Nyarlathotep (short story)

"Nyarlathotep" is a prose poem[1] by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written

"Nyarlathotep"
in 1920 and first saw publication in that year's November issue of The
United Amateur.[2] The poem itself is a bleak view of human Author H. P. Lovecraft
civilization in decline, and it explores the mixed sensations of Country United States
desperation and defiance in a dying society.[3]
Language English
Published in The United
Amateur
Contents
Publication type Periodical
Background Media type Print (magazine)
Plot Publication date November 1920
In other media
References
External links

Background
"Nyarlathotep" was based on one of Lovecraft's dreams.[4] The first body paragraph of the poem was written
"while he was still half-asleep".[5] The poem, which stands as the first appearance of the titular Cthulhu
Mythos entity Nyarlathotep,[6] was described by Lovecraft as "a nightmare".[7] In the inspiring dream,
Lovecraft read a letter from his friend Samuel Loveman that contained an invitation, which is as follows:

Don’t fail to see Nyarlathotep if he comes to Providence. He is horrible—horrible beyond

anything you can imagine—but wonderful. He haunts one for hours afterward. I am still
shuddering at what he showed.[8][9]

Plot
The story is written in first person and begins by describing a strange and inexplicable sense of foreboding
experienced by humanity in general, in anticipation of a great unknown evil.

The story proceeds to describe the appearance in Egypt of Nyarlathotep, "of the old native blood" and
resembling a Pharaoh, who claims to have "risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries," and to be
receiving messages from other worlds. Coming to the West, he appears to have a profound command of the
sciences, constructs marvelous and unfathomable devices, and gains great fame as he travels from city to city
demonstrating his inventions and powers. Wherever Nyarlathotep goes, the inhabitants' sleep is plagued by
vivid nightmares.

The story describes Nyarlathotep's arrival in the narrator's city, and the narrator's attendance at one of
Nyarlathotep's demonstrations, in which he defiantly dismisses Nyarlathotep's displays of power as mere
tricks. The party of observers is driven out of the hall by Nyarlathotep, and hysterically insists to one another
that they are not afraid, and that the city around them is unchanged and alive, even as the electric street lights
begin to fail. Everyone falls into a trancelike state and wanders off, dividing into at least three columnal
groups: the first of these disappears around a corner, from which there is then heard a echoing moan; another
descends into a subway station with the sound of mad laughter; the third group, which contains the narrator,
travels outward from the city toward the country. The narrator's party marches through unseasonable snows
into a dark rift, with the narrator the last to enter.

The story ends by describing a series of horrific, surreal vistas experienced by the narrator, in which chaos and
madness pervade an ancient, dying universe ruled by mindless, inhuman gods, whose messenger and "soul" is
Nyarlathotep.

In other media
Nyarlathotep and elements from the short story of the same name feature prominently in
Lovecraftian: The Shipwright Circle by Steven Philip Jones. The Lovecraftian series
reimagines the weird tales of H. P. Lovecraft into one single universal modern epic.
In the 2007 Dream Theater song "The Dark Eternal Night," lyricist John Petrucci introduces a
character similar to Nyarlathotep and quotes phrases from Lovecraft's story.[10]
In 2007, the story was adapted into a French graphic novel of the same name, illustrated by
Julien Noirel and published by Akileos. The accompanying text was drawn directly from the
story.

References
1. Smith, Don G. (2006). H. P. Lovecraft in Popular Culture (https://books.google.com/books?id=B
HWuBAAAQBAJ&q=lovecraft+in+popular+culture+nyarlathotep). Jefferson, North Carolina:
McFarland & Company. p. 13. ISBN 0-7864-2091-X.
2. Lovecraft, H. P. (February 16, 2010). Writings in the United Amateur, 1915–1922 (http://www.gut
enberg.org/files/30637/30637-h/30637-h.htm). Project Gutenberg. p. 128. ASIN B0039GL2GI (h
ttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0039GL2GI). Retrieved July 17, 2018.
3. Joshi, S. T. (2001). A Dreamer and a Visionary: H. P. Lovecraft in His Time (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=Wk5ixOCy4eMC&q=nyarlathotep&pg=PA140). Liverpool University Press.
p. 140. ISBN 0-85323-946-0.
4. Joshi, S. T. (1996). A Subtler Magick: The Writings and Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=YdO2XRYNUuQC&q=subtler+magick+nyarlathotep&pg=PA68).
Rockville, Maryland: Wildside Press. p. 68. ISBN 1-880448-61-0.
5. Joshi, S. T.; Schultz, David E. (2001). An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=Myawoc_PbF4C&q=nyarlathotep). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing
Group. p. 191. ISBN 0-313-31578-7.
6. Ramos, Octavio. "Lovecraftian Beasties: The Many Forms of Nyarlathotep" (https://www.axs.co
m/lovecraftian-beasties-the-many-forms-of-nyarlathotep-98770). AXS. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
7. Burleson, Donald R. (1983). H. P. Lovecraft, a Critical Study (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=bPdaAAAAMAAJ&q=nyarlathotep). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.
p. 73. ISBN 0-313-23255-5.
8. Emrys, Ruthanna; Pillsworth, Anne M. "Deities in Brief: "Azathoth" and "Nyarlathotep" " (https://
www.tor.com/2014/11/25/hp-lovecraft-reread-azathoth-and-nyarlathotep/). Tor.com. Retrieved
July 17, 2018.
9. Khazeni, Dorna. "Church of Monsters" (https://www.believermag.com/issues/200505/?read=arti
cle_khazeni). The Believer. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
10. Systematic Chaos (CD liner notes). Dream Theater. Roadrunner Records. 2007. RR 7992-8.
External links
Nyarlathotep (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?69021) title listing at the Internet Speculative
Fiction Database
Full text (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/n.aspx) at The H. P. Lovecraft Archive.
Nyarlathotep (https://librivox.org/search?title=Nyarlathotep&author=Lovecraft&reader=&key
words=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalo
g_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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