In popular culture we often see repeated the notion that Azathoth is asleep and will one day wake up and destroy the universe. Where does this idea come from? It does not appear in Lovecraft as far as I know. A few lines in Lovecraft’s “Fungi From Yuggoth” kind of suggest this if you squint, but you have to squint really hard.
It appears to be a conflation of Azathoth and Lord Dunsany’s Mana-Yood-Sushai.
Can the idea be traced to a specific post-Lovecraft story or game? One person suggests that it was popularized by the game Arkham Horror, where you lose as soon as Azathoth awakens.
Does anyone know?
See also this Reddit thread by me:
Whence comes the notion that Azathoth will one day wake up and destroy the universe? Does this notion appear in any of Lovecraft’s writings, or is it a purely fanonical conflation of Azathoth and Lord Dunsany’s Mana-Yood-Sushai? (Art by Dominique Signoret.)
byu/SpectrumDT inLovecraft
And this Quora thread by me: https://www.quora.com/Whence-c…..ry-or-game
The idea that Azathoth will “awake” is probably from August Derleth. Lovecraft seems to have taken the position that Azathoth was mindlessly stirring, and all cosmic laws derived from its random twitchings. So yeah Azathoth could destroy a world, or a galaxy, by simply being restive. Worlds spring into existence or die at its whim – Azathoth is thus a terrifying personification of an impersonal universe.
In game terms, I hold to the position that Azathoth (or part of Azathoth) can be summoned or otherwise manifested, but this generally leads to the rapid destruction of the world or land that it appears at.
I suggest this video for HPL’s take on Azathoth.
Sandy Petersen said
The idea that Azathoth will “awake” is probably from August Derleth. Lovecraft seems to have taken the position that Azathoth was mindlessly stirring, and all cosmic laws derived from its random twitchings. So yeah Azathoth could destroy a world, or a galaxy, by simply being restive. Worlds spring into existence or die at its whim – Azathoth is thus a terrifying personification of an impersonal universe.
Thanks for the reply, Sandy!
What sources do you base this on? I don’t recall Lovecraft having said that. The closest things are “The Fungi from Yuggoth” (as in the video you linked) which kind of hint it. Other than that he is called “Lord of All Things” in “The Haunter of the Dark” I think, and in “The Dreams in the Witch-House” it is said that Azathoth “rules all time an space” – both of which are pretty vague.
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