Hastur
Encyclopedia
Hastur is a fictional entity of the Cthulhu Mythos
. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's
short story "Haïta the Shepherd" (1893
) as a benign god of shepherd
s. Robert W. Chambers
later used Hastur in his own stories to represent both a person and a place associated with the names of several stars, including Aldebaran
.
References to Hastur also appear throughout Marion Zimmer Bradley
's work, most notably the Darkover series
(e.g., The Heritage of Hastur
, 1975), although without explicit Cthulhu mythos connection. In her work, Hastur is a noble house, descended from an officer of a "Lost Ship." In the Darkover series, the House of Hastur is the power behind the throne. The House symbol is a silver pine tree on a dark green background. In addition, Paul Edwin Zimmer
(Marion's brother) included Hastur figures in his Dark Border series (e.g., The Lost Prince, "King Chondos' Ride, A Gathering of Heroes
, and Ingulf the Mad
), also without explicit Cthulhu mythos connection.
In Terry Pratchett
and Neil Gaiman
's book Good Omens
Hastur appears as a fallen angel and duke of hell.
's mythos stories. Another story in the same collection ("An Inhabitant of Carcosa") referred to the place 'Carcosa
' and a person 'Hali', names which later authors were to associate with Hastur.
In Chambers' The King in Yellow
(1895
), a fin-de-siècle
collection of horror stories, Hastur is the name of a potentially supernatural character (in "The Demoiselle D'Ys"), a place (in "The Repairer of Reputations"), and mentioned without explanation in "The Yellow Sign". The latter two stories also mentioned Carcosa
, Hali, Aldebaran
, and the Hyades
, along with a 'Yellow Sign
' and a play called 'The King in Yellow'.
H. P. Lovecraft
read Chambers' book in early 1927 and was so enchanted by it that he added elements of it to his own creations. There are two places in Lovecraft's own writings that mentions Hastur:
It is unclear from this quote if Lovecraft's Hastur is a person, a place, an object (such as the Yellow Sign), or a deity. (This ambiguity is recurrent in Lovecraft's descriptions of the mythic entities.)
So, judging from these two quotes, it is quite possible that H. P. Lovecraft not only recognized Hastur as one of mythos gods, but even made him so recalling Chambers' book.
Derleth also developed Hastur into a Great Old One, spawn of Yog-Sothoth
, the half-brother of Cthulhu
, and possibly the Magnum Innominandum. In this incarnation, Hastur has several Avatar
s:
Hastur's form is amorphous, but he is said to appear as a vast, vaguely octopoid being, similar to his half-niece Cthylla
.
with art by D’Israeli.
"In 1928 the largest cruise liner the world has ever seen is launched. With a crew and passenger complement totaling nearly 30,000 people the Leviathan is bound for New York. However, it never reaches the Big Apple and simply… disappears!
Twenty years later – with the Leviathan stranded on an unearthly sea – Detective Sergeant Lament begins to investigate the mystery at the liner’s heart. What he discovers will change his world forever — but it might just bring the Leviathan home…"
As the story unfolds, Hastur is found to be a captive at the heart of the ship's structure, with his captor, William Ashbless
, using his powers to construct and sail an impossibly large ship (over 1 mile in length). However, Hastur evades his captors and brings the ship to a unearthly sea of no end, and as the years move on the ships passengers quickly become frustrated and violent. Hastur also has servants, known as Stokers, who kill their victims by flaying them with their long tongues. The cruise liner finally arrives in New York after the actions of Detective Sergeant Lament, who makes an alliance with Hastur in order to both free the ship and grant his vengeance against his captors.
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
short story "Haïta the Shepherd" (1893
1893 in literature
The year 1893 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*André Gide begins his travels in North Africa.*Jerome K. Jerome founds the magazine To-Day.-New books:*Byron A...
) as a benign god of shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
s. Robert W. Chambers
Robert W. Chambers
Robert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers , a famous lawyer, and Caroline Chambers , a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
later used Hastur in his own stories to represent both a person and a place associated with the names of several stars, including Aldebaran
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...
.
References to Hastur also appear throughout Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley was an American author of fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Many critics have noted a feminist perspective in her writing. Her first child, David R...
's work, most notably the Darkover series
Darkover series
The Darkover series consists of several novels and short stories set in the fictional world of Darkover as created by science fiction author Marion Zimmer Bradley.-Darkover chronology:...
