NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Necronomicon

The Necronomicon is a fictional book from the stories of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. 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 Lovecraft's "The Nameless City".^[1] Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them. Necronomicon may refer to: Necronomicon - a fictional book from the stories of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft Simon Necronomicon - the best-known version of the fictional Necronomicon Necronomicon (film)- an American anthology horror film released in 1994 Necronomicon (H. R. Giger) - the first major published compendium of images by Swiss... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 Ã— 720 pixel, file size: 262 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Necronomicon ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 Ã— 720 pixel, file size: 262 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Necronomicon ... A fictional book is a non-existent book (or one created specifically for a work of fiction) that sometimes provides the basis of the plot of a story, or a common thread in a series of books or the works of a particular writer or canon of work. ... â€œHorror storyâ€ redirects here. ... This article is about the author. ... See also: 1923 in literature, other events of 1924, 1925 in literature, list of years in literature. ... A short story written by H.P. Lovecraft in September of 1922 and published in February of 1924 in Weird Tales Magazine. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. ... The Nameless City is a fictional place mentioned in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, most notably in the short story, The Nameless City. ... Old One is a term used to refer periphrastically to God or a deity. ...

Other authors such as August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith also cited it in their works; Lovecraft approved, believing such common allusions built up "a background of evil verisimilitude." Many readers have believed it to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it; pranksters have listed it in rare book catalogues, and one smuggled a card for it into the Yale University Library's card catalog.^[2] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893-August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. ... Yale redirects here. ... There are various forms of catalog or catalogue, each organized registers of some set of objects. ...

Capitalizing on the notoriety of the fictional volume, real-life publishers have printed many books entitled Necronomicon since Lovecraft's death. A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...

Origin

How Lovecraft conceived the name "Necronomicon" is not clear — Lovecraft said that the title came to him in a dream.^[3] Although some have suggested that Lovecraft was influenced primarily by Robert W. Chambers' collection of short stories The King in Yellow, which centers on a mysterious and disturbing play in book form, Lovecraft is not believed to have read that work until 1927.^[4] Robert William Chambers (May 26, 1865 â€“ December 16, 1933) was an American artist and writer. ... The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories written by Robert W. Chambers and published in 1895. ...

Donald R. Burleson has argued that the idea for the book was derived from Nathaniel Hawthorne, though Lovecraft himself noted that "mouldy hidden manuscripts" were one of the stock features of Gothic literature.^[5] Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 â€“ May 19, 1864) was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Gothic novel. ...

Lovecraft wrote^[6] that the title, as translated from the Greek language, meant "an image of the law of the dead": nekros - νεκρός ("dead"), nomos - νόμος ("law"), eikon - εικών ("image").^[7] A more prosaic translation can be derived by conjugating nemo ("to consider"): "Concerning the dead". Another Greek translation can be "Law of the image of the dead".^{[citation needed]} Greek ( IPA: or simply IPA: â€” Hellenic) has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language in the Indo-European language family. ...

Greek editions of Lovecraft's works have commented that the word can have several different meanings in Greek when broken at its roots:^{[citation needed]}

Lovecraft was often asked about the veracity of the Necronomicon, and always answered that it was completely his invention. In a letter to Willis Conover, Lovecraft elaborated upon his typical answer: Willis Conover (1920-May 17, 1996) was a jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for over forty years. ...

Fictional history

In 1927, Lovecraft wrote a brief pseudo-history of the Necronomicon that was published in 1938, after his death, as A History of The Necronomicon. According to this account, the book was originally called Al Azif, an Arabic word that Lovecraft defined as "that nocturnal sound (made by insects) supposed to be the howling of demons". (One Arabic/English dictionary translates `Azīf as "whistling (of the wind); weird sound or noise".)^[8] Pseudohistory is a term for information about the past, which purports to be historic or supported by archeology, but which is judged to fall outside the domain of mainstream history (sometimes it is an equivalent of pseudoscience). ...

