| “ | Fool! Spawn of Noth-Yidik and effluvium of K’thun! Son of the dogs that howl in the maelstrom of Azathoth! You would have been sacred and immortal, and now you are betraying It and Its priest! | „ | |
| ~ H.P. Lovecraft & Hazel Heald , HPL: "The Horror in the Museum" |
| “ | Aye, I speak of the very Hounds of Tindalos themselves, those Hunters from Beyond that be the Spawn of Noth-Yidik and the effluvium of K'thun, and that howl forever in the maelstrom that is dread and fearsome Azathoth; aye, They be none other than the very minions and servitors of the Daemon-Sultan, under Their ghastly sire and dam, Noth-Yidik and terrible K'thun. | „ | |
| ~ Lin Carter , EXP: "The Madness Out Of Time" |
K'thun, Mother of the Races is a little-known goddess of Lovecraftian mythology. Named for the first time in The Horror in the Museum, when George Rogers insults the protagonist calling him "spawning of Noth-Yidik and effluvium of K'thun".
It is also mentioned in Lin Carter's account in The Madness Out of Time.
Name
K'thun sounds very similar to Cthulhu. In fact, the apostrophe (') suggests that it might be an abbreviation for that name. This could mean that when he first mentioned it in The Horror in the Museum, Lovecraft did not intend for the name "K'thun" to refer to a new creature, but intended to use it as another way of referring to Cthulhu (which would not be surprising if we consider that he often introduced new spellings of his name, "Tulu" being one of the best known). It will be Lin Carter who establishes a clear distinction between the two entities, deciding that K'thun was the name of a goddess.
Appearance
The ancient Asian tribes represented it as a horrid pale gray tree with tentacles instead of branches and roots and with gigantic jaws with an eye inside located where the crown should be.
Conceptual information and role
K'thun spends its existence searching for living matter and then using it to make creatures through complex processes of parthenogenesis, that is, fertilization without a male gamete. For example, by ingesting pieces of meat from Noth-Yidik, he created the infamous hounds of Tindalos. It is also said to have created similarly to the early dinosaurs.
Normally, to perform his creations, K'thun goes into torpor just after devouring the meat. During the lethargy, it mentally shapes the creatures, which are structured from the absorbed biological matter and, when they are ready, they are expelled from the body of K'thun. Few of the species created by this goddess survive; However, those that do succeed tend to transform into truly fearsome beings.
As for the rituals of K'thun, it should be noted that they are truly macabre: the devotees, preceded by their priests, approach the goddess and rip off huge amounts of meat that they then offer her. If the goddess does not accept the sacrifice, she may devour the faithful.
Stories
Works of Lovecraft and Hazel Heald
The Horror in the Museum
K'thun is mentioned by George Rogers.
Legacy
- In the World of Warcraft (WoW) video game there is an ancient god named C'thun. Although it is normally said that this is based on Cthulhu, its appearance is more similar to that of K'thun, since it is gray, its "roots" end in tentacles and it has an eye in the middle of its jaws. Another point in favor of this theory is that the name sounds exactly the same.
- C'thun appears as a card in the Hearthstone video game. It can be backed up with various letters related to it.