Necronomicon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Necronomicon is a fictional book from the stories of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City". ^[1] Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them.

Other authors such as August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith also cited it in their works; Lovecraft approved, believing such common allusions built up "a background of evil verisimilitude." Many readers have believed it to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it; pranksters have listed it in rare book catalogues, and one smuggled a card for it into the Yale University Library's card catalog.^[2]

Capitalizing on the notoriety of the fictional volume, real-life publishers have printed many books entitled Necronomicon since Lovecraft's death.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Fictional history 3 Appearance and contents 4 Locations 5 Hoaxes and alleged translations 6 Other appearances 6.1 Literature 6.2 Film 6.3 Television 6.4 Music 6.5 Comics 6.6 Video games 6.7 Other 7 Commercially available versions 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 10.1 Primary sources 10.2 Secondary sources 11 External links

[edit] Origin

How Lovecraft conceived the name "Necronomicon" is not clear — Lovecraft himself claimed that the title came to him in a dream.^[3] Although some have suggested that Lovecraft was influenced primarily by Robert W. Chambers' collection of short stories The King in Yellow, which centers on a mysterious and disturbing play in book form, Lovecraft is not believed to have read that work until 1927.^[4]

Donald R. Burleson has argued that the idea for the book was derived from Nathaniel Hawthorne, though Lovecraft himself noted that "mouldy hidden manuscripts" were one of the stock features of Gothic literature.^[5]

Lovecraft wrote that the title,^{[citation needed]} as translated from the Greek language, meant "An image of the law of the dead": nekros - νεκρός ("corpse"), nomos - νόμος ("law"), eikon - εικών ("image"). A more prosaic (but probably more correct) translation can be derived by conjugating nemo ("to consider"): "Concerning the dead".^{[citation needed]}

Greek editions of Lovecraft's works have commented that the word can have several different meanings in Greek when broken at its roots:^{[citation needed]}

• Necro-Nomicon : The Book of the Dead, derived from Nomicon (Book of Law), or the Book of the Laws of the Dead.
• Necro-Nomo-icon : The Book of Dead Laws.
• Necro-Nemo-ikon : A Study or Classification of the Dead.
• Necro-Nomo-eikon : Image of the Law of the Dead.
• Necro-Nemein-Ikon : Book Concerning the Dead.
• Necr(o)-Onom-icon : The Book of Dead Names, derived from onoma (name).

Lovecraft was often asked about the veracity of the Necronomicon, and always answered that it was completely his invention. In a letter to Willis Conover, Lovecraft elaborated upon his typical answer:

Now about the "terrible and forbidden books"—I am forced to say that most of them are purely imaginary. There never was any Abdul Alhazred or Necronomicon, for I invented these names myself. Robert Bloch devised the idea of Ludvig Prinn and his De Vermis Mysteriis, while the Book of Eibon is an invention of Clark Ashton Smith's. The late Robert E. Howard is responsible for Friedrich von Junzt and his Unaussprechlichen Kulten.... As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes—in all truth they don’t amount to much. That is why it’s more fun to invent mythical works like the Necronomicon and Book of Eibon.^[3]

[edit] Fictional history

In 1927, Lovecraft wrote a brief pseudo-history of the Necronomicon that was published in 1938, after his death, as A History of The Necronomicon. According to this account, the book was originally called Al Azif, an Arabic word that Lovecraft defined as "that nocturnal sound (made by insects) supposed to be the howling of demons". (One Arabic/English dictionary translates `Azīf as "whistling (of the wind); weird sound or noise".) ^[6]

In the History, Alhazred is said to have been a "half-crazed Muslim" who worshipped the Lovecraftian entities Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu. He is described as being from Sanaa in Yemen, and as visiting the ruins of Babylon, the "subterranean secrets" of Memphis and the Empty Quarter of Arabia (where he discovered the "nameless city" below Irem). In his last years, he lived in Damascus, where he wrote Al Azif before his sudden and mysterious death in 738.

In subsequent years, Lovecraft wrote, the Azif "gained considerable, though surreptitious circulation amongst the philosophers of the age." In 950, it was translated into Greek and given the title Necronomicon by Theodorus Philetas, a fictional scholar from Constantinople. This version "impelled certain experimenters to terrible attempts" before being "suppressed and burnt" in 1050 by Patriarch Michael (a historical figure who died in 1059).

After this attempted suppression, the work was "only heard of furtively" until it was translated from Greek into Latin by Olaus Wormius. (Lovecraft gives the date of this edition as 1228, though the real-life Danish scholar Olaus Wormius lived from 1588 to 1624.) Both the Latin and Greek text, the History relates, were banned by Pope Gregory IX in 1232, though Latin editions were apparently published in 15th century Germany and 17th century Spain. A Greek edition was printed in Italy in the first half of the 16th century.

