Nodens (Cthulhu mythos)

Nodens (AKA: "Lord of the Great Abyss") originates in Celtic Mythology, before being imported into H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (fiction) (1926).

In the Mythos

And upon dolphins' backs as balanced a vast crenelate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss.... Then hoary Nodens reached forth a wizened hand and helped Olney and his host into the vast shell.
— H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (fiction)

Nodens, usually considered one of the less malevolent of the Elder Gods, is most often known to take the form of a normal human, gray-bearded and hoary, driving a sea-shell-shaped chariot drawn by weird and fantastic sea-beasts on a long circuit across the galaxy and back. Nodens has been known to command the loyalty of some of the Nightgaunts, and to have cooperated with Ghouls and other, even eerier mythos entities, as well as assisting human cultists and dreamers with whom Nodens chooses to ally himself.

Cult

The Cult of Nodens has fallen on waking Earth, all but forgotten except academically to scholars who know the name only by references in dusty old books and crude carvings on toppled altars and ruined temples, and to Dreamers who may know of Nodens through the Dreamlands where the name is still respected and worship among a few isolated fishing villages is still active. Nodens does not often answer prayers or intervene in the world of men, but has on occasion been known to act on behalf of mortals against Nyarlathotep, against whom Nodens and a few other mild Earth gods still rebel, in spite of the risks of angering one such as the Crawling Chaos. Nodens has also been known to transport travelers on his chariot to strange and distant Dreamlands about other stars, though the ride is dangerous and Nodens fickle and forgetful, and his power limited, resulting in such travelers finding themselves stranded in foreboding and malignant places on the side of some strange scenic route to their ultimate destination.

Temple of Nodesn at the Great Abyss

A Temple to Nodesn stands near the Great Abyss, a building without windows constructed out of black masonry. Its twin bronze doors, green with age, stand open and light pours out from the building's interior into the surrounding void. Perched atop the building's lofty roof sit seven Nightgaunts in a row; they appear to be statues carved of the same material as the building, but are actually living specimens. This is one of several shrines to Nodens which exist at various points throughout the Underworld. The interior of the building is a single room which serves both as shrine and residence for Nodens' priest, Nuguth-Yug. The wall directly opposite the doors features a bas-relief of Nodens in all his glory. He is depicted as an anthropomorphic figure with a beard of tentacles, and is variously shown hunting winged octopoidal figures with his trident, or enthroned on a great scallop shell. Before the wall stands a stone altar with a pedestal in the shape of a scallop shell. Inside of this shell stands a small idol of Nodens made of leprous stone. (Chaosium?)

In The Mythos

Nodens is an old Celtic deity, believed to have originated from the iron age period. Originally associated with healing, the sea, hunting and dogs, he was worshiped in ancient Britain, most notably in a temple complex at Lydney Park in Gloucestershire. He is equated with the Roman gods Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Silvanus, and his name is associated with that of the Irish mythological figure Nuada and the Welsh Nudd.

Arthur Machen's novella The Great God Pan (1890) features a Roman pillar dedicated to Nodens. The dedication is made by one Flavius Senilis "on account of the marriage which he saw beneath the shade", and there is a strong hint that Nodens is in fact Pan.

In H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (fiction) (1926), Nodens is an "archaic" god served by the Night Gaunts. He is also depicted as a somewhat benevolent force that opposes the frightening Nyarlathotep.

Associated Mythos Elements

• race: Nightgaunts
• race: Ghouls
• race: Human Cultists
• artifact: Nodens' Chariot of the Gods, a shell-shaped vehicle capable of transporting travelers across the galaxy in mere hours, though the ride is harrowing and the chances of being deposited on a strange world halfway to one's destination are uncertain

References

• fiction: H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (fiction)
• sourcebook: Malleus Monstrorum
• sourcebook: H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands