Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The

character is a malign deity in the Lovecraft Mythos, a shared
Nyarlathotep
universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem Cthulhu Mythos character
"Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft
and by other writers. Later writers describe him as one of the Outer
Gods, a malevolent pantheon.

Contents
In the work of H. P. Lovecraft
Inspiration
Summary
The Nyarlathotep Cycle
Notes
References
External links

Nyarlathotep, described as the Black

In the work of H. P. Lovecraft Man in H. P. Lovecraft's story "The
Dreams in the Witch House".
In his first appearance in "Nyarlathotep" (1920), he is described as a
"tall, swarthy man" who resembles an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.[1] First "Nyarlathotep"
In this story he wanders the Earth, seemingly gathering legions of appearance
followers, the narrator of the story among them, through his Created by H. P. Lovecraft
demonstrations of strange and seemingly magical instruments. These
followers lose awareness of the world around them, and through the In-universe information
narrator's increasingly unreliable accounts, the reader gets an Species Outer God
impression of the world's collapse.[1] Fritz Leiber proposes three Gender Male
interpretations of the character based on this appearance: the
universe's mockery of man's attempts to understand it; a negative Title Crawling Chaos
view of the commercial world, represented by Nyarlathotep's self- God of a Thousand
promotion and contemptuous attitude; and man's self-destructive Forms
rationality.[2]
Stalker among the
Nyarlathotep subsequently appears as a major character in The Stars
Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926/27), in which he again Black Pharaoh
manifests in the form of an Egyptian pharaoh when he confronts
Faceless God
protagonist Randolph Carter. Leiber describes Nyarlathotep as
"evilly intelligent" in this story, in contrast to the mindless Azathoth, Messenger of the
his master.[2] Outer Gods
Family Azathoth (father)
The 21st sonnet of Lovecraft's poem-cycle Fungi from Yuggoth
(1929/30) is essentially a retelling of the original prose poem.
In "The Dreams in the Witch House" (1933), Nyarlathotep appears Nameless Mist
to Walter Gilman and witch Keziah Mason (who has made a pact (sibling)
with the entity) in the form of "the 'Black Man' of the witch-cult", a
Darkness (sibling)
black-skinned avatar of the Devil described by witch hunters.
Although inhuman, some characters mistake him as a human of
African descent, though his facial features are described as Caucasian.[3]

Finally, in "The Haunter of the Dark" (1936), the nocturnal, tentacled, bat-winged monster dwelling in the
steeple of the Starry Wisdom sect's church is identified as another manifestation of Nyarlathotep.[4] This
avatar cannot tolerate light.

Lovecraft suggests that the fake Henry Akeley that appears at the end of The Whisperer in Darkness (1930)
is also Nyarlathotep. In the story, the Mi-Go chant his name in reverential tones, stating "To Nyarlathotep,
Mighty Messenger, must all things be told. And he shall put on the semblance of man, the waxen mask and
the robes that hide, and come down from the world of Seven Suns to mock".[5] At the end of The Whisperer
in Darkness, the main character to his horror discovers a loose dressing gown and the dismembered head
and arms of Akeley lying on the couch, presumed in the story to have been a Mi-Go in disguise. But due to
the mention in the chant to Nyarlathotep wearing the "waxen mask and the robes that hide", S. T. Joshi
writes that "this seems a clear allusion to Nyarlathotep disguised with Akeley's face and hands; but if so, it
means that at this time Nyarlathotep is, in bodily form, one of the fungi — especially if, as seems likely,
Nyarlathotep is one of the two buzzing voices Albert Wilmarth overhears at the end". Joshi notes this is
problematic, because "if Nyarlathotep is (as critics have termed it) a 'shapeshifter', why would he have to
don the face and hands of Akeley instead of merely reshaping himself as Akeley?"[4]

Though Nyarlathotep appears as a character in only four stories and two sonnets, his name is mentioned
frequently in other works. In "The Rats in the Walls" (1924), Nyarlathotep is mentioned as a faceless god in
the caverns of Earth's center.. In "The Shadow Out of Time" (1936), the "hideous secret of Nyarlathotep" is
revealed to the protagonist by Khephnes during their imprisonment by the Great Race of Yith.

Nyarlathotep does not appear in Lovecraft's story "The Crawling Chaos" (1920/21), despite the similarity of
the title to the character's epithet. Lovecraft wrote to a correspondent that he reused the phrase because he
"liked the sound of it".[6]

Inspiration
In a 1921 letter to Reinhardt Kleiner, Lovecraft related the dream he had had—described as "the most
realistic and horrible [nightmare] I have experienced since the age of ten"—that served as the basis for his
prose poem "Nyarlathotep". In the dream, he received a letter from his friend Samuel Loveman that read:

Don't fail to see Nyarlathotep if he comes to Providence. He is horrible—horrible beyond

anything you can imagine—but wonderful. He haunts one for hours afterwards. I am still
shuddering at what he showed.[8]

Lovecraft commented:

I had never heard the name NYARLATHOTEP before,

but seemed to understand the allusion. Nyarlathotep
was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held
forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and
discussion with his exhibitions. These exhibitions
 consisted of two parts—first, a horrible—possibly
prophetic—cinema reel; and later some extraordinary
experiments with scientific and electrical apparatus. As
I received the letter, I seemed to recall that Nyarlathotep
was already in Providence.... I seemed to remember that
persons had whispered to me in awe of his horrors, and
warned me not to go near him. But Loveman's dream
letter decided me.... As I left the house I saw throngs of
men plodding through the night, all whispering
affrightedly and bound in one direction. I fell in with
them, afraid yet eager to see and hear the great, the
obscure, the unutterable Nyarlathotep.[8]

