The Gods of Pegāna is the first book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, published in 1905.[1] The book was reviewed favourably but as an unusual piece. One of the more influential reviews was by Edward Thomas in the London Daily Chronicle.[2]
The book contains a range of illustrations by Sidney Sime, the originals of all of which can be seen at Dunsany Castle.
In 1919 Dunsany told an American interviewer: "In The Gods of Pegāna I tried to account for the ocean and the moon. I don't know whether anyone else has ever tried that before".[3]
Stories
"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"
Publication history
The book was first published, on a commission basis, in London, 1905, by Elkin Mathews, with a second edition by The Pegana Press in 1911, and a third edition, again by Mathews, in 1919.[citation needed] Aside from its various stand-alone editions, the complete text of the collection is included in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy collection Beyond the Fields We Know (1972), in The Complete Pegāna (1998), and in the GollanczFantasy Masterworks omnibus Time and the Gods (2000).[4]
Reception
The New York Times' critic John Corbin described Dunsany's debut collection as "an attempt to create an Olympus of his own and people it with an assemblage of deities, each with a personality and a power over human life acutely conceived and visualized ... To me, [the collection] is autobiography, and all the more self-revealing because it is profoundly unconscious. As an achievement of the imagination". Corbin concluded that "this bible of the gods of Pegana is simply amazing".[5]
Gahan Wilson praised The Gods of Pegāna as "a wonderfully sustained exercise in totally ironic fantasy which may never be beaten. Speaking in a highly original mix of King James Bible English, Yeatsian syntax, and Scheherazadian imagery, [Dunsany] introduces us to a wonderfully sinister Valhalla populated with mad, spectacularly cruel and wonderfully silly gods ... whose only genuine amusement appears to derive from the inventive damage they inflict upon their misbegotten worshippers".[6]E. F. Bleiler lauded the collection as "a convincing, marvelous creation of an alien cosmology".[7]
S. T. Joshi, noting that Dunsany was reading Nietzsche at the time he was writing The Gods of Pegāna, declared it "an instantiation of the quintessential act of fantasy: the creation of a new world. Dunsany has simply carried the procedure one step further than any of his conceivable predecessors – William Beckford (Vathek), William Morris with his medieval fantasies – by inventing an entire cosmogony ... Dunsany embodies his new realm with his own philosophical predilections, and these predilections – although expressed in the most gorgeously evocative of prose-poetry – are of a very modern, even radical sort".[8]
The pantheon
Illustration by S. H. Sime from the 1911 Pegana Press edition
MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅
The chief of the gods of Pegāna is MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅, who created the other gods and then fell asleep; when he wakes, he "will make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods whom he hath made." Men may pray to "all the gods but one"; only the gods themselves may pray to MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅.
Skarl the Drummer
After MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅ "made the gods and Skarl", Skarl made a drum and beat on it in order to lull his creator to sleep; he keeps drumming eternally, for "if he cease for an instant then MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅ will start awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more". Dunsany writes that:
Some say that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of Skarl, and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl, as one may dream whose rest is troubled by sound of song, but none knoweth, for who hath heard the voice of MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅, or who hath seen his drummer?
The small gods
Besides MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅, there are numerous other gods in Pegāna's pantheon, known as the small gods:
Kib, the Sender of Life in all the Worlds. The god of beasts and men.[9]
Sish, the Destroyer of Hours. The god of time.[10]
Mung, Lord of all Deaths between Pegāna and the Rim. The god of death.[11]
Slid, whose Soul is by the Sea. The god of waters.[12]
Limpang-Tung, the God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels.[13]
Yoharneth-Lahai, the God of Little Dreams and Fancies.[14]
Roon, the God of Going and the Thousand Home Gods.[15]
Dorozhand, whose Eyes Regard the End. The god of destiny.[16]
Hoodrazai, the Eye in the Waste. The mirthless god who knows the secret of MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHA̅I̅.[17]
Grimbol, Zeebol and Trehagobol, the three goddesses of the tallest mountains, mothers of the three (once) rebellious river gods.
The thousand home gods
According to Roon, the God of Going: "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods that sit before the hearth and mind the fire – there is one Roon".[20] These home gods include:
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
Wohoon, the Lord of Noises in the Night
Eimēs, Zānēs, and Segástrion, the (once) rebellious lords of the three rivers of the plain
Umbool, the Lord of the Drought
Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion, stars in the south
Ingazi, Yo, and Mindo, stars to the north
Trogool, neither god nor beast
Trogool is the mysterious thing set at the very south pole of the cosmos, whose duty is to turn over the pages of a great book, in which history writes itself every day until the end of the world. The fully written pages are "black", meaning the night, and when each one is turned, then the white page symbolizes a new day. Trogool never answers prayer, and the pages that have been turned shall never be turned back, neither by him nor by anyone else.
Its description says: "Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by many names, It is the Thing that sits behind the gods, whose book is the Scheme of Things".
References
^Joshi, S. T. (2001). A Dreamer and a Visionary: H P Lovecraft in His Time. Oxford University Press. ISBN9781781386446. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
^Review included in Critical Essays on Lord Dunsany, edited by S. T. Joshi, Scarecrow Press, 22 August 2013
^M. K. Wisehart, "Ideals and Fame: A One-Act Conversation With Lord Dunsany", New York Sun Book World, 19 October 1919, p.25
The Gods of Pegāna public domain audiobook at LibriVox
August 23, 2023
gods, pegāna, first, book, anglo, irish, fantasy, writer, lord, dunsany, published, 1905, book, reviewed, favourably, unusual, piece, more, influential, reviews, edward, thomas, london, daily, chronicle, cover, authorlord, dunsanyillustratorsidney, simecover, . The Gods of Pegana is the first book by Anglo Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany published in 1905 1 The book was reviewed favourably but as an unusual piece One of the more influential reviews was by Edward Thomas in the London Daily Chronicle 2 The Gods of PeganaCover of The Gods of PeganaAuthorLord DunsanyIllustratorSidney SimeCover artistSidney SimeCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenreFantasyPublisherElkin MathewsPublication date1905Media typePrint hardback Pages94Followed byTime and the Gods Contents 1 Contents 1 1 Stories 2 Publication history 3 Reception 4 The pantheon 4 1 MANA YOOD SUSHA I 4 2 Skarl the Drummer 4 3 The small gods 4 4 The thousand home gods 4 5 Trogool neither god nor beast 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksContents EditThe book is a series of short stories linked by Dunsany s invented pantheon of deities who dwell in Pegana It was followed by a further collection Time and the Gods and by some stories in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories and possibly in Tales of Three Hemispheres The book contains a range of illustrations by Sidney Sime the originals of all of which can be seen at Dunsany Castle In 1919 Dunsany told an American interviewer In The Gods of Pegana I tried to account for the ocean and the moon I don t know whether anyone else has ever tried that before 3 Stories Edit Preface The Gods of Pegana 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 Yun Ilara 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 Pegana The Sayings of Imbaun Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King Of Ood The River The Bird of Doom and the End Publication history EditThe book was first published on a commission basis in London 1905 by Elkin Mathews with a second edition by The Pegana Press in 1911 and a third edition again by Mathews in 1919 citation needed Aside from its various stand alone editions the complete text of the collection is included in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy collection Beyond the Fields We Know 1972 in The Complete Pegana 1998 and in the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks omnibus Time and the Gods 2000 4 Reception EditThe New York Times critic John Corbin described Dunsany s debut collection as an attempt to create an Olympus of his own and people it with an assemblage of deities each with a personality and a power over human life acutely conceived and visualized To me the collection is autobiography and all the more self revealing because it is profoundly unconscious As an achievement of the imagination Corbin concluded that this bible of the gods of Pegana is simply amazing 5 Gahan Wilson praised The Gods of Pegana as a wonderfully sustained exercise in totally ironic fantasy which may never be beaten Speaking in a highly original mix of King James Bible English Yeatsian syntax and Scheherazadian imagery Dunsany introduces us to a wonderfully sinister Valhalla populated with mad spectacularly cruel and wonderfully silly gods whose only genuine amusement appears to derive from the inventive damage they inflict upon their misbegotten worshippers 6 