The Elizabethan magician John Dee (1527-c. 1609) allegedly translated the book—presumably into English—but Lovecraft wrote that this version was never printed and only fragments survive. (The connection between Dee and the Necronomicon was suggested by Lovecraft's friend Frank Belknap Long).

According to Lovecraft, the Arabic version of Al Azif had already disappeared by the time the Greek version was banned in 1050, though he cites "a vague account of a secret copy appearing in San Francisco during the current century" that "later perished in fire". The Greek version, he writes, has not been reported "since the burning of a certain Salem man's library in 1692"--an apparent reference to the Salem witch trials. (Nonetheless, Alonzo Typer finds a Greek copy in The Diary of Alonzo Typer.)

[edit] Appearance and contents

The Necronomicon is mentioned in a number of Lovecraft's short stories and in his novellas At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. However, despite frequent references to the book, Lovecraft was very sparing of details about its appearance and contents. He once wrote that "if anyone were to try to write the Necronomicon, it would disappoint all those who have shuddered at cryptic references to it." ^[7]

In "The Nameless City" (1921), a rhyming couplet that appears at two points in the story is ascribed to Abdul Alhazred:

That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons even death may die.

The same couplet appears in "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), where it is identified as a quotation from the Necronomicon. This "much-discussed" couplet, as Lovecraft calls it in the latter story, has also been quoted in works by other authors, including Brian Lumley's The Burrowers Beneath, which adds a long paragraph preceding the couplet.

The Necronomicon is undoubtedly a substantial text, as indicated by its description in The Dunwich Horror (1929). In the story, Wilbur Whateley visits Miskatonic University's library to consult the "unabridged" version of the Necronomicon for a spell that would have appeared on the 751st page of his own inherited, but defective, Dee edition.

The Necronomicon's appearance and physical dimensions are a mystery. Other than the obvious black letter editions, it is commonly portrayed as bound in leather of various types and having metal clasps. Moreover, editions are sometimes disguised. In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, for example, John Merrit pulls down a book labelled Qanoon-e-Islam from Joseph Curwen’s bookshelf and discovers to his disquiet that it is actually the Necronomicon.

In the works of Brian Lumley, the occult investigator Titus Crow possesses a copy that is allegedly covered in sweaty human skin.

[edit] Locations

According to Lovecraft's "History of the Necronomicon", copies of the original Necronomicon were held by only five institutions worldwide:

• The British Museum
• The Bibliothèque nationale de France
• Widener Library of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• The University of Buenos Aires
• The library of the fictional Miskatonic University in the equally fictitious Arkham, Massachusetts

The last institution holds the Latin translation by Olaus Wormius, printed in Spain in the 17th century.

Other copies, Lovecraft wrote, were kept by private individuals. Wilbur Whateley has a copy in "The Dunwich Horror" (1929). Joseph Curwen, as noted, had a copy in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1941). A version is held in Kingsport in "The Festival" (1925). The provenance of the copy read by the narrator of "The Nameless City" is unknown; a version is read by the protagonist in "The Hound" (1924).

[edit] Hoaxes and alleged translations

Although Lovecraft insisted that the book was pure invention (and other writers invented passages from the book in their own works), there are accounts of some people actually believing the Necronomicon to be a real book. Lovecraft himself sometimes received letters from fans inquiring about the Necronomicon's authenticity. Pranksters occasionally listed the Necronomicon for sale in book store newsletters or inserted phony entries for the book in library card catalogues (where it is invariably checked out to one 'A. Alhazred').

In 1973, Owlswick Press issued an edition of the Necronomicon written in an indecipherable, apparently fictional language known as "Duriac." [1] This was a limited edition of 348. The book contains a brief introduction by L. Sprague de Camp.

The line between fact and fiction was further blurred in the late 1970s when a book purporting to be a translation of the "real Necronomicon" was published. This book, by the pseudonymic "Simon", had little connection to the fictional Lovecraft Mythos but instead was based on Sumerian mythology. It was later dubbed the "Simon Necronomicon". Two additional volumns have since been published- "Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon", a history of the book itself and of the late 1970's New York occult scene, and "The Gates Of The Necronomicon", instructions on pathworking with the Simon Necronomicon.

A blatant hoax version of the Necronomicon, edited by George Hay, appeared in 1978 and included an introduction by the paranormal researcher and writer Colin Wilson. David Langford described how the book was prepared from a computer analysis of a discovered "cipher text" by Dr. John Dee. The resulting "translation" was in fact written by occultist Robert Turner, but it was far truer to the Lovecraftian version than the Simon text and even incorporated quotations from Lovecraft's stories in its passages.

Historical "Books of the Dead", such as the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead or the Tibetan Bardo Thodol, are sometimes described as "real Necronomicons". They should not be confused with the Lovecraft Necronomicon, since their contents are meant to be read to and remembered by the dead, rather than to be used by the living to summon the dead. Lovecraft may have been inspired by these books.

Anti-occult campaigner Patricia Pulling suggests that some people use the Necronomicon in ritual. In her publication Interviewing Techniques for Adolescents — in which she attempts to draw parallels between Dungeons & Dragons and ritual magic — she includes a list of questions to be used by police investigating occult-related youth crimes. The first question is, "Has he read the Necronomicon or is he familiar with it? ... This will help determine if the individual has a working knowledge of the occult, and if his gaming abilities lean more to the dark side which could give cause or reason for bizarre behavior."^[8]

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] Literature

• The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (A guide to Lovecraftian Horror) Expanded and Revised second edition by Daniel Harms. A Chaosium Book, Call Of Cthulu Fiction #6022.
• In the novel Peace by Gene Wolfe, the narrator engages in a lengthy conversation with a man who fakes and sells books, including one that, though unnamed, is clearly meant to be the Necronomicon.
• In the novel The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, Randal Flagg reads a book meant to fit the description of the Necronomicon.
• The novel "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton lists the Necronomicon in its bibliography.
• The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett makes a few references to a similar book that exists within that universe by the name of Necrotelecomnicon. Good Omens also mentions the volume.
• The "Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson contains numerous references to the Necronomicon as an actual text (within the context of the fictional story) that is related to the overall conspiracy about which the trilogy is written.
• Many roleplaying game publishers have also played on the theme for effect. Examples include the Draconomicon[2] by Wizards of the Coast and The Koboldnomicon [3] by Bards and Sages (in which Simon allegedly wrote an introduction).

[edit] Film

• The Necronomicon appears in "The Haunted Palace", a 1965 horror film directed by Roger Corman and featuring Vincent Price. Named after the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, it actually derived its plot from a short story by H. P. Lovecraft named The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
• In the American horror film The Evil Dead, and its sequels Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, the Necronomicon ex Mortis is described as a text from ancient Sumeria, "bound in human flesh and inked in blood", that can resurrect demons and turn humans into monsters. The book is similar in many ways to Lovecraft's, but was not initially inspired by it; writer and director Sam Raimi based the book in his film on Sumerian mythology and the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. The name, however, was taken from the Cthulhu Mythos.^[9] In Army of Darkness, it is established that the only way to safely open and use the Necronomicon ex Mortis (without unleashing the evil powers within the book) is to speak the words "Klaatu barada nikto" before touching it.
• The Necronomicon that appeared in the Evil Dead series also appeared very briefly in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday.
• The Necronomicon is an indie movie found on Youtube.

[edit] Television

• In the teleplay "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture" on Rod Serling's Night Gallery, the Necronomicon is scoffed at by a college professor in his class which leads to horrifying consequences. In another Night Gallery teleplay titled "The Return of the Sorcerer" (based on the story by Clark Ashton Smith), a sorcerer hires a translator to give meaning to the Arabic found in his ancient manuscript, the Necronomicon, that has some grisly connection with his twin brother's death.
• In an episode of the first season of the "New Twilight Zone"(1985), which is entitled "Gramma" and was written by Stephen King, a little boy accidentally finds a copy of the Necronomicon, hidden under the floor in his grandmother's bedroom.
• In the second episode of the stop motion-animated series Moral Orel, Orel uses it to raise the dead in the local graveyard.
• In the Venture Brothers episode "Trial of the Monarch", Doctor Orpheus swears an oath on an Evil Dead-style Necronomicon instead of a Bible.
• In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frylock accidentally pulls the Necronomicon out instead of the Bible to teach Meatwad about Christianity.
• In Metalocalypse, the band Dethklok manages to summon a troll with the lyrics of one of their songs that was taken from a Finnish Necronomicon.
• It appears in the Masters of Horror episode titled "Dreams in the Witch House".
• Mystery of the Necronomicon is an H anime that centers around a Necronomicon similar to Lovecraft's.
• In The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Collect Call of Cthulhu" (a reference to a Lovecraft tale), the plot turns on the exhibit in New York of the Necronomicon, which is later stolen and Cthulhu is summoned. An expert brought from Miskatonic University in Arkham (Lovecraft's fictional places) helps the heroes send Cthulhu back to sleep, and several mentions to Lovecraft's imagery can be found.
• In a Simpsons episode entitled "Brawl in the Family", Mr. Burns wraps up a meeting of the Republican Party by saying, "And now Bob Dole will read from the Necronomicon." Dole is shown standing in a dark robe and begins reading in Latin. In another episode, "Barting Over", Lisa finds a copy in the family's garage while spring cleaning.
• In an episode of Justice League Unlimited, Hawkgirl picks a book based on the Evil Dead version off of a bookshelf in Tartarus.
• In an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, in a mockery of the film The Touch of Satan a character mentions that a family has a signed copy of the Necronomicon. Another character then says 'You guys scare me, ha ha ha, signed Satan'.
• 'You guys scare me, ha ha ha, signed Satan' Is also used in a Skinless song "Execution of Reason"
• The Necronomicon also appeared in the animation Demonbane, not as the book but as reincarnation as Al Azif which is another reference to Lovecraft's work.
• It was featured in an episode of the anime "Sorcerer Hunters".

[edit] Music

• The song "The Thing That Should Not Be" by heavy metal band Metallica includes two loosely quoted lines from the Necronomicon. Metallica also wrote a song called "The Call of Ktulu" (misspelling intentional) which is featured on their albums 'Ride the Lightning' and 'S&M'.
• Mercyful Fate have a song called "The Mad Arab". Written about the 'author' Abdul Alhazred and his experiences in writing the Necronomicon. It is from their album Time.
• Psychobilly band Nekromantix wrote a song titled "Necronomicon."
• Canadian heavy metal band Necronomicon have released four albums to date: (1991-Morbid Ritual (demo); 1996-Silver Key (EP); 1999-Pharaoh of Gods; 2003-The Sacred Medicines). The Québec band's album The Sacred Medicines boasts some Native Canadian tribal influences. They are currently working on their 3rd full-length album, The Return of the Witch, expected to be released in late '06 or early '07. (The band could be compared to bands like Sepultura, Opeth.)
• The industrial metal group Electric Hellfire Club released an album in 2002 entitled Electronomicon.
• Gothic band Nox Arcana released their second album in 2004 entitled Necronomicon with songs containing language and sound effects based on Lovecraft's literary works. The "language" specifically refers to some of the fantasy words and phrases created by Lovecraft.
• The song "Twisted" from the 2001 album AngHellic by rapper Tech N9ne contains a brief reference to forcing Christians to read the Necronomicon to their children.
• The Misfits have a live album called Necronomicon which was recorded on Christmas.
• John Petrucci of the band Dream Theater wrote songs called "Necronomicon: Prologue" and "Necronomicon: Epilogue" for the game Digital Pinball: Necronomicon.
• Midwestern thrash metal band Shrapnel released a song in 2006 entitled "Necronomicon."
• Goth Metal band Cradle of Filth has a song called "Cthulhu Dawn"
• Metal band Therion has a song called 'Dagon' taken from a sea creature of the Mythos by the same name.
• Black Sabbath has a song in their first album, during a medly, entitled "Beyond the Walls of Sleep"
• Devil'z Rejects have an album called Necronomicon
• Iron Maiden´s Life after Death live album's cover has the inscription

  That is not dead which can eternal lie.
  Yet with strange aeons even death may die.

• The song Dead by Dawn from Death metal band Deicide has references to the Necronomicon.

[edit] Comics

• In the comic book Lovecraft, by Keith Giffen and Enrique Breccia, based on a movie script by Hans Rodinoff, H. P. Lovecraft as a young child discovers the Necronomicon among books left by his late father.
• The Necronomicon is referenced in webcomics like Sinfest and Perry Bible Fellowship. In the webcomics Penny Arcade and Megatokyo, it appears as the Necrowombicon, with the comics' wombat icon on the cover.
• In an issue of Frank the Comic (based on the Livejournal mascot), the butler character makes reference to the NecronomWIKon, which is "the open-source book of the dead anyone can edit", a reference to Wikipedia.[4]
• In the Elf Only Inn webcomic, on the fictional Marauders of Gaia MMORPG, a book called the Nexromrun.icon is an object from the Beta period of the game that is both a level editor and a character editor. In essence, it grants the owner of it virtual omnipotence in the game. Many characters in the comic want to get their hands on it.
• In issue 27 of Preacher by Garth Ennis the vampire Cassidy is looking through the book collection of another vampire named Eccarius. On the shelf is a copy of The Necronomicon.

[edit] Video games

• The PC game Alone in the Dark was based on the Necronomicon and Cthulhu mythos.
• One of the raid bosses in the game World of Warcraft (C'Thun) is a parody of Cthulhu.
• The Necronomicon frequently appears as a prop in video games, such as Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Symphonia, Wild Arms, The Dark Heart of Uukrul, Max Payne and Castlevania.
• Dagon is a boss in the video game Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
• A monster closely based on Cthulhu appears in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. In US versions he is mistakenly named Malachi.
• The game Digital Pinball: Necronomicon, released only in Japan for the Sega Saturn, is filled with references to the book.
• The Necronomicon is an important element in the plots of Wolf Team's Earnest Evans and El Viento.
• In the game Eternal Darkness--which is inspired by Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos--a book called the "Tome of Eternal Darkness" is a primary item which the game revolves around. It is a book of mixed history and magical spells, bound in human skin, visually similar to the Evil Dead Necronomicon.
• Necronomicon: The Gateway to Beyond is an RPG game inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft published by DreamCatcher. (2001, ISBN 1-55345-073-6)
• Necronomicon: Warcraft III - Defense of the Ancients has a powerful book item named Necronomicon with three levels of upgrade. The in-game item description reads: "Considered the holy grail of necromancy and demonology, a powerful malefic force is locked within its pages."
• The older computer game "Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness" featured a corrupted monastery in which there is a copy of an extremely dangerous evil book called the "Necrophilion," which had once belonged to evil cult members. The fictional book's title would mean "related to lovers of death," or "pathological paraphilia related to death" in Greek. This game also has many other Lovercraftian references, subtly altered to avoid copyright infringement.
• "Golden Sun: The Lost Age", an RPG for the Gameboy Advance, contains an item called the Tomegathericon, which allows access to the class 'Necromage' when equipped.

[edit] Other

• Necronomicon is also the name of an annual science fiction, fantasy, and horror convention held in Tampa, Florida. [5]
• Necronomicon/Cthulhu Forum German [6]
• Necronomicon is the name of an annual roleplaying convention held in Sydney, NSW, Australia. [7]
• There is a big biological taxonomy website called http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/Taxonomicon/ .

[edit] Commercially available versions

• Al Azif: The Necronomicon by L. Sprague de Camp (1973, ISBN 1-58715-043-3)
• Necronomicon by "Simon" (1980, ISBN 0-380-75192-5)
• The Gates of the Necronomicon by "Simon" (2006, ISBN 0-060-89006-1)
• H.R. Giger's Necronomicon by H.R. Giger (1991, ISBN 0-9623447-2-9)
• Necronomicon II by H.R. Giger
• The Necronomicon edited by George Hay (1993, ISBN 1-871438-16-0)
• Necronomicon: The Wanderings Of Alhazred by Donald Tyson (2004, ISBN 0-7387-0627-2)
• Necronomicon Plush Book by Toy vault (not an actual book, but rather a novelty collectible parodying the format of children's pop-up books).

[edit] See also

• Chaldean mythology
• Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature
• Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture
• False document
• Grimoire
• Necronomicon Press
• Simon Necronomicon

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Primary sources

• Lovecraft, Howard P. (1985). in S. T. Joshi (ed.): At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels, 7th corrected printing, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-038-6.  Definitive version.
  • The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
  • "The Statement of Randolph Carter"
• Lovecraft, Howard P. (1986). in S. T. Joshi (ed.): Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, 9th corrected printing, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-039-4.  Definitive version.
  • "The Festival"
  • "The Hound"
  • "The Nameless City"
• Lovecraft, Howard P. (1984). in S. T. Joshi (ed.): The Dunwich Horror and Others, 9th corrected printing, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-87054-037-8.  Definitive version.
  • "The Dunwich Horror"
• Lovecraft, Howard P. A History of The Necronomicon. West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press. ISBN 0-318-04715-2. 

[edit] Secondary sources

• Harms, Daniel; John Wisdom Gonce III. The Necronomicon Files. Red Wheel Weiser. ISBN 1-57863-269-2. 
• Joshi, S. T.; David E. Schultz (2001). An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31578-7. 
• Papers Falling From An Attic Window. Retrieved on July 9, 2006.
• The Pulling Report. Retrieved on May 8, 2006.
• Wildside/Owlswick Necronomicon (2006-12-19). Retrieved on March 3, 2007.
• Hill, Gary (2006). The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H. P. Lovecraft. Music Street Journal. ISBN 978-1-84728-776-2. 

[edit] External links

• "History of the Necronomicon", by H. P. Lovecraft
• "The Wikinomicon", an online Necronomicon that anyone can edit.
• "The Necronomicon: A Study", from The Cthulhu Mythos: A Guide
• Sumerian copy of the Necronomican, a purported translation, circa 1985
• [8] Collection of Necronomicon quotes with sources