The Gods of Pegāna · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Gods of Pegāna by Lord Dunsany.
Chapter 1
Dedication
The book is dedicated to Lady Dunsany.
Chapter 2
The Gods of Pegāna
This chapter introduces the pantheon of the gods of Pegāna, describing their domains, attributes, and roles in the cosmic order. It establishes the divine hierarchy and the peculiar, often whimsical nature of these deities, setting the stage for the mythological narrative.
Chapter 3
Of Skarl the Drummer
Skarl, created by Māna-Yood-Sushāī, makes a drum and beats it eternally, causing Māna to fall asleep. The drumming sustains the worlds and gods; if Skarl stops, Māna will awaken and all will end. When the final cessation comes, Skarl will walk into the void, his purpose fulfilled.
Chapter 4
Of the Making of the Worlds
After Māna-Yood-Sushāī creates the gods, they sit in the silent middle of Time and decide to make worlds and celestial bodies to amuse themselves while Māna rests. They create suns, a comet to seek endlessly, the Moon to watch silently, the Star of the Abiding to rest, and finally Earth to wonder.
Chapter 5
Of the Game of the Gods
A million years pass as the gods play with worlds. Kib creates beasts and then men, breaking the silence of Pegāna by speaking with his mouth. The other gods fear for their secret and set a veil between man and ignorance, while Mung sends death among the beasts and men. The gods join Kib's game until Māna-Yood-Sushāī shall arise to rebuke them.
Chapter 6
The Chaunt of the Gods
The gods sing a chaunt acknowledging themselves as mere games of Māna-Yood-Sushāī, who made them and allowed them to create worlds and suns. They play with creation and destruction, but know that when Māna arises and laughs, they will hide their works and the worlds will end.
Chapter 7
The Sayings of Kib
Kib, the Sender of Life, declares his unique identity and recounts the primordial existence of Māna-Yood-Sushāī before the gods, and prophesies the eventual end of all worlds, leaving only Māna-Yood-Sushāī in loneliness.
Chapter 8
Concerning Sish
This chapter introduces Sish, the Destroyer of Hours, who ceaselessly moves forward, with Time as his hound. It describes how Sish once rested in the garden of Wornath-Mavai, a place spared from decