Ulthar is both a fictional town and a fictional deity. The town of Ulthar is part of 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....

's Dream Cycle

Dream Cycle

The Dream Cycle refers to a series of stories by author H. P. Lovecraft. These stories concern themselves with "The Dreamlands": a vast, alternate dimension that can be entered via dreams.-Geography:The Dreamlands is apparently divided into four regions:...

, appearing in such stories as 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 It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime.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...

(1926

1926 in literature

The year 1926 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is founded in Middlebury, Vermont....

), "The Cats of Ulthar

The Cats of Ulthar

"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...

" (1920

1920 in literature

The year 1920 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Agatha Christie publishes her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introducing the long-running character detective, Hercule Poirot....

) and "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:...

" (1933

1933 in literature

The year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...

).

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

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....

’s visit, its patriarch was Atal, one time companion of Barzai the Wise. According to the zoogs of the Enchanted Wood

The Enchanted Wood (H. P. Lovecraft)

The Enchanted Wood is a fictional place in H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle and is located in the Dreamlands. Its main inhabitants are the zoogs. A unique, haunted tree grows in this forest whose seed originally came from the moon. This tree's sap can be fermented to create a potent drink...

, a copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts

Pnakotic Manuscripts

The Pnakotic Manuscripts is a fictional manuscript in the Cthulhu Mythos. The tome was created by H. P. Lovecraft and first appeared in his short story "Polaris"...

 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.

Popular Culture

In the computer video game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

, the raid dungeon Ulduar, under which the Old God Yogg-Saron sleeps, may be named for Ulthar.