Ulthar is both a fictional town and a fictional deity. The town of Ulthar is part of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, appearing in such stories as The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926) and "The Cats of Ulthar" (1920).
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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’s visit, its patriarch was Atal, one time companion of Barzai the Wise. According to the zoogs of the Enchanted Wood, a copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts 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.[1]
References
- Lovecraft, Howard P. [1926] (1986). "The Cats of Ulthar", in S. T. Joshi (ed.): Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, 9th corrected printing, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-039-4. Definitive version.
- Lovecraft, Howard P. [1920] (1985). "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", in S. T. Joshi (ed.): At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels, 7th corrected printing, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-038-6. Definitive version.
- Harms, Daniel (1998). The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, 2nd ed., Oakland, CA: Chaosium. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.
Notes
- ^ Harms, "Ulthar", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 308–9.
