Cthulhu in World Mythology | NECRONOMICON FRAGMENTS |
FRAGMENT 3 COMPARISON
The longest extant excerpt of the Necronomicon is fragment 3 using the Price verse numbering system. This fragment survives in two translations. The superior translation is that of Armitage (1928), which retains readings closest to the original text. The second version, compiled by Alijiah Billington, was reconstructed from several fragments of Latin and Greek translations of the text. Unfortunately, Billington's reconstruction includes several late interpolations added in the so-called Derleth recension of the Necronomicon, in which the original text was heavily redacted and revised in response to pressure from Christian clerics. In this translation we can see interpolations meant to emphasize the theology of the Elder Gods, a group of benign deities written into the text long after its original composition. This theology was a revitalization movement developed in response to Islamic and Christian eradication of most Cthulhu cultists by the late Middle Ages. Alhazred was ignorant of such false gods, and it is only with careful editing that his text could be transformed from positive claims about the awesome power of the Old Ones into a denunciation in favor of the Elder Gods.
For comparison, both the Armitage text and the Billington text are presented here, with notes.
For comparison, both the Armitage text and the Billington text are presented here, with notes.
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Armitage (1928)
1 Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of earth’s masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone.
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Notes
1 The Billington text alters the initial word to disguise that the fragment was once part of a longer text.
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Billington (date uncertain)
1 Never is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of the Masters of Earth, nay, nor that the great’r part of life and substance walks alone.
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2 The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. 3 Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.
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2 The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. 3 Not in the spaces known to us, but between them, They walk calm and primal, of no dimensions, and to us unseen.
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4 Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. 5 Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. 6 He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. 7 He knows where They have trod earth’s fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread.
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5 Billington's translation repeats the same line about time twice, indicating a place where two fragments, perhaps of Greek and Latin, were combined sloppily.
6 A half-line about the "Cycle" has been interpolated in Billington, part of an effort to revise this passage to explicitly reference the resurrection of Cthulhu and the developing myth of the Elder Gods. |
4 Yog-Sothoth knows the gate, for Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and the guardian of the gate. 5 Past, present, future—what is, what has been, what will be, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. 6 He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through in time to come until the Cycle is complete. 7 He knows why no one can behold them as they Walk.
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8 By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can no man know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; 9 and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man’s truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them.
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8 A half-line about "great age" has been added to revise this sentence to imply the advent of primeval Cthulhu. Following this, a long line about the "awful" Old Ones has been added to emphasize the distinction between the Old Ones (whom Alhazred actually worshiped) and the Elder Gods (only invented in the late Middle Ages).
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8 Sometimes men can know Them near by Their smell, which is strange to the nostrills, and like unto a creature of great age; but of Their semblance can no man know, save seldom in features of those They have begotten on mankind, which are awful to behold, and thrice awful are Those who sired them;9 yet of those Offspring are divers kinds, in likeness greatly differing from man’s truest image and fairest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them.
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10 They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons. 11 The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness.
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10 A phrase about the seasons being in the blood has been added to emphasize claims that the cult's enemies descend from various horrific Old Ones, following verse 3:8.
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10 They walk unseen, They walk foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons, which are in the blood and differ from the seasons of man. 11 The wind gibbers with Their voices; the earth mutters with Their consciousness.
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12 They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest or city behold the hand that smites. 13 Kadath in the cold waste hath known Them, and what man knows Kadath? 14 The ice desert of the South and the sunken isles of Ocean hold stones whereon Their seal is engraven, but who hath seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? 15 Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly.
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12 "Waves" and "ocean" have been interpolated to make this verse refer to Cthulhu in R'lyeh (the "tower"), whom Elder God cultists believed was punished by those Gods. By this clever edit, a passage about the Old Ones' dominion over the earth has been transformed into the Elder Gods punishing the Old Ones for their sins.
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12 They bend the forest. They raise up the waves, they crush the city—yet not forest or ocean or city beholds the hand that smites. 13 Kadath in the cold waste knows Them, and what man knows Kadath? 14 The ice desert of the South and the sunken isles of Ocean hold stones whereon Their seal is engraven, but who has seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? 15 Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly.
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16 Iä! Shub-Niggurath!
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16 This verse was redacted in Billington because invocations of an Old One were inappropriate for a cultist of the Elder Gods.
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17 As a foulness shall ye know Them. 18 Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; 19 and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. 20 Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet. 21 Man rules now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man rules now. 22 After summer is winter, and after winter summer.
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18 The interpolated passage about time in this verse transforms a passage about the imminent power of the Old Ones into a threat requiring the aid of the Elder Gods.
21 The apocalyptic word "soon" has been replaced with "again" in Billington, reflecting the fact that Alhazred's prophesied return of the Old Ones did not occur as predicted. |
17 As a foulness shall they be known to the race of man. 18 Their hands are at the throats of men forever, from beginning of known time to end of time known, yet none sees Them; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. 20 Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate whereby the spheres meet. 21 Man rules now where once They ruled; They shall rule again where man rules now. 22 After summer is winter, and after winter summer.
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23 They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again.
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24-26 These verses have been added to the original verse 23 to amplify the preceding and provide a warning (26) that the Old Ones bring death. 24-26 differ from earlier cult lore, which emphasized that the Old Ones did not care for human beings. In the revised version, there are now specific demands and punishments for humans, completing the transition from abstract to personal deities.
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23 They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again, 24 And at their coming again none shall dispute them and all shall be subject to them. 25 Those who know of the gates shall be impelled to open the way for Them and shall serve Them as They desire, 26 but those who open the way unwittingly shall know life but a brief while thereafter.
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Bibliographic note: Left column text from H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror." Right column text from Lovecraft and August Derleth, The Lurker at the Threshold.
Note to the humor impaired: Cthulhu in World Mythology is a work of fiction and in no way advocates for the actual reality of Great Cthulhu or the Old Ones. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Note to the humor impaired: Cthulhu in World Mythology is a work of fiction and in no way advocates for the actual reality of Great Cthulhu or the Old Ones. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