Will Murray has speculated that this dream image of Nyarlathotep

may have been inspired by the inventor Nikola Tesla, whose well-
attended lectures did involve extraordinary experiments with Nyarlathotep in the guise of Nikola
electrical apparatus and whom some saw as a sinister figure.[9][10] Tesla in Rotomago and Julien
Noirel's comic-book adaptation of the
Robert M. Price proposes that the name Nyarlathotep may have been prose poem "Nyarlathotep".[7]
subconsciously suggested to Lovecraft by two names from Lord
Dunsany, an author he much admired. Alhireth-Hotep, a false
prophet, appears in Dunsany's The Gods of Pegana, and Mynarthitep, a god described as "angry", appears in
Dunsany's "The Sorrow of Search".[11]

Summary
Nyarlathotep differs from the other beings in a number of ways. Most of them are exiled to stars, like Yog-
Sothoth and Hastur, or sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu; Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently
walks the Earth in the guise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. He has "a thousand" other
forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults
serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence.
Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken
for a human being. The other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones are often described as mindless or
unfathomable rather than truly malevolent, but Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty, is deceptive and
manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals.

Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and is their messenger, heart and soul; he is also a servant of
Azathoth, his father,[12] whose wishes he immediately fulfills. Unlike the other Outer Gods, causing
madness is more important and enjoyable than death and destruction to Nyarlathotep. It is suggested by
some that he will destroy the human race and possibly the Earth as well.[13] Brian Lumley described him as
the emanation of various Great Old Ones and not an actual being, thus explaining his variety of forms and
functions.

The Nyarlathotep Cycle

In 1996, Chaosium published The Nyarlathotep Cycle, a Cthulhu Mythos anthology focusing on works
referring to or inspired by the entity Nyarlathotep. Edited by Lovecraft scholar Robert M. Price, the book
includes an introduction by Price tracing the roots and development of the God of a Thousand Forms. The
contents include:
 "Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet" by Lord Dunsany
"The Sorrow of Search" by Lord Dunsany
"Nyarlathotep" by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Second Coming" (poem) by William Butler Yeats
"Silence Falls on Mecca's Walls" (poem) by Robert E.
Howard
"Nyarlathotep" (poem) by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Dreams in the Witch House" by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Haunter of the Dark" by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Dweller in Darkness" by August Derleth
"The Titan in the Crypt" by J. G. Warner
"Fane of the Black Pharaoh" by Robert Bloch
"Curse of the Black Pharaoh" by Lin Carter
"The Curse of Nephren-Ka" by John Cockroft
"The Temple of Nephren-Ka" by Philip J. Rahman & Glenn
A. Rahman Nyarlathotep in "The Dweller in
Darkness" by August Derleth.
"The Papyrus of Nephren-Ka" by Robert C. Culp
"The Snout in the Alcove" by Gary Myers
"The Contemplative Sphinx" (poem) by Richard L. Tierney
"Ech-Pi-El’s Ægypt" (poems) by Ann K. Schwader

Notes
1. Lovecraft, HP (1971). "Nyarlathotep". The Doom that Came to Sarnath (https://archive.org/deta
ils/doomthatcametosa00hplo). New York City: Ballantine Books. pp. 57-70 (https://archive.org/
details/doomthatcametosa00hplo/page/57). ISBN 978-1505533538.
2. Leiber, Fritz (2001). "A Literary Copernicus". In Schweitzer, Darrell (ed.). Discovering H.P.
Lovecraft. Wildside Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 1-58715-470-6.
3. Harman, Graham (2012). Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy. Zero Books. p. 194.
ISBN 978-1-78099-252-5.
4. H. P. Lovecraft (2011). S. T. Joshi (ed.). The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales. Penguin.
p. 402.
5. Lovecraft, H. P. (1930). The Whisperer in Darkness (The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Tales
ed.). Penguin. p. 219.
6. Joshi, S. T.; Schultz, David E. (2001). An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press.
p. 49. ISBN 0-313-31578-7.
7. (in French) Rotomago and Julien Noirel, Nyarlathotep, Paris, Akiléos, 2007, 53 pp., ISBN 978-
2-915168-53-2.
8. Lovecraft, H.P. (1972). "Letter to Reinhardt Kleiner, December 21, 1921". In Carter, Lin (ed.).
Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos. New York City: Ballentine Books. pp. 18–19.
ISBN 978-0345024275.
9. Murray, Will (Fall 1991). "Behind the Mask of Nyarlathotep". Lovecraft Studies (25).
10. Price, Robert M., ed. (2006). The Nyarlathotep Cycle: Stories about the God of a Thousand
Forms. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Chaosium. p. 9. ISBN 978-1568822600.
11. Price, pp. vii, 1–5.
12. Lovecraft, H. P. (1967). Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft IV (1932–1934). Sauk City,
Wisconsin: Arkham House. "Letter 617". ISBN 0-87054-035-1.
13. Harms, "Nyarlathotep", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 218–9.

References
Harms, Daniel. "Nyarlathotep" in The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.), pp. 218–222.
Oakland, CA: Chaosium, 1998. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.

External links
Nyarlathotep (https://librivox.org/search?title=Nyarlathotep&author=Lovecraft&reader=&key
words=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalo
g_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook at LibriVox
The Gods of Pegāna (https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Gods+of+Pegāna&author=DUNS
ANY&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=
&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook
at LibriVox
Time and the Gods (https://librivox.org/search?title=Time+and+the+Gods&author=DUNSAN
Y&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&so
rt_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook at
LibriVox

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