The Cats of Ulthar
Encyclopedia
"The Cats of Ulthar" is a short story
written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft
in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old couple who enjoys capturing and killing the townspeople's cats. When a caravan of wanderers passes through the city, the kitten of an orphan (Menes) traveling with the band disappears. Upon hearing of the couple's violent acts towards cats, Menes invokes a prayer before leaving town that causes the local felines to swarm the cat-killers' house and devour them. Upon witnessing the end result, the local politicians pass a law forbidding the killing of cats.
Influenced by Lord Dunsany, the tale was a personal favorite of Lovecraft's and has remained popular since his death. Considered one of the best short stories of Lovecraft's early period, aspects of the The Cats of Ulthar would be referenced again in the author's works The Other Gods
and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
. It was first published in the literary journal Tryout
in November 1920 and now resides in the public domain.
, begins to reminisce about a law in the town of Ulthar that forbids the killing of cats and relates the story of how this law came to be. The tale begins with the introduction of an old cotter
and his wife who delight in trapping and violently killing any cats who venture onto their property. The people of the town are too afraid of the couple to speak against these acts, so they instead focus their efforts on keeping their felines from approaching the cotter's house. One night a caravan
of travelers from a distant land arrives and passes through the village. They bring with them a child by the name of Menes who, having lost his family to a plague, has only a small, black kitten to keep him company. After being unable to find his kitten on the third day of his stay, Menes hears the stories of the old cotter and his wife and decides to take action.
Menes spends time meditating prior to unleashing a prayer that affects the shapes and movements of the clouds in the sky. The caravan leaves Ulthar that night, shortly before the townspeople notice that all of their cats have gone missing. The townspeople suspect both the old couple and the wanderers, but the innkeeper's son Atal witnesses the felines circling the property of the cotter. The next morning, the cats have returned to their owners well-fed, but the cotter and his wife have vanished. When the townspeople explore their abandoned house, they discovered nothing more than two skeletons that have been picked clean. The local burgesses, after reviewing the evidence and stories of the townspeople, decide to pass a law that forbids the killing of cats in Ulthar.
Lovecraft outlined the plot to his friend Keiner in May 1920 and wrote The Cats of Ulthar on June 15, 1920, five months after completing his previous tale, The Terrible Old Man
. Conceived during the author's early period, Lovecraft was influenced by the writing of Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany and attempted to mimic his style. Among the literary aspects that Lovecraft borrows are the "vengeance motif" and the "ponderous tone" of Dunsany. Dunsany's influence is evident on the surface of the text as well: wanderers, similar to the ones portrayed in The Cats of Ulthar, appear in Dunsany's earlier tale Idle Days on the Yann.
Prior to The Cats of Ulthar, Lovecraft had penned several tales in the style of Lord Dunsany, including The White Ship, The Street
, The Doom that Came to Sarnath
, The Terrible Old Man, and The Tree. His next Dunsanian tale, Celephaïs
, was considered by Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi
to be "one of his best and most significant". The Cats of Ulthar was first published in the literary journal Tryout
in November 1920, and later appeared in Weird Tales
in February 1926 and 1933, as well as being privately reprinted in a forty two-copy run in December 1935.
, however, comments that The Cats of Ulthar resembles Dunsany in "mood and execution" only and that "[it] has no obvious parallels in any Dunsany story". Schweitzer refers to the prose as "restrained", and notes that, unlike Lovecraft, Dunsany preferred dogs and would have been unlikely to have written such an enthusiastic tribute. S. T. Joshi disagrees, claiming that "[t]his tale owes more to Dunsany than many of his other 'Dunsanian' fantasies".
The character of Atal, the innkeeper's son who witnesses the cats of Ulthar circling the antagonists' cottage, would later appear in Lovecraft's The Other Gods
. In this short story, written in August 1921 and first published in November 1933, Atal, now an adult, becomes an apprentice to Barzai the Wise and travels with him to seek out the tale's eponymous deities. Barzai even mentions the law against killing cats in Ulthar, further cementing the connection. Atal also appears as a priest in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
– written in 1927 but not published until 1943 – when protagonist Randolph Carter
visits the city 300 years after the events in The Cats of Ulthar, when the town is populated mainly by felines. Cats would be used in what scholar Katharine M. Rogers calls "a more original way" in Lovecraft's 1923 work The Rats in the Walls
. Here, as in others of Lovecraft later tales, cats embody the attraction to horror while, unlike the human protagonists, "never pursuing horror to the point of becoming horrible themselves". The text of The Cats of Ulthar, like many of Lovecraft's works, has fallen into public domain and can be accessed in several compilations of the author's work as well as on the Internet.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old couple who enjoys capturing and killing the townspeople's cats. When a caravan of wanderers passes through the city, the kitten of an orphan (Menes) traveling with the band disappears. Upon hearing of the couple's violent acts towards cats, Menes invokes a prayer before leaving town that causes the local felines to swarm the cat-killers' house and devour them. Upon witnessing the end result, the local politicians pass a law forbidding the killing of cats.
Influenced by Lord Dunsany, the tale was a personal favorite of Lovecraft's and has remained popular since his death. Considered one of the best short stories of Lovecraft's early period, aspects of the The Cats of Ulthar would be referenced again in the author's works The Other Gods
The Other Gods
"The Other Gods" is a short story written by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft on August 14, 1921. It was first published in the November 1933 issue of The Fantasy Fan.-Synopsis:...
and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
. It was first published in the literary journal Tryout
Tryout
Tryout was an amateur press journal published from 1914-1946 by Charles W. Smith of Haverhill, Massachusetts. It was connected to the National Amateur Press Association....
in November 1920 and now resides in the public domain.
