- 🔀 For the creature created by Brian Lumley for Mad Moon of Dreams, see Oorn (Mad Moon of Dreams)
Oorn is a creature created by H. P. Lovecraft and R. H. Barlow for their 1933 short story "The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast".
Overview[]
A pudgy creature with short grey-colored fur and three small red eyes, Oorn is believed to have originated from the mysterious "outer abyss", and was found on the outskirts of the city of Zeth, located on an extraterrestrial planet, long before the dawn of humanity on Earth.
While it hasn't demonstrated actual intelligence, Oorn does have the ability to mimic speech. The shamith priests of Zeth have declared Oorn to be a god and oracle, and surreptitiously instruct it on what to answer every time the citizens ask questions to it, knowing that Oorn will flawlessly repeat the priests' words. (HPL: "The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast")
Oorn is described as being the mate of the Great Old One Mnomquah.
Behind the Mythos[]
Brian Lumley later created a different creature named Oorn for his 1987 Cthulhu Mythos novel Mad Moon of Dreams. As "The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast" was written in 1933 but remained unpublished until 1994, it seems extremely unlikely that Lumley was aware of the mention of this previous being.