The Gods of Pegāna

The Gods of Pegāna is a book by the Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, his first; it was published in 1905 by Elkin Mathews, who also published works by W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound, among others. The book is organized as a series of sketches about an imaginary pantheon; the concept was a key influence on H. P. Lovecraft, who said he "got the idea of the artificial pantheon and myth-background represented by 'Cthulhu', 'Yog-Sothoth', 'Yuggoth', etc." from Dunsany.Some Notes on Non-Entity, by H. P. Lovecraft.
Dunsany published a sequel, Time and the Gods, in 1906.
== The Pantheon ==
The creator of the gods is MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀЇ, "the god of Having Done and of the Resting." After creating the gods, he went to sleep, and when he awakes again, it will be the end of the gods and all worlds. He is the one god man cannot pray to.
Skarl, the Drummer, attends MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀЇ, playing his drum to keep him asleep. When he stops playing, MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀЇ will be shocked by the silence and awaken, and it will be the end of gods and worlds.
=== The Small Gods ===
* Kib, the "Sender of Life in all the Worlds." The god of beasts and men.
* Sish, "The Destroyer of Hours." The god of time.
* Slid, "whose Soul is by the Sea." The god of waters.
* Mung, "Lord of all Deaths between Pegāna and the Rim." The god of death.
* Limpang-Tung, "The God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels." The god of pleasure.
* Yoharneth-Lahai, "The God of Little Dreams and Fancies." The god of dreams.
* Roon, "The God of Going." The god of travel.
* Dorozhand, whose Eyes Regard the End. The god of destiny.
* Hoodrazai, the Eye in the Waste. The mirthless god who knows the secret of MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀЇ.
* Sirami, the Lord of All Forgetting
* Mosahn, the Bird of Doom
* Grimbol, Zeebol and Trehagobol, the three goddesses of the tallest mountains, mothers of the three broad rivers of the plains.
=== The Thousand Home Gods ===
The " the little gods that sit before the hearth and mind the fire," they are "so small that they be lesser than men":
* Pitsu, who strokes the cat
* Hobith, who calms the dog
* Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers
* Little Zumbiboo, the lord of dust
* Old Gribaun, who sits in the heart of the fire to turn the wood to ash
* Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke
* Jabim, the Lord of broken things
* Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk
* Hish, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats
* Wohoon, the Lord of Noises in the Night
* Eimes, Zanes, and Segastrion, the three broad rivers of the plain, who once "rebelled against the law of the Worlds"
* Umbool, the Lord of the Drought
* Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion, stars in the south
* Ingazi, Yo, and Mindo, stars to the north
== Contents ==
* "Preface"
* "The Gods of Pegāna"
* "Of Skarl the Drummer"
* "Of the Making of the Worlds"
* "Of the Game of the Gods"
* "The Chaunt of the Gods"
* "The Sayings of Kib"
* "Concerning Sish"
* "The Sayings of Slid"
* "The Deeds of Mung"
* "The Chaunt of the Priests"
* "The Sayings of Limpang-Tung"
* "Of Yoharneth-Lahai"
* "Of Roon, the God of Going"
* "The Revolt of the Home Gods"
* "Of Dorozhand"
* "The Eye in the Waste"
* "Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast"
* "Yonath the Prophet"
* "Yug the Prophet"
* "Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet"
* "Kabok the Prophet"
* "Of the Calamity That Befel Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days"
* "Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith"
* "Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One"
* "Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak"
* "Pegāna"
* "The Sayings of Imbaun"
* "Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King"
* "Of Ood"
* "The River"
* "The Bird of Doom and the End"
== References ==
Category:Lord Dunsany works
Category:Mythos-Adjacent Works
Category:Novels
Category:Lovecraft's Inspirations (works)