Underworld (Dreamlands)
Encyclopedia
The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle
of H. P. Lovecraft
. It is described in detail in Lovecraft's novella
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
(1926
).
The underworld lies beneath the whole of the Dreamlands and has a few entrances to it in various places. It is dimly lit by a mysterious phosphorescence known as the "death-fire". The underworld is inhabited by a variety of horrors, the most common being the ghoul
s.
The ghasts are a race of fearsome humanoids. They are much larger than a man and have a vaguely human face, albeit missing a nose. Their skin is rough and knotty. Their senses are unusually acute; they can see in the dark and have a strong sense of smell. They hop about on a pair of hooved, kangaroo
-like legs, and are swift, strong, and agile. They have also been described as lacking a foreskin. Ghasts prefer to dwell in complete darkness and have no tolerance for natural light — sunlight will kill them instantly. Otherwise, the dim, pale glow of the underworld seems to cause them little harm.
The ghasts are aggressive carnivore
s and often hunt in packs, though they are quick to turn cannibalistic when no game is readily available. They prey mostly on the gugs, but have no qualms about eating other denizens of the underworld. Their method of attack is particularly savage and gruesome, rending and tearing apart their victims with their muzzles, paws, and hoofed feet.
Gugs are a race of horrifying giants
. They are speechless, communicating only by facial expressions. But they tend to make very strange sounds randomly as if they have Tourette's syndrome.
The gugs were banished to the underworld by the earth’s gods, the Great Ones, for an unnamed blasphemy. Now they reside in a terrifying, underground city, dwelling in lofty, round, cyclopean towers. Nearby, colossal monolith
s mark the cemetery
of the gugs.
In the midst of the gug city, the Tower of Koth contains a stairway that leads to the Enchanted Wood
in the upper Dreamlands. There it is sealed by a huge stone trapdoor with a large iron ring. Because of a curse of the gods, no gug may open that door, though no such restriction prevents a gug from climbing to the very top of the tower.
Gugs prey on the ghasts that live in the Vaults of Zin (though prior to their banishment, they had been known to devour wayward dreamers). When in sufficient numbers, ghasts may likewise prey on the gugs. Though gugs would seem to have the advantage, they nonetheless superstitiously fear ghouls. The gugs often indulge in great feasts and, once engorged, retire to their great towers to sleep.
of the gods. Its most prominent landmark is the Tower of Koth, which contains a legendary stairway that leads to the surface.
Close by the city is the cemetery of the gugs, its graves marked by huge stone monoliths. Ghouls often dine here; a deceased gug feeds them for almost a year.
s of deeper dreamland pitch the leftover bones of their sepulchral feasts. Uncounted miles below the crag is the bone-filled vale of Pnath.
and is possibly a massive cavern that joins with all parts of the underworld. It connects with the upper Dreamlands by a stairway in Sarkomand.
The Abyss is ruled by the god Nodens
, who is served by the night-gaunts
. Nodens' influence seems very languid in the underworld and does not appear to extend much beyond the Abyss itself; except perhaps to Ngranek on the isle of Oriab, whose upper slopes are guarded by his night-gaunts.
mountains in the underworld.
s of the waking world cast the refuse of their feastings" (The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Lovecraft). Enormous worm-like creatures, known as dholes
, burrow through the vale. Night-gaunts
often carry helpless victims to the vale, where they are left to die.
It is possible that a well in the monastery
of the High Priest Not to Be Described
in ancient Sarkomand
connects with the Vaults of Zin.
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:...
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....
. It is described in detail in Lovecraft's novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
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 underworld lies beneath the whole of the Dreamlands and has a few entrances to it in various places. It is dimly lit by a mysterious phosphorescence known as the "death-fire". The underworld is inhabited by a variety of horrors, the most common being the ghoul
Ghoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s.
Ghasts
After a moment something about the size of a small horse hopped out into the grey twilight, and Carter turned sick at the aspect of that scabrous and unwholesome beast, whose face is so curiously human despite the absence of a nose, a forehead, and other important particulars.
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The ghasts are a race of fearsome humanoids. They are much larger than a man and have a vaguely human face, albeit missing a nose. Their skin is rough and knotty. Their senses are unusually acute; they can see in the dark and have a strong sense of smell. They hop about on a pair of hooved, kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
-like legs, and are swift, strong, and agile. They have also been described as lacking a foreskin. Ghasts prefer to dwell in complete darkness and have no tolerance for natural light — sunlight will kill them instantly. Otherwise, the dim, pale glow of the underworld seems to cause them little harm.
The ghasts are aggressive carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s and often hunt in packs, though they are quick to turn cannibalistic when no game is readily available. They prey mostly on the gugs, but have no qualms about eating other denizens of the underworld. Their method of attack is particularly savage and gruesome, rending and tearing apart their victims with their muzzles, paws, and hoofed feet.
