The H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
Advertisement

As for little Nug and Yeb (only ten feet in diameter when in their average form), they are a bit destructive sometimes, though it's only a playful, good-natured roughness. I like to have the little fellows about (even though they sometimes do dissolve visitors and passersby, and cause occasional troublesome enquiries), for they are basically very friendly and companionable.
~ H. P. Lovecraft , letter to Willis Conover, September 1st, 1936


This subject contains information from the "Lovecraft Circle" Myth Cycles, and while guided by HPL are not based on his work alone. This subject contains information from the Expanded Cthulhu Mythos, and not based on H.P. Lovecraft's works directly. Nug and Yeb are twin Great Old Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos, who first appeared in the short story "The Last Test" by H. P. Lovecraft. They were born from the mating of Shub-Niggurath with Yog-Sothoth (HPL: Selected Letters 5.875) and T’yog believed them to be friendly to man. (HPL: "Out of the Aeons")

According to another account by Eibon, the androgynous Cxaxukluth split in two, becoming male Nug and female Yeb. This minority interpretation may just be a textual gloss attempting to harmonize conflicting information. (EXP: "The Second Epistle of Eibon unto his Disciples, or The Apocalypse of Eibon" [Robert M. Price and Laurence J. Cornford])

Nug is the parent of Cthulhu and Yeb is the parent of Tsathoggua (HPL: Selected Letters 4.617) via the influence of Yog-Sothoth. Nug might be known by the name Ptmâk in Hyperborea, as Ptmâk corresponds to the "immediate" parent of Cthulhu. (CIRCLE: letter of Clark Ashton Smith to R. H. Barlow, September 10th, 1935) Dr. Dee calls Nug "Father of Ghouls," a title shared with its spawn Shaurash-Ho. Nug might also be the father of Hastur.

They are 10 feet in diameter in their usual appearance. (HPL: Selected Letters 5.875) Both Nug and Yeb closely resemble Shub-Niggurath.

Nug and Yeb are worshipped in K'n-yan (HPL: The Mound), Irem (HPL: "The Last Test") and other places and form a kind of yin and yang symbolically. Other texts refer to the two Great Old Ones as the creator and keeper of the garden where Yig lives. They are entrusted with clearing the earth for the Great Ones' return. Using two devices called the "Furnace of Yeb" and the "Torch of Nug" to accomplish this purpose. Esoteric doctrines of monks in Leng teach that Nug and Yeb are the secret names of Lloigor and Zhar, (EXP: "The Strange Doom of Enos Harker") but they never lived on Earth. (HPL: Selected Letters 4.617) Although they might have appeared at or near Kadath, and Nug and Yeb are said to be in the Cavern of Prototypes beneath Mount Voormithadreth (which may be extra-dimensional). Nug is a god among ghouls, while Yeb is the leader of Abhoth's Unclean Ones alien cult. (EXP: "The Descent into the Abyss" Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter)

Yeb (Yeb of the Whispering Mists) may also have been called Cxaxukluth in Hyperborea since Yeb is the "father" of Tsathoggua. (HPL: Family tree of Azathoth) By implication it is male though it may be androgynous. Yeb is connected with the "Black Flame," and the instrument of world destruction, "The Furnace of Yeb" in which the flame resides on Earth.

Nug and Yeb, alongside Shub-Niggurath and Yig, were listed by T'yog as being willing to side with humanity against the hostile Great Old One Ghatanothoa. (HPL: "Out of the Aeons")

Behind the Mythos[]

  • There is a Biblical town called Yeb.
  • The names Nug and Yeb are similar to the names of the Egyptian sibling gods Nut and Geb, members of the Heliopolitan Ennead.

Gallery[]

Advertisement