In the History, Alhazred is said to have been a "half-crazed Muslim" who worshipped the Lovecraftian entities Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu. He is described as being from Sanaa in Yemen, and as visiting the ruins of Babylon, the "subterranean secrets" of Memphis and the Empty Quarter of Arabia (where he discovered the "nameless city" below Irem). In his last years, he lived in Damascus, where he wrote Al Azif before his sudden and mysterious death in 738. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: Ù…Ø³Ù„Ù…, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: Ù…Ø³Ù„Ù…Ø§Ù†, Turkish: MÃ¼slÃ¼man, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Yog-Sothoth (The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way The All-in-One and the One-in-All) is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. ... For other uses, see Cthulhu (disambiguation). ... Sanaá (Arabic صنعاء, romanized as , and also known as Sana or Sanaa), population 1,303,000 (2000), is the capital of Yemen. ... For other uses, see Babylon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Memphis. ... Location of the empty quarter in Arabia Sand dunes in the Empty Quarter The Empty Quarter (Arabic: Rub al Khali Ø§Ù„Ø±Ø¨Ø¹ Ø§Ù„Ø®Ø§Ù„ÙŠ), is one of the largest sand deserts in the world, encompassing the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including southern Saudi Arabia, and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... The Nameless City is a fictional place mentioned in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, most notably in the short story, The Nameless City. ... Iram of the Pillars (Ø¥Ø±ÙŽÙ… Ø°Ø§Øª Ø§Ù„Ø¹Ù…Ø§Ø¯, Iram dhÄt al-`imÄd), also called Ubar or Wabar or the City of a Thousand Pillars, is a lost city apparently on the Arabian Peninsula. ... For other uses, see Damascus (disambiguation). ... Events Xukpi suffers a major defeat against Quirigua Saint Boniface visits Rome, and goes on to establish bishopries in Bavaria Births Deaths Categories: 738 ...

In subsequent years, Lovecraft wrote, the Azif "gained considerable, though surreptitious circulation amongst the philosophers of the age." In 950, it was translated into Greek and given the title Necronomicon by Theodorus Philetas, a fictional scholar from Constantinople. This version "impelled certain experimenters to terrible attempts" before being "suppressed and burnt" in 1050 by Patriarch Michael (a historical figure who died in 1059). This article is about the city before the Fall of Constantinople (1453). ... Michael I Caerularius, mosaic Michael I Caerularius, anglicized - Cerularius, (b. ...

After this attempted suppression, the work was "only heard of furtively" until it was translated from Greek into Latin by Olaus Wormius. (Lovecraft gives the date of this edition as 1228, though the real-life Danish scholar Olaus Wormius lived from 1588 to 1624.) Both the Latin and Greek text, the History relates, were banned by Pope Gregory IX in 1232, though Latin editions were apparently published in 15th century Germany and 17th century Spain. A Greek edition was printed in Italy in the first half of the 16th century. For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Ole Worm Ole Worm (May 13, 1588 â€“ August 31, 1654), (pronounced Olay Vorm) who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician and antiquary. ... Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino dei Conti, was pope from 1227 to August 22, 1241. ...

The Elizabethan magician John Dee (1527-c. 1609) allegedly translated the book — presumably into English — but Lovecraft wrote that this version was never printed and only fragments survive. (The connection between Dee and the Necronomicon was suggested by Lovecraft's friend Frank Belknap Long). The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. ... For the American college basketball coach, see John Dee (basketball coach). ... Frank Belknap Long (April 27, 1901 - January 3, 1994) was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. ...

According to Lovecraft, the Arabic version of Al Azif had already disappeared by the time the Greek version was banned in 1050, though he cites "a vague account of a secret copy appearing in San Francisco during the current century" that "later perished in fire". The Greek version, he writes, has not been reported "since the burning of a certain Salem man's library in 1692" (an apparent reference to the Salem witch trials). (In the story The Diary of Alonzo Typer, the character Alonzo Typer finds a Greek copy.) This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Nickname: Location in Essex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Essex Settled 1626 Incorporated 1626 A City 1836 Government - Type Mayor-council city - Mayor Kimberley Driscoll Area - Total 18. ... 1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings by local magistrates and county court trials to prosecute people alleged to have committed acts of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts in 1692...

Appearance and contents

The Necronomicon is mentioned in a number of Lovecraft's short stories and in his novellas At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. However, despite frequent references to the book, Lovecraft was very sparing of details about its appearance and contents. He once wrote that "if anyone were to try to write the Necronomicon, it would disappoint all those who have shuddered at cryptic references to it."^[9] For the Simpsons episode, see Mountain of Madness. ... Categories: Stub | Cthulhu Mythos ...

In "The Nameless City" (1921), a rhyming couplet that appears at two points in the story is ascribed to Abdul Alhazred: See also: 1920 in literature, other events of 1921, 1922 in literature, list of years in literature. ... For the Angel episode, see Couplet (Angel episode). ...

The same couplet appears in "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), where it is identified as a quotation from the Necronomicon. This "much-discussed" couplet, as Lovecraft calls it in the latter story, has also been quoted in works by other authors, including Brian Lumley's The Burrowers Beneath, which adds a long paragraph preceding the couplet. Cthulhu with the insane city Rlyeh in the background. ... See also: 1927 in literature, other events of 1928, 1929 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Brian Lumley (born December 12, 1937) is a writer of horror fiction. ...

Many commercially available Necronomicons fail to include any of the contents that Lovecraft describes. The Simon Necronomicon in particular has been criticized for this.^[10]

The Necronomicon is undoubtedly a substantial text, as indicated by its description in The Dunwich Horror (1929). In the story, Wilbur Whateley visits Miskatonic University's library to consult the "unabridged" version of the Necronomicon for a spell that would have appeared on the 751st page of his own inherited, but defective, Dee edition. The Dunwich Horror is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. ... See also: 1928 in literature, other events of 1929, 1930 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Dunwich Horror is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. ... Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in the equally fictitious Arkham, set in the real-world Essex County, Massachusetts. ...

The Necronomicon's appearance and physical dimensions are a mystery. Other than the obvious black letter editions, it is commonly portrayed as bound in leather of various types and having metal clasps. Moreover, editions are sometimes disguised. In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, for example, John Merrit pulls down a book labelled Qanoon-e-Islam from Joseph Curwen’s bookshelf and discovers to his disquiet that it is actually the Necronomicon. The following fictitious biographies showcase the most important characters in the Cthulhu Mythos. ...

Locations

According to Lovecraft's "History of the Necronomicon", copies of the original Necronomicon were held by only five institutions worldwide:

The last institution holds the Latin translation by Olaus Wormius, printed in Spain in the 17th century. London museum | name = British Museum | image = British Museum from NE 2. ... The new buildings of the library. ... Old picture of the Widener Library. ... Harvard redirects here. ... Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government - Type Mayor-City Council - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area - Total 7. ... The Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) is the biggest university in Argentina, founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires. ... Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in the equally fictitious Arkham, set in the real-world Essex County, Massachusetts. ... Arkham is a fictional city in Massachusetts, part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft and is featured in many of his stories, as well as those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

Other copies, Lovecraft wrote, were kept by private individuals. Joseph Curwen, as noted, had a copy in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1941). A version is held in Kingsport in "The Festival" (1925). The provenance of the copy read by the narrator of "The Nameless City" is unknown; a version is read by the protagonist in "The Hound" (1924). Kingsport is a fictional town in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. ... The Festival is a short story by H.P. Lovecraft written in 1925. ... See also: 1924 in literature, other events of 1925, 1926 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Nameless City is a fictional place mentioned in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, most notably in the short story The Nameless City (1921). ... See also: 1923 in literature, other events of 1924, 1925 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

Hoaxes and alleged translations

Although Lovecraft insisted that the book was pure invention (and other writers invented passages from the book in their own works), there are accounts of some people actually believing the Necronomicon to be a real book. Lovecraft himself sometimes received letters from fans inquiring about the Necronomicon's authenticity. Pranksters occasionally listed the Necronomicon for sale in book store newsletters or inserted phony entries for the book in library card catalogues (where it may be checked out to one 'A. Alhazred'). The Widener Library at Harvard, which is supposed to have a copy of the "Necronomicon" according to Lovecraft's stories, has a catalog entry telling the seeker to "inquire at desk." This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The card catalog at Yale Universitys Sterling Memorial Library goes almost completely unused, but adds to the austere atmosphere. ... Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. ...

In 1973, Owlswick Press issued an edition of the Necronomicon written in an indecipherable, apparently fictional language known as "Duriac." [1] This was a limited edition of 348. The book contains a brief introduction by L. Sprague de Camp. Lyon Sprague de Camp, (November 27, 1907 â€“ November 6, 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. ...

