The Other Gods
Our next story, The Other Gods, is a fun yet simple fantasy tale that connects with
so many other works in Lovecraft's canon. A classic tale of hubris, this story
depicts the journey of a powerful priest and his attempts to commune with the
gods. As mankind has sought to understand the natural world around them, the
gods have fled from the earth, becoming little more than memory and leaving
little sign of their presence on the earth. Barzai, has studied many ancient
texts about the gods, including a fictional set of manuscripts called the
Pnakotic Manuscripts. If you remember these were first mentioned in Polaris (the manuscripts also appear in
F. Paul Wilson's The Keep as well as
Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's TheIlluminatus! Trilogy). These ancient texts have told him to climb a
mountain in the neighboring land of Hatheg. Accompanying him on this journey is
his apprentice, Atal, who we last saw as the innkeeper's son in The Cats of Ulthar.
This story takes place in the city of
Ulthar, either on the ancient Earth, or in the Dreamlands, it is hard to really
distinguish which one. We see reference to many previously visited locations,
but also mentions of new places that will take on greater significance in later
stories and novellas, such as Kadath. Kadath will prove to be a very
significant place, as it is mentioned in this story that it is where the earth
gods have fled to.
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| Illustration copyright Jeff Powers © 2013 |
Barzai, an intelligent scholar has
studied every piece of writing and ancient work he can. He has devoured so much
knowledge, in his opinion, that his gathered secret knowledge is enough to
allow him to challenge the gods. Barzai, instilled with great hubris, thinks of
himself as above all other men, who cower in base superstitions. Now all of
this may be playing off Lovecraft's thoughts on his own atheism. As atheism
grew among the scholars of the day, the idea grew that with greater knowledge
of the natural world and its laws, we would chase away the superstitions of
old. But here, Lovecraft gives a twist, when a man, filled with this knowledge
sets off to chase the gods from their final resting place, and finds something
much bigger and more powerful than he could imagine, falling victim to his
lofty ideas, while the fearful and somewhat superstitious apprentice manages to
survive. Of course, this is a classic story of hubris, like Frankenstein, or
Doctor Faustus, where a man having tasted the triumph of some new scientific
truth, places himself above others, only to be knocked down by the realization
that there are forces far bigger than the new ones he has finally found control
of (and this tale resembles a few stories of hubris by Lord Dunsany, like The Revolt of the Home Gods, or The Gods of Pegana). This is really the
heart of Lovecraftian fiction. It is this central theme that defines his works
of "cosmic horror" which is what we think of when we think of HPL's
work. And though in most of these stories they are written with the terms god
and mortal men, it does not necessarily have to be a religious theme. As we
will later discover in other stories, what are referred to as gods and
otherworldly beings, are still creatures of our universe but so far beyond what
we have been able to comprehend. It is like trying to completely understand our
three-dimensional universe, only to suddenly find there are beings living
within eleven dimensions. Or the petty squabbles between the nations and races
of men on earth, only to be confronted by beings from beyond the nearest stars
with technology that makes our feeble attempts to use our scientific knowledge,
look like the tools of cavemen. This is really what Lovecraft is getting at in
his works. Whether that be applied to scientific, moral, or religious thought.
He is taking his supposed modern world and casting a huge dark shadow over it
and telling us, that we are human, and therefore, we will never truly be able
to understand it all.
This story can be a bit mediocre at
times, and really doesn't do much as a story, but it sets up so much as far as
theme, location and even a few characters for quintessential Lovecraft tales
later to come. So really, it shouldn't be missed to set us all up for what will
come down the road. If you want to check out the story, that might have you
dreading the bigger picture, or just wish you
were falling into the sky, you can read the full text here: HPL's The Other Gods
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