(e.g., The Heritage of Hastur
The Heritage of Hastur
The Heritage of Hastur is a science-fiction novel written by Marion Zimmer Bradley as part of the Darkover series. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1975.- Setting :Main article: Darkover...
, 1975), although without explicit Cthulhu mythos connection. In her work, Hastur is a noble house, descended from an officer of a "Lost Ship." In the Darkover series, the House of Hastur is the power behind the throne. The House symbol is a silver pine tree on a dark green background. In addition, Paul Edwin Zimmer
Paul Edwin Zimmer
Paul Edwin Zimmer , was a noted poet and author. He was also an accomplished swordsman and founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism...
(Marion's brother) included Hastur figures in his Dark Border series (e.g., The Lost Prince, "King Chondos' Ride, A Gathering of Heroes
A Gathering of Heroes
A Gathering of Heroes is a novel by Paul Edwin Zimmer. It is the third book in the Dark Border books and fuses classic high fantasy with science fiction.-Plot:...
, and Ingulf the Mad
Ingulf the Mad
Ingulf the Mad is the fourth book in Paul Edwin Zimmer's Dark Border series. This book differs from the previous 3 as Istvan Divega is not the main character in fact he does not even make an appearance. It concentrates on Ingulf Mac Fingold and Carrol Mac Lir...
), also without explicit Cthulhu mythos connection.
In Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
and Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
's book Good Omens
Good Omens
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a World Fantasy Award nominated novel written in collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman....
Hastur appears as a fallen angel and duke of hell.
Hastur in the mythos
In Bierce's "Haita the Shepherd", which appeared in the collection Can Such Things Be?, Hastur is more benevolent than he would later appear in August DerlethAugust Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
's mythos stories. Another story in the same collection ("An Inhabitant of Carcosa") referred to the place 'Carcosa
Carcosa
Carcosa is a fictional city in the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" . In Bierce's story, the ancient and mysterious city is barely described, and is viewed only in hindsight by a character who once lived there....
' and a person 'Hali', names which later authors were to associate with Hastur.
In Chambers' The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories written by Robert W. Chambers and published in 1895. The stories could be categorized as early horror fiction or Victorian Gothic fiction, but the work also touches on mythology, fantasy, mystery, science fiction and romance...
(1895
1895 in literature
The year 1895 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* Carlyle's House in Chelsea opens to the public.* Robert Frost marries Elinor Miriam White.* Ernest Thayer recites his poem, Casey at the Bat, at a Harvard class reunion....
), a fin-de-siècle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
collection of horror stories, Hastur is the name of a potentially supernatural character (in "The Demoiselle D'Ys"), a place (in "The Repairer of Reputations"), and mentioned without explanation in "The Yellow Sign". The latter two stories also mentioned Carcosa
Carcosa
Carcosa is a fictional city in the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" . In Bierce's story, the ancient and mysterious city is barely described, and is viewed only in hindsight by a character who once lived there....
, Hali, Aldebaran
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...
, and the Hyades
Hyades (star cluster)
The Hyades is the nearest open cluster to the Solar System and one of the best-studied of all star clusters. The Hipparcos satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster's center of ~153 ly...
, along with a 'Yellow Sign
Yellow Sign
The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol or glyph, first described in Robert Chambers' book of horror short stories The King in Yellow .-The King in Yellow:The King in Yellow never fully describes the shape and purpose of the Yellow Sign...
' and a play called 'The King in Yellow'.
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....
read Chambers' book in early 1927 and was so enchanted by it that he added elements of it to his own creations. There are two places in Lovecraft's own writings that mentions Hastur:
"I found myself faced by names and terms that I had heard elsewhere in the most hideous of connections — YuggothYuggothYuggoth is a fictional planet in the Cthulhu Mythos. H. P. Lovecraft himself said that Yuggoth is the then newly-discovered planet Pluto. However, other writers claim that it is actually an enormous, trans-Neptunian world that orbits perpendicular to the ecliptic of the solar system.-In the...
, Great CthulhuCthulhuCthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
, TsathogguaTsathogguaTsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
, Yog-SothothYog-SothothYog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
, R'lyehR'lyehR'lyeh is a fictional lost city that first appeared in the H. P. Lovecraft short story "The Call of Cthulhu", first published in Weird Tales in 1928. According to Lovecraft's short story, R'lyeh is a sunken city in the South Pacific and the prison of the malevolent entity called Cthulhu.R'lyeh is...
, NyarlathotepNyarlathotepNyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
, AzathothAzathothAzathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
, Hastur, YianYianYian is a fictional city created by Robert W. Chambers and also referred to by H. P. Lovecraft. In the city, a great river flows under a thousand bridges, it is always summer and the sound of silver bells fills the air...
, LengLengLeng is a fictional cold arid plateau in the Cthulhu Mythos, whose location seems to vary entirely from story to story. The Plateau of Tsang, referenced by H. P...
, the Lake of Hali, Bethmoora, the Yellow SignYellow SignThe Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol or glyph, first described in Robert Chambers' book of horror short stories The King in Yellow .-The King in Yellow:The King in Yellow never fully describes the shape and purpose of the Yellow Sign...
, L’mur-Kathulos, BranBran Mak MornBran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in Weird Tales, Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts....
, and the Magnum Innominandum — and was drawn back through nameless aeons and inconceivable dimensions to worlds of elder, outer entity at which the crazed author of the NecronomiconNecronomiconThe Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
had only guessed in the vaguest way.... There is a whole secret cult of evil men (a man of your mystical erudition will understand me when I link them with Hastur and the Yellow Sign) devoted to the purpose of tracking them down and injuring them on behalf of the monstrous powers from other dimensions."
—H. P. Lovecraft, "The Whisperer in DarknessThe Whisperer in Darkness"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" , it is a blend of horror and science fiction...
"
It is unclear from this quote if Lovecraft's Hastur is a person, a place, an object (such as the Yellow Sign), or a deity. (This ambiguity is recurrent in Lovecraft's descriptions of the mythic entities.)
- In "Supernatural Horror In Literature" (Written 1926-27, revised 1933, published in The Recluse in 1927), when telling about "The Yellow Sign" by Chambers, H. P. Lovecraft wrote:
"... after stumbling queerly upon the hellish and forbidden book of horrors the two learn, among other hideous things which no sane mortal should know, that this talisman is indeed the nameless Yellow Sign handed down from the accursed cult of Hastur -- from primordial Carcosa, whereof the volume treats..."
- In Chambers' "The Yellow Sign" the only mentioning of Hastur is:
"...We spoke of Hastur and of Cassilda..."
So, judging from these two quotes, it is quite possible that H. P. Lovecraft not only recognized Hastur as one of mythos gods, but even made him so recalling Chambers' book.
Derleth also developed Hastur into a Great Old One, spawn of Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
, the half-brother of Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
, and possibly the Magnum Innominandum. In this incarnation, Hastur has several Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
s:
- The Feaster from Afar, a black, shriveled, flying monstrosity with tentacles tipped with razor-sharp talons that can pierce a victim's skull and siphon out the brain
- The King in Yellow.
Hastur's form is amorphous, but he is said to appear as a vast, vaguely octopoid being, similar to his half-niece Cthylla
Cthylla
Cthylla is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. Cthylla was created by Brian Lumley, who mentioned her in his Titus Crow novel The Transition Of Titus Crow , though he never actually described her. Tina L...
.
Hastur in 2000AD
In the short story Leviathan, which featured in the British Science Fiction comic 2000 AD, Hastur is a demonic force which takes control of a enormous cruise liner named the Leviathan. The story was written by Ian EdgintonIan Edginton
Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer.He is one of the few British comic talents to follow the reverse trajectory to the one usually taken: becoming successful in American comics before returning to work for 2000 AD.-Biography:...
with art by D’Israeli.
"In 1928 the largest cruise liner the world has ever seen is launched. With a crew and passenger complement totaling nearly 30,000 people the Leviathan is bound for New York. However, it never reaches the Big Apple and simply… disappears!
Twenty years later – with the Leviathan stranded on an unearthly sea – Detective Sergeant Lament begins to investigate the mystery at the liner’s heart. What he discovers will change his world forever — but it might just bring the Leviathan home…"
As the story unfolds, Hastur is found to be a captive at the heart of the ship's structure, with his captor, William Ashbless
William Ashbless
William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by fantasy writers James Blaylock and Tim Powers.Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s, originally as a reaction to the low quality of the poetry being published in the school...
, using his powers to construct and sail an impossibly large ship (over 1 mile in length). However, Hastur evades his captors and brings the ship to a unearthly sea of no end, and as the years move on the ships passengers quickly become frustrated and violent. Hastur also has servants, known as Stokers, who kill their victims by flaying them with their long tongues. The cruise liner finally arrives in New York after the actions of Detective Sergeant Lament, who makes an alliance with Hastur in order to both free the ship and grant his vengeance against his captors.