TSOU -- The Festival
_VTA331:
The Shadow over Usenet (Unsent?)
"The Festival"
Sources: _Dagon_, Arkham; _The Doom that Came to Sarnath_, Ballantine.
(Note: This does not necessarily mean that these are the only
places you're going to find these. I trashed my E-mail directory, including
my lists of the Ballantine and Creation Press collection contents, just
before leaving for the summer, so if anyone can send those on to me, I'd
appreciate it.)
Plot: A young man travels to Kingsport in order to take part in the Yuletide
rituals of his ancestors. He meets an old man incapable of speech who takes
him into a crypt beneath the church on Kingsport's highest hill. They go
down a stone staircase to an underground river, where they and the townsfolk
perform strange rites and meet hideous flying creatures. The narrator refuses
to fly off on one of these beasts, and as his guide turns away from him...
Thoughts: "The Festival," for some reason, is one of my absolute favorite
HPL pieces. I usually read it just around Christmastime as a sort of ritual.
After walking through the mall, it really puts some perspective on things.
This story contains Lovecraft's standard plot: a solitary, scholarly
man sets out in a quest for knowledge and finds horror instead. One item
I noticed when I was reading this story was that the narrator is not the
Nordic type which Lovecraft idealized, but one of the "dark furtive folk from
opiate southern gardens of orchids." (Anyone know where that might be?)
On one hand, we could say that the connection with the cult is another
example of Lovecraft's xenophobia -- but on the other, it is unusual for
Lovecraft to include such a person as a protagonist at all.
Lovecraft's major influences on this story are two-fold. The first
was a trip that Lovecraft made to Marblehead, Massachusetts on December 17,
1922. The antiquarian in HPL was struck with the city's timeless beauty,
and he later admitted that one of the major reasons he had written it was
to capture the emotions he felt in looking down upon it from the heights.
(If I remember correctly, Lovecraft actually took the street names he gives
in the story from a map of Marblehead.)
Lovecraft's choice of the church in "The Festival" was particularly
fortuitous, as Christophe Thill pointed out to me in a letter:
From: IN%"c_t...@worldnet.fr" "Christophe Thill" 8-SEP-1996 16:03:07.47
>Now for the factual. I found yesterday a collection of Lovecraftian studies
>by Philip Shreffler. He identified Kingsport with Marblehead, and the church
>with St Michael church. Now, they just discovered that there really is a
>crypt under the church, and that the trapdoor is really in front of an altar
>(not the one that is in use, but a very old one). Lovecraft could not know
>it but it's funny to see how reality and fiction meet. They just began
>searching and found many skeletons and even a scalp, complete with hair. The
>information was from the priest at St Michael.
The other major factor in this story's composition was Margaret
Murray's _Witch-Cult in Western Europe_. Murray theorized that the
similarities between the confessions at the various witch-trials were proof
that an actual pre-Christian worship of pagan deities persisted despite
Church persecution for centuries. Murray's theories have been discredited
in recent years (shared folklore is a much more probable reason for the
similar confessions, for example), but her books went on to inspire the
pagan movement -- as well as HPL.
Post midnight critical observation: At the end of last year, I
developed a theory of Lovecraft's themes. Lovecraft was a man who deeply
loved the past, a student of architecture and history who had a fondness for
antiquities and old books and felt very out of touch with his age. At the
same time, Lovecraft was a rational man, and must have understood that any
true return to this past would only leave him disappointed. In "The
Festival," a young man who is a student of history goes back to his hometown
to re-connect with the spiritual mysteries of his ancestors. What he finds
there is old indeed, but brings horror and insanity instead of contentment
and a sense of belonging.
All right, now on to the goofy Mythos stuff! (I'm not putting it
down; I wrote a book on that goofy Mythos stuff.) Out of the four books we
see here, two of them are real beyond a doubt -- Glanvil's _Saducismus
Triumphatus_ and Remigius's _Daemonolatreia_, both of which tell of evil deeds
done by witches. Morryster's _Marvells of Science_ is a creation of Ambrose
Bierce which appears in "The Man and the Snake." Lastly, we have the
_Necronomicon_. It's in this story that we learn that there is a copy of it
at Miskatonic. Lovecraft's views on the _Necronomicon_'s contents here seem
contradictory. Its association with the witch-manuals and the
quote at the story's end seem to identify it as a book against wizards, though
the cult's itself holds it in reverence.
