Crom Cruach (The Bloody Crooked One) is a god from Irish mythology, an inspiration for Robert E. Howard's fictional Cimmerian god Crom. Crom Cruach himself was incorporated into the Mythos by Brian McNaughton in his novel Downward to Darkness.
Chaosium has also featured the entity in its role-playing games. Laurence J. Cornford suggested the connection to Pan and other similar gods as the public face of Crom.
Description[]
Crom Cruach is presented as a giant worm or dragon-like creature. A god mentioned in Dr. Dee's Necronomicon as a lesser concubine (or facet?) of Shub-Niggurath, Crom Cruach is said to lie under Stonehenge. His cult believe him to be all-knowing. According to the Necronomicon, Crom Cruach can grant eternal life to its worshippers in a ritual involving the sacrifice of human infants.
In the Hyborian Age, the grim god Crom (who is probably the “public face” of Crom Crauch) was worshipped in Cimmeria. Later he was worshiped by the Celts in Ireland. It's said that its worship was ended by St. Patrick, who destroyed the cult sign with a hammer. It posed as a pre-christian deity to obtain the souls of children and deceived his followers.
Sources connect Crom Cruach with Pan (which allegedly means "feeder") in ancient Greece. Also called "The Horned Ram," "Khnum," "The Lord of the Wood" (possibly this is also a name for Nyarlathotep/Ahtu?) and "Delcarnon" ("Lord of the Two Horns").
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