E F Bleiler lauded the collection as a convincing marvelous creation of an alien cosmology 7 S T Joshi noting that Dunsany was reading Nietzsche at the time he was writing The Gods of Pegana declared it an instantiation of the quintessential act of fantasy the creation of a new world Dunsany has simply carried the procedure one step further than any of his conceivable predecessors William Beckford Vathek William Morris with his medieval fantasies by inventing an entire cosmogony Dunsany embodies his new realm with his own philosophical predilections and these predilections although expressed in the most gorgeously evocative of prose poetry are of a very modern even radical sort 8 The pantheon Edit Illustration by S H Sime from the 1911 Pegana Press editionMANA YOOD SUSHA I Edit The chief of the gods of Pegana is MANA YOOD SUSHA I who created the other gods and then fell asleep when he wakes he will make again new gods and other worlds and will destroy the gods whom he hath made Men may pray to all the gods but one only the gods themselves may pray to MANA YOOD SUSHA I Skarl the Drummer Edit After MANA YOOD SUSHA I made the gods and Skarl Skarl made a drum and beat on it in order to lull his creator to sleep he keeps drumming eternally for if he cease for an instant then MANA YOOD SUSHA I will start awake and there will be worlds nor gods no more Dunsany writes that Some say that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of Skarl and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl as one may dream whose rest is troubled by sound of song but none knoweth for who hath heard the voice of MANA YOOD SUSHA I or who hath seen his drummer The small gods Edit Besides MANA YOOD SUSHA I there are numerous other gods in Pegana s pantheon known as the small gods Kib the Sender of Life in all the Worlds The god of beasts and men 9 Sish the Destroyer of Hours The god of time 10 Mung Lord of all Deaths between Pegana and the Rim The god of death 11 Slid whose Soul is by the Sea The god of waters 12 Limpang Tung the God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels 13 Yoharneth Lahai the God of Little Dreams and Fancies 14 Roon the God of Going and the Thousand Home Gods 15 Dorozhand whose Eyes Regard the End The god of destiny 16 Hoodrazai the Eye in the Waste The mirthless god who knows the secret of MANA YOOD SUSHA I 17 Sirami the Lord of All Forgetting 18 Mosahn the Bird of Doom 19 Grimbol Zeebol and Trehagobol the three goddesses of the tallest mountains mothers of the three once rebellious river gods The thousand home gods Edit According to Roon the God of Going There are a thousand home gods the little gods that sit before the hearth and mind the fire there is one Roon 20 These home gods include 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 Wohoon the Lord of Noises in the Night Eimes Zanes and Segastrion the once rebellious lords of the three rivers of the plain Umbool the Lord of the Drought Araxes Zadres and Hyraglion stars in the south Ingazi Yo and Mindo stars to the northTrogool neither god nor beast Edit Trogool is the mysterious thing set at the very south pole of the cosmos whose duty is to turn over the pages of a great book in which history writes itself every day until the end of the world The fully written pages are black meaning the night and when each one is turned then the white page symbolizes a new day Trogool never answers prayer and the pages that have been turned shall never be turned back neither by him nor by anyone else Its description says Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by many names It is the Thing that sits behind the gods whose book is the Scheme of Things References Edit Joshi S T 2001 A Dreamer and a Visionary H P Lovecraft in His Time Oxford University Press ISBN 9781781386446 Retrieved 13 November 2019 Review included in Critical Essays on Lord Dunsany edited by S T Joshi Scarecrow Press 22 August 2013 M K Wisehart Ideals and Fame A One Act Conversation With Lord Dunsany New York Sun Book World 19 October 1919 p 25 ISFDB publication history The Gods of Dunsany The New York Times 26 January 1919 Arts amp Leisure Books Realms of Fantasy October 1998 p 14 E F Bleiler The Guide to Supernatural Fiction Kent State University Press 1983 p 104 Introduction The Complete Pegana All the Tales Pertaining to the Fabulous Realm of Pegana Chaosium 1998 p viii The Sayings of Kib Concerning Sish The Deeds of Mung The Sayings of Slid The Sayings of Limpang Tung Of Yoharneth Lahai Of Roon The God of Going Of Dorozhand The Eye in the Waste The River The Bird of Doom and the End Of Roon the God of Going and the Thousand Home GodsSources EditBleiler Everett 1948 The Checklist of Fantastic Literature Chicago Shasta Publishers p 104 External links Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article The Gods of Pegana The Gods of Pegana at Standard Ebooks The Gods of Pegana at Project Gutenberg The Gods of Pegana public domain audiobook at LibriVox Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Gods of Pegana amp oldid 1170335978, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