Gugs
It was a paw, fully two feet and a half across, and equipped with formidable talons. After it came another paw, and after that a great black-furred arm to which both of the paws were attached by short forearms. Then two pink eyes shone, and the head of the awakened gug sentry, large as a barrel, wabbled into view. The eyes jutted two inches from each side, shaded by bony protuberances overgrown with coarse hairs. But the head was chiefly terrible because of the mouth. That mouth had great yellow fangs and ran from the top to the bottom of the head, opening vertically instead of horizontally.
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
Gugs are a race of horrifying giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
. They are speechless, communicating only by facial expressions. But they tend to make very strange sounds randomly as if they have Tourette's syndrome.
The gugs were banished to the underworld by the earth’s gods, the Great Ones, for an unnamed blasphemy. Now they reside in a terrifying, underground city, dwelling in lofty, round, cyclopean towers. Nearby, colossal monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
s mark the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
of the gugs.
In the midst of the gug city, the Tower of Koth contains a stairway that leads to 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...
in the upper Dreamlands. There it is sealed by a huge stone trapdoor with a large iron ring. Because of a curse of the gods, no gug may open that door, though no such restriction prevents a gug from climbing to the very top of the tower.
Gugs prey on the ghasts that live in the Vaults of Zin (though prior to their banishment, they had been known to devour wayward dreamers). When in sufficient numbers, ghasts may likewise prey on the gugs. Though gugs would seem to have the advantage, they nonetheless superstitiously fear ghouls. The gugs often indulge in great feasts and, once engorged, retire to their great towers to sleep.
City of the Gugs
The City of the Gugs is a colossal, horrifying cityscape of soaring, cyclopean towers. It is the dwelling place of the gugs, banished to the underworld by a covenantCovenant (religion)
In Abrahamic religions, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition.An example of a...
of the gods. Its most prominent landmark is the Tower of Koth, which contains a legendary stairway that leads to the surface.
Close by the city is the cemetery of the gugs, its graves marked by huge stone monoliths. Ghouls often dine here; a deceased gug feeds them for almost a year.
Crag of the Ghouls
The Crag of the Ghouls is a rugged cliff in the Peaks of Thok from which the ghoulGhoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s of deeper dreamland pitch the leftover bones of their sepulchral feasts. Uncounted miles below the crag is the bone-filled vale of Pnath.
Great Abyss
The Great Abyss is a realm that lies below the ruins of SarkomandSarkomand
Sarkomand is a fictional city in H.P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories, first mentioned in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.A ruined city on the northern shore of the Cerenerian Sea in the Dreamlands, it is described as being inhabited by the Men of Leng and was supposedly the capital of this...
and is possibly a massive cavern that joins with all parts of the underworld. It connects with the upper Dreamlands by a stairway in Sarkomand.
The Abyss is ruled by the god Nodens
Nodens (Cthulhu Mythos)
Nodens is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Based on the Celtic deity, Nodens, is the creation of H. P...
, who is served by the night-gaunts
Nightgaunt
Nightgaunts are a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos and is also part of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. The creatures appear in the poem "Night-Gaunts" and the novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, both by Lovecraft...
. Nodens' influence seems very languid in the underworld and does not appear to extend much beyond the Abyss itself; except perhaps to Ngranek on the isle of Oriab, whose upper slopes are guarded by his night-gaunts.
Peaks of Thok
The Peaks of Thok (or Throk) is a frightening range of towering graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
mountains in the underworld.
Vale of Pnath
The vale of Pnath (or Pnoth) is a vast pit in the underworld. It is flanked by the Peaks of Thok and is mostly lightless. The vale is filled with a mountain-sized heap of bones and is "the spot into which all the ghoulGhoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s of the waking world cast the refuse of their feastings" (The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Lovecraft). Enormous worm-like creatures, known as dholes
Dhole (Cthulhu Mythos)
Dholes, also called bholes, are creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.Below him the ground was festering with gigantic Dholes, and even as he looked, one reared up several hundred feet and leveled a bleached, viscous end at him....
, burrow through the vale. Night-gaunts
Nightgaunt
Nightgaunts are a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos and is also part of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. The creatures appear in the poem "Night-Gaunts" and the novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, both by Lovecraft...
often carry helpless victims to the vale, where they are left to die.
Vaults of Zin
The Vaults of Zin is a huge cavern in the underworld. It lies near the cemetery of the gugs and opens onto a large cave that "is the mouth of vaults of Zin, and the vindictive ghasts are always on watch there for those denizens of the upper abyss" (The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Lovecraft). The ghasts who dwell in the Vaults of Zin prey on ghouls and gugs, and sometimes even one another.It is possible that a well in the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of the High Priest Not to Be Described
High Priest Not to Be Described
The High Priest Not to Be Described is a fictional character in H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. He first appeared in the Lovecraft short story "Celephaïs" .-Summary:...
in ancient Sarkomand
Sarkomand
Sarkomand is a fictional city in H.P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories, first mentioned in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.A ruined city on the northern shore of the Cerenerian Sea in the Dreamlands, it is described as being inhabited by the Men of Leng and was supposedly the capital of this...
connects with the Vaults of Zin.