Synopsis
An unnamed narrator, while gazing upon his pet catCat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, begins to reminisce about a law in the town of Ulthar that forbids the killing of cats and relates the story of how this law came to be. The tale begins with the introduction of an old cotter
Cotter (farmer)
See also Canadian band The Cottars.Cotter, cottier or cottar is the Scots term for a peasant farmer formerly in the Scottish highlands. Cotters occupied cottages and cultivated small plots of land...
and his wife who delight in trapping and violently killing any cats who venture onto their property. The people of the town are too afraid of the couple to speak against these acts, so they instead focus their efforts on keeping their felines from approaching the cotter's house. One night a caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
of travelers from a distant land arrives and passes through the village. They bring with them a child by the name of Menes who, having lost his family to a plague, has only a small, black kitten to keep him company. After being unable to find his kitten on the third day of his stay, Menes hears the stories of the old cotter and his wife and decides to take action.
Menes spends time meditating prior to unleashing a prayer that affects the shapes and movements of the clouds in the sky. The caravan leaves Ulthar that night, shortly before the townspeople notice that all of their cats have gone missing. The townspeople suspect both the old couple and the wanderers, but the innkeeper's son Atal witnesses the felines circling the property of the cotter. The next morning, the cats have returned to their owners well-fed, but the cotter and his wife have vanished. When the townspeople explore their abandoned house, they discovered nothing more than two skeletons that have been picked clean. The local burgesses, after reviewing the evidence and stories of the townspeople, decide to pass a law that forbids the killing of cats in Ulthar.
Background
The Terrible Old Man
"The Terrible Old Man" is a very short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written on January 28, 1920, and first published in the Tryout, an amateur press publication, in July 1921...
. Conceived during the author's early period, Lovecraft was influenced by the writing of Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany and attempted to mimic his style. Among the literary aspects that Lovecraft borrows are the "vengeance motif" and the "ponderous tone" of Dunsany. Dunsany's influence is evident on the surface of the text as well: wanderers, similar to the ones portrayed in The Cats of Ulthar, appear in Dunsany's earlier tale Idle Days on the Yann.
Prior to The Cats of Ulthar, Lovecraft had penned several tales in the style of Lord Dunsany, including The White Ship, The Street
The Street (short story)
"The Street" is a short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in late 1919 and first published in the December 1920 issue of the Wolverine amateur journal.-Synopsis:...
, The Doom that Came to Sarnath
The Doom that Came to Sarnath
"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" is an early short story by H. P. Lovecraft. It is written in a mythic/fairy tale style and is associated with his Dream Cycle...
, The Terrible Old Man, and The Tree. His next Dunsanian tale, Celephaïs
Celephaïs
"Celephaïs" is a fantasy story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in early November 1920 and first published in the May 1922 issue of the Rainbow.The title refers to a fictional city that later appears in H. P...
, was considered by Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi
S. T. Joshi
Sunand Tryambak Joshi — known as S. T. Joshi — is an award-winning Indian American literary critic, novelist, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and fantastic fiction...
to be "one of his best and most significant". The Cats of Ulthar was first published in the literary journal Tryout
Tryout
Tryout was an amateur press journal published from 1914-1946 by Charles W. Smith of Haverhill, Massachusetts. It was connected to the National Amateur Press Association....
in November 1920, and later appeared in Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
in February 1926 and 1933, as well as being privately reprinted in a forty two-copy run in December 1935.
Reception and legacy
The Cats of Ulthar was a personal favorite of Lovecraft's, who was an ardent cat lover. A number of contemporary critics, as well as Lovecraft himself, consider the story to be the best of all his Dunsanian tales. It has also been noted that this is one of Lovecraft's most famous tales in both this and the "weird fantasy" style. Literary critic Darrell SchweitzerDarrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy...
, however, comments that The Cats of Ulthar resembles Dunsany in "mood and execution" only and that "[it] has no obvious parallels in any Dunsany story". Schweitzer refers to the prose as "restrained", and notes that, unlike Lovecraft, Dunsany preferred dogs and would have been unlikely to have written such an enthusiastic tribute. S. T. Joshi disagrees, claiming that "[t]his tale owes more to Dunsany than many of his other 'Dunsanian' fantasies".
The character of Atal, the innkeeper's son who witnesses the cats of Ulthar circling the antagonists' cottage, would later appear in Lovecraft's The Other Gods
The Other Gods
"The Other Gods" is a short story written by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft on August 14, 1921. It was first published in the November 1933 issue of The Fantasy Fan.-Synopsis:...
. In this short story, written in August 1921 and first published in November 1933, Atal, now an adult, becomes an apprentice to Barzai the Wise and travels with him to seek out the tale's eponymous deities. Barzai even mentions the law against killing cats in Ulthar, further cementing the connection. Atal also appears as a priest in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
– written in 1927 but not published until 1943 – when protagonist Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
visits the city 300 years after the events in The Cats of Ulthar, when the town is populated mainly by felines. Cats would be used in what scholar Katharine M. Rogers calls "a more original way" in Lovecraft's 1923 work The Rats in the Walls
The Rats in the Walls
"The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924.-Plot summary:...
. Here, as in others of Lovecraft later tales, cats embody the attraction to horror while, unlike the human protagonists, "never pursuing horror to the point of becoming horrible themselves". The text of The Cats of Ulthar, like many of Lovecraft's works, has fallen into public domain and can be accessed in several compilations of the author's work as well as on the Internet.