the ecclesiastical zeal of the Spanish priests. Why the religious authorities chose this book to spare from destruction and send back to Rome is unknown.

  In most respects, this document parallels the Mayan creation myths as detailed in the Popol Vuh. At one point, however, the story varies from the more common version. A being known as both Ghatanothoa and Yig comes down to Earth from the star Arcturus. Seeing the goddess of the dawn bathing, he attempts to force himself upon her, but she escapes. Yig’s semen falls into the sea, eventually giving rise to the various animals that populate the earth. The Ancient Ones (as the benevolent gods are called in this document) attack Yig and imprison him within the ground. Having done so, they take some of his seed and use it to create humanity. Then a Golden Age begins, ending when Yig calls down disaster upon humanity.

  (The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson (O).)

  VAULTS OF ZIN. See Zin, Vaults of.

  VHOORL. Planet located within the twenty-third nebula, wherever that might be. It was Kathulhn, a student of mathematics on Vhoorl, who first broke through the barriers between this dimension and the others where the Great Old Ones once lived. The lords of Yaddith are also known to have visited this world.

  Some have connected the “Kathulhn” who once dwelt on Vhoorl with the Great Old One Cthulhu. If this linkage is valid, Vhoorl may be Cthulhu’s birthplace that Henry Akeley hinted of in his discourse with Albert Wilmarth.

  See Cthulhu. (“The Guardian of the Book”, Hasse (O); “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft.)

  VIRKLYU. The City of Flame of the Arkandian people, located in the Kalnor Plain in prehistoric times. Within a great dome in the city lived the Fire Women, the priestesses of the Great Old Ones who were led by Ilyth’la.

  (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

  VISIONS FROM YADDITH. Volume of poetry by Ariel Prescott (most likely a pseudonym), who was confined to, and later died in, Oakdeene Sanitarium. Charnel House Publishers of London published the volume in a limited edition in 1927, and it became fashionable for a brief while among the occult elements of Cambridge University’s student body. Ariel Prescott’s family, however, managed to purchase and destroy almost all copies of the book.

  The poems of this book, which were inspired by the author’s nightly visions, tell the story of the last days of Yaddith, its inhabitant’s attempts to save their dying world, and their final flight throughout the cosmos.

  (“Dreams in the House
of Weir”, Carter (O); Visions from Yaddith, Carter.)

  VISIONS OF KHROYD’HON. Chapbook by the poet William Davis Manly. It contains poems using the mysteries of the Sesqua Valley as subject matter; Khroyd’hon was the poet’s own name for Mount Selta. Only distributed on a limited basis, the work is quite rare now. A very limited edition with Manly’s own illustrations is also rumored to exist.

  [An actual book called Visions of Khroyd’hon was published under Pugmire’s editorship.]

  (“A Piece of Stone”, Pugmire; “The Strange Dark Folk”, Pugmire; “The Thing in the Glen”, Pugmire (O); “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire.)

  VON DENEN VERDAMMTEN, ODER EINE VERHANDLUNG ÜBER DIE UNHEIMLICHEN KULTEN DER ALTEN (“Of the Damned, or a Trial of the Unholy Cults of Antiquity”). Volume written by Kazaj Heinz Vogel, a German who immigrated to America over two centuries ago. He returned to his native Germany and completed his untitled book. After its publication, the authorities seized the volumes and destroyed all but two copies. Vogel himself vanished shortly thereafter. The two remaining copies of this volume remained in the restricted collections of German libraries.

  In 1907, a young woman named Edith Brendall gained access to one of the volumes. Using her photographic memory, she memorized the entire book and later rewrote it, added notes gathered from her own research, and entitled it Von denen Vertdammten. Ms. Brendall then had the book published at her own expense. As soon as the publishers released the book, most of the copies were bought hastily or stolen by persons unknown. Ms. Brendall believed someone was following her, and moved from city to city attempting to elude her pursuers. She disappeared from Bonn on March 27, 1910, and her body was discovered the Rhine on April 4 of the same year.

  This book is purported to deal mainly with the cults that Vogel witnessed in the United States, though most of the material seen so far deals with European sites. The book holds information on the worship of an organization known as the Waiting Dark, including an impressive genealogy of its members. It also discusses the cults of Innsmouth, Salem, and Dunwich (though the latter refers to the English town of the same name).