Ulthar

Ulthar is both a fictional town and a fictional deity. The town of Ulthar is part of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, appearing in such stories as The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926), "The Cats of Ulthar" (1920) and "The Other Gods" (1933).

The town is also the starting point for The Dream Quest of Vellit Boe, a 2016 novel by Kij Johnson which makes significant use of Lovecraft's Dream Cycle.

Town

Ulthar is located "beyond the River Skai" and its most significant law is that "no man may kill a cat", a statute instituted because of the horrific vengeance visited upon the last people to do so. Cats in Ulthar are intelligent and can communicate with humans that speak their tongue. The modest Temple of the Elder Ones is found in Ulthar and, at the time of Randolph Carter’s visit, its patriarch was Atal, one time companion of Barzai the Wise. According to the zoogs (small, brown, elfin creatures) of the Enchanted Wood, a copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts is located in this temple.

Deity

Ulthar (or Uldar) is a deity mentioned in the (fictional) Sussex Manuscript. He is the son of Sothoth and was sent to Earth to keep watch over the Great Old Ones.[1]

References

  • Lovecraft, Howard P. (1986) [1926]. "The Cats of Ulthar". In S. T. Joshi (ed.). Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (9th corrected printing ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-039-4. Definitive version.
  • Lovecraft, Howard P. (1985) [1920]. "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath". In S. T. Joshi (ed.). At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels (7th corrected printing ed.). Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-038-6. Definitive version.
  • Harms, Daniel (1998). The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.). Oakland, CA: Chaosium. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.
  • Johnson, Kij (2016). The Dream Quest of Vellit Boe. St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0765391414.

Notes

  1. ↑ Harms, "Ulthar", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 308–9.


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