The Gods of Pegāna

This is a book that I've reread time and again, usually every year or two. It's a strange one, and there's not much else to compare it to. Ya know the "dramatis personae" section that's included with many books of mythology, prefacing the stories that make up the bulk of those books? The Gods of Pegana has that, too... except that this is, essentially, all that it consists of. Lord Dunsany took the concept of "dramatis personae" and raised it to the level of poetry. Each invented god is beautifully described and given its own set of quirks. It actually gets really funny in a bleak kind of way. "Seinfeld" and the "Road Runner" cartoons taught us that nihilism is funny, right? The most notable case is that of Mung, Pegana's god of death. show more Every time Mung shows up to claim some stupid, arrogant human's life, he "makes the sign of Mung." The repetition involved renders it absurd to the point where I can't help but chuckle.

One day as a man trod upon the road that Kib had given him to tread he came suddenly upon Mung. And when Mung said: "I am Mung!" the man cried out: "Alas, that I took this road, for had I gone by any other way then had I not met with Mung."

The reader can see where both Lovecraft and Tolkien were inspired by this. Lovecraft, of course, took reign of the nihilistic aspects of indifferent supernatural beings and accelerated that indifference into misanthropy in order to turn them into horrific alien powers that have every interest in enslaving or destroying humanity. Tolkien, on the other hand, took the idea of an invented mythology and tamed it to give it a more traditional flavor that would allow him to capture the essence of old Europe. There's something of Dunsany's Kib in Tolkien's Yavanna, and something of Mana-Yood-Sushai in Illuvatar. It's unfortunate that these influences are mostly what come to mind when The Gods of Pegana is mentioned, because Dunsany's work is a remarkable work of art on its own. show less

While there are some humorous moments — such the chapter "Of how Imbaun Spake of Death to the King" ending with Imbaun being led away, "And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to Kings" (indeed, the procession of prophets who die itself is kind of funny) — they are not enough to offset the tediousness of the mock-serious scriptural tone that Dunsany adopts throughout the book. While I generally like irony and subtle humor, I could not shake the feeling the each chapter is a knowing half-wink by Dunsany asking, "See what I did there?" Yes, I see what was done, and while I don't deny the cleverness and insight behind the story (is it even a story? more like a collection of vignettes...), I am not a huge fan of show more stories that point out their own cleverness and insight.

A lot of people have praised Dunsany for his cleverness in coming up with his own cosmogony, something which (the claim is made) had not done before him but which has been repeated frequently afterwards by writers ranging from Tolkien to Terry Pratchett, and beyond. I think critics in general have not properly placed Dunsany's work here as a logical byproduct of the comparative religious studies taking place in the mid-to-late 19th and early 20th centuries. Books like [b:The Golden Bough|408862|The Golden Bough, Abridged|James George Frazer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1174504446s/408862.jpg|16303733] brought together strange gods and goddesses from different lands, and I suspect for people like Dunsany, many of these gods seemed silly and obviously invented. This is not to say that The Gods of Pegana is an imitation of such comparative studies, but that they appear around the same time seems significant. I would have to look further into it, however, to know if there is a more direct connection.

I also think there is a loose, but important, connection between Dunsany's idea of an invented cosmogony and the creation of angelologies and demonologies, particularly in the medieval and renaissance periods. These types of hierarchies drew from classical and biblical stories, but there were many which seem to have simply invented new angels and demons, or given new powers and authorities to old ones. Such works arguably link back even further to things like Ovid's "Metamorphoses." show less

While there is very still to anarrative found in the book, Lord Dunsany is still able to bring forth a poetical tapestry of vignettes which will make you curious and leave you wanting more about the world of Pegana and its idiosyncratic gods.

The Gods of Pegana is an invented pantheon. This slim book by Lord Dunsany has been tremendously influential, having inspired illustrious personages such as H.P.Lovecraft and J.R.R.Tolkien. And the original illustrations by Sidney Sime are classics by themselves.

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, but the actual reading left me a wee bit disappointed; as this is not a story, rather an idea for one. Dunsany has done a tremendous job of world-building. The Gods are all imagined in detail and exquisitely developed as characters: the language is appropriately archaic and elliptical: and the events described are sufficiently awe-inspiring. However, the book stops there. No story is developed, other than bits and pieces of show more legends and myths here and there.

The Pegana Gods are loosely modelled on the Celtic Pantheon, as the names indicate. However, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI who sleeps and dreams up the universe could be a stand-in for Vishnu, the Hindu preserver God, who does the same thing. And there are also gods for dreams and sleep, and even for stroking cats and dogs!

The Gods of Pegana has done a wonderful job in providing inspiration for The Silimarillion and the Cthulu mythos. That alone should mark it for immortality.

A short and enjoyable read for fantasy/ mythology fans.

PS: This book is available for download on the internet archive. Make sure you download the one with the Sidney Sime illustrations... they are magnificent! show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2155065.html

This is another book available online, complete with illustrations by S.H. Sime. It is quite a remarkable achievement, a short collection of fantasy vignettes illustrating a new pantheon, led by the always-capitalised creator god MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ, who has fallen asleep and must not be woken (which may sound familiar); the people of Pegāna, and their prophets, have a very uneasy relationship with the various deities.

Both J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft, teenagers when it was first published, claimed to have been inspired by The Gods of Pegāna and one can see the links, though of course they took it in quite different directions. (Lovecraft also mentions Sime's art, and one can see its show more influence in Tolkien's drawings too.) Looking at it from the other direction, you can detect the influence of W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, both of whom Dunsany would ave known well, along with perhaps some elements from his mother's cousin Sir Richard Burton. But Dunsany took all of these and made his own secondary creation; I don't think it is mch of an exaggeration to say that he helped set the tone for a whole genre. show less

This this slim volume, Dunsany created his own pantheon and a bare-bones mythology to go with it. It reads like poorly written Hesiod-inspired fan fiction. And I'll just leave it at that.