Kingsport first appeared in "The Terrible Old Man." It later shows
up in many subsequent stories, and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" hints of
the Kingsport cult's destruction.
Ibn Schacabao (in the quote at the end) is not real, but one of
Lovecraft's creations. Another mention can be found in "The Case of Charles
Dexter Ward".
The byakhee first appear here. OK, so they're not called the byakhee,
but they were eventually given that name and connected up with Hastur. I
think this occurred in Derleth's "The Trail of Cthulhu", possibly due to HPL's
passage where "Aldebaran had seemed to balance itself a moment on the ghostly
spire."
This story has spawned only one sequel that I can remember: "The
Last Feast of Harlequin" (?) by Thomas Ligotti. Surprisingly, this story
is actually as good, if not better, than Lovecraft's. The situation is much
the same, but Ligotti puts an entirely different spin on the events. I
recommend it.
Questions:
Liked it? Hated it? Can anyone translate this:
Efficiunt Daemones, ut quae non sunt, sic tamen quasi sint,
conspicienda hominibus exhibeant.
Should Daniel be sleeping right now instead of writing this?
Daniel
Christophe Thill
On 12 Sep 1996 06:50:08 GMT, HAR...@ctrvx1.Vanderbilt.Edu (_VTA331:)
wrote:
> The byakhee first appear here. OK, so they're not called the byakhee,
>but they were eventually given that name and connected up with Hastur. I
>think this occurred in Derleth's "The Trail of Cthulhu", possibly due to HPL's
>passage where "Aldebaran had seemed to balance itself a moment on the ghostly
>spire."
"Byakhee" is a word invented by Derleth. To remain purely
Lovecraftian, why not call this beasts nightgaunts?
>Questions:
> Can anyone translate this:
> Efficiunt Daemones, ut quae non sunt, sic tamen quasi sint,
>conspicienda hominibus exhibeant.
In the French editions, all Latin quotations such as this one are
translated. Which made me learn that it means: "The demons have the
capacity to bring to the eyes of men things that do not exist as if
they were real".
> Should Daniel be sleeping right now instead of writing this?
He deserves it!
Brett D Altschul
In article <32385110...@news.worldnet.net>,
Christophe Thill <c_t...@worldnet.fr> wrote:
>In the French editions, all Latin quotations such as this one are
>translated. Which made me learn that it means: "The demons have the
>capacity to bring to the eyes of men things that do not exist as if
>they were real".
The original quote used "daemons," and, to the best of my knowlege, Latin makes
a disctiction bewtween the words "demon" and "daemon," as does English. In
short, this thrice-translated quote is sloppy at best.
Demon Sultan of Khaipur
Brett Altschul
bill walsh
In article <521ct0$6...@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>, balt...@athena.mit.edu
(Brett D Altschul) wrote:
Latin makes no distinction. The word is "daemon(ium)." It can have both
the meaning "an evil spirit, devil" (=demon) or "a god; a subordinate
deity" (=daemon). English makes the distinction, although it's primarily
one of emphasis and the words can be used interchangably without violating
any canons. (Look them up in the dictionary and you'll find "demon" as a
definition for "daemon" and vice versa.) Certain occultists like to
distinguish between demons (necessarily malign) and daemons (an
overarching class of supernatural entities which includes demons), but the
hard line distinguishing the two only exists inside their works.
Also: "thrice-translated?" I think Christophe's translation (the third)
is perfectly adequate for the Latin. Any sloppiness is not his.
(Although I'd omit the initial "the," since English omits the definite
article for general classes, whereas French tends not to do so.)
bill walsh
ott...@xnet.com
Kompound Phrakture
On 21 Sep 1996, Brett D Altschul wrote:
> >In the French editions, all Latin quotations such as this one are
> >translated. Which made me learn that it means: "The demons have the
> >capacity to bring to the eyes of men things that do not exist as if
> >they were real".
>
> The original quote used "daemons," and, to the best of my knowlege, Latin makes
> a disctiction bewtween the words "demon" and "daemon," as does English. In
> short, this thrice-translated quote is sloppy at best.
>
That sounds interesting. Lovecraft, as far as I know, always used the
word "daemon", instead of "demon". Ballantine Books "corrected" it,
putting in the word "demon" every time. I remember being quite
disappointed when I noticed that my copy of "At the Mountains of Madness"
had the thing changed...I guess I was just familiar w/ the other reading,
but it seemed to add an air of artificiality to the story. :-<
Oh well. What I was going to ask was, if there is such a distinction,
what is it? It would be interesting to find out if Lovecraft was merely
using the word "daemon" because of his style, or because he actually knew
the distinction.
---Kompound Phrakture
=============================================================================
"Only to mock had that black messenger revealed the secret...for madness and
the void's wild vengeance are Nyarlathotep's only gifts to the presumptuous."
---H.P. Lovecraft
Brett D Altschul
In article <Pine.SUN.3.95.960923...@thetics.europa.com>,
Kompound Phrakture <kph...@europa.com> wrote:
>That sounds interesting. Lovecraft, as far as I know, always used the
>word "daemon", instead of "demon". Ballantine Books "corrected" it,
>putting in the word "demon" every time.
People sometimes confuse me with Azathoth, the daemon sultan, as a result.
> Oh well. What I was going to ask was, if there is such a distinction,
>what is it? It would be interesting to find out if Lovecraft was merely
>using the word "daemon" because of his style, or because he actually knew
>the distinction.
The words obviously have a common root, so their meanings are not that differ-
ent. "Daemon" refers to a weaker breed of evil creatures than "demon" does.
In some sources, I've seen daemons used to refer to the servitors of a much
mightier demon, although the role of an underlings is not inherent in the term
"daemon." ("The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves,
that we are underlings.")
Sue Thing
In article <Pine.SUN.3.95.960923...@thetics.europa.com> Kompound Phrakture <kph...@europa.com> writes:
>On 21 Sep 1996, Brett D Altschul wrote:
>> >In the French editions, all Latin quotations such as this one are
>> >translated. Which made me learn that it means: "The demons have the
>> >capacity to bring to the eyes of men things that do not exist as if
>> >they were real".
>>
>> The original quote used "daemons," and, to the best of my knowlege, Latin makes
>> a disctiction bewtween the words "demon" and "daemon," as does English. In
>> short, this thrice-translated quote is sloppy at best.
>>
>That sounds interesting. Lovecraft, as far as I know, always used the
>word "daemon", instead of "demon". Ballantine Books "corrected" it,
>putting in the word "demon" every time. I remember being quite
>disappointed when I noticed that my copy of "At the Mountains of Madness"
>had the thing changed...I guess I was just familiar w/ the other reading,
>but it seemed to add an air of artificiality to the story. :-<
> Oh well. What I was going to ask was, if there is such a distinction,
>what is it? It would be interesting to find out if Lovecraft was merely
>using the word "daemon" because of his style, or because he actually knew
>the distinction.
The OED lists the etymology for "demon" and "daemon" as the same: coming from
the Greek "daimon", and meaning a supernatural being or spirit. My
etymological dictionary, OTOH, gives "daemon" the Greek origin and the meaning
of a protective spirit or divinity. It postulates that it derives originally
from the Greek "daiomai" -- to distribute. But "demon" , in the sense of an
evil spirit, comes from the Latin "daemonium" and in turn, from the Greek
"daimonion". Same basic roots, but different meanings. I suspect that
Lovecraft did know the distinction, even though that distinction has blurred
over time and through misuse.
Sue
--------------------------------------
Sue Thing plbu...@indirect.com
Those who do not learn from history
are doomed to repeat it next semester.
--------------------------------------
Steven Howard
In <Pine.SUN.3.95.960923...@thetics.europa.com>, Kompound Phrakture <kph...@europa.com> writes:
>On 21 Sep 1996, Brett D Altschul wrote:
>
>> The original quote used "daemons," and, to the best of my knowlege, Latin makes
>> a disctiction bewtween the words "demon" and "daemon," as does English. In
>> short, this thrice-translated quote is sloppy at best.
>>
>what is it? It would be interesting to find out if Lovecraft was merely
>using the word "daemon" because of his style, or because he actually knew
>the distinction.
As far as I can tell, there are two different meanings for "daemon." Mostly it's just
an alternate spelling for "demon." Sometimes, however, it refers to a supernatural
being which apparently fulfilled the same role in ancient Greece as angels did in
medieval Europe, i.e. an intermediary between the gods and men, to protect certain
people or certain places, and to carry out those processes which we tend to think
of as the laws of nature. Why does a stone fall when you drop it? A daemon pulls
it to the ground. How do the stars move through the sky at night? Daemons push
them. And so on. (It's this second kind of daemon that the Unix concept of daemons
is named after.)
========
Steven Howard
bl...@ibm.net
What's a nice word for "euphemism"?