The line between fact and fiction was further blurred in the late 1970s when a book purporting to be a translation of the "real Necronomicon" was published. This book, by the pseudonymic "Simon", had little connection to the fictional Lovecraft Mythos but instead was based on Sumerian mythology. It was later dubbed the "Simon Necronomicon". Three additional volumes have since been published — The Necronomicon Spellbook, a book of pathworkings with the 50 names of Marduk, Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon, a history of the book itself and of the late 1970's New York occult scene, and The Gates Of The Necronomicon, instructions on pathworking with the Simon Necronomicon. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The Lovecraft Mythos is the term coined by the scholar S. T. Joshi[1] to describe the pseudomythological backdrop, settings, and themes employed by the American weird fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. ... Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. ... The Simon Necronomicon (or Simonomicon) is the best-known of the many Necronomicon claimants. ...

A blatant hoax version of the Necronomicon, edited by George Hay, appeared in 1978 and included an introduction by the paranormal researcher and writer Colin Wilson. David Langford described how the book was prepared from a computer analysis of a discovered "cipher text" by Dr. John Dee. The resulting "translation" was in fact written by occultist Robert Turner, but it was far truer to the Lovecraftian version than the Simon text and even incorporated quotations from Lovecraft's stories in its passages. See also: 1977 in literature, other events of 1978, 1979 in literature, list of years in literature. ... An anomalous phenomenon is an observed event which deviates from what is expected (an anomaly) according to existing rules or scientific theory. ... For other uses, see Colin Wilson (disambiguation). ... David Langford David Rowland Langford (born April 10, 1953, in Newport, Monmouthshire) is a British author, editor and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. ... For the American college basketball coach, see John Dee (basketball coach). ... For other uses, see Occult (disambiguation). ...

Historical "Books of the Dead", such as the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead or the Tibetan Bardo Thodol, are sometimes described as "real Necronomicons". They should not be confused with the Lovecraft Necronomicon, since their contents are meant to be read to and remembered by the dead, rather than to be used by the living to summon the dead. Lovecraft may have been inspired by these books. Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River... For other uses, see Book of the Dead (disambiguation). ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... The Bardo Thodol, Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State, sometimes incorrectly called the Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a funerary text that describes the experiences of the consciousness after death during the interval known as bardo between death and rebirth. ...

As anti-occult campaigner Patricia Pulling suggested, some people do use something that is at least called the Necronomicon in ritual. In her publication Interviewing Techniques for Adolescents — in which she attempted to draw parallels between Dungeons & Dragons and ritual magic — she included a list of questions to be used by police investigating occult-related youth crimes. The first question was, "Has he read the Necronomicon or is he familiar with it? ... This will help determine if the individual has a working knowledge of the occult, and if his gaming abilities lean more to the dark side which could give cause or reason for bizarre behavior."^[11] For other uses, see Occult (disambiguation). ... Patricia Pulling was the founder of Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD). ... This article is about the role-playing game. ... Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ...

In the form actually used by occult enthusiasts, the book primarily focuses on Babylonian entities such as Tiamat, Marduk, and Pazuzu. For other uses, see Tiamat (disambiguation). ... Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMAR.UTU solar calf; Biblical: Merodach) was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century... Assyrian demon Pazuzu, 1st millenium BC, Louvre Museum. ...

Commercially available versions

Lyon Sprague de Camp, (November 27, 1907 â€“ November 6, 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. ... The Simon Necronomicon (or Simonomicon) is the best-known of the many Necronomicon claimants. ... Birth machine Hans Ruedi Giger (pronounced: GEE-ger) (born at Chur, Grisons canton, February 5, 1940) is a Swiss painter best known for his design work on the film Alien. ... Donald Tyson is an author of modern occult literature who has built a highly practical system of magic which delves into complex areas of the occult such as Enochian magic and sexual union with spirits. ...

Contents

Origin

Fictional history

Appearance and contents

Locations

Hoaxes and alleged translations

Commercially available versions

See also

Notes

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Contents

Origin var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};

Fictional history

Appearance and contents

Locations

Hoaxes and alleged translations

Commercially available versions

See also

Notes

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Origin