Shub-Niggurath | |
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Cthulhu Mythos character | |
![]() Artistic portrayal of Shub-Niggurath, along with her "Thousand Young" | |
First appearance | "The Last Test" |
Created by | H. P. Lovecraft |
In-universe information | |
Species | Outer God |
Gender | Female |
Title | Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young |
Shub-Niggurath is a deity created by H. P. Lovecraft. She is often associated with the phrase "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". The only other name by which Lovecraft referred to her was "Lord of the Wood" in his story The Whisperer in Darkness.[1]
Shub-Niggurath is first mentioned in Lovecraft's revision story "The Last Test" (1928); she is not described by Lovecraft, but is frequently mentioned or called upon in incantations. Most of her development as a literary figure was carried out by other Mythos authors, including August Derleth, Robert Bloch, and Ramsey Campbell.
Lovecraft explicitly defined Shub-Niggurath as a mother goddess in The Mound, where he calls her "Shub-Niggurath, the All-Mother".[2] He describes her as a kind of Astarte in the same story.[2] In Out of the Aeons, she is one of the deities siding with humanity against "hostile gods".[3]
August Derleth classified Shub-Niggurath as a Great Old One, but the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game classifies her as an Outer God. The CthulhuTech role-playing game, in turn, returns to Derleth's classification of Shub-Niggurath as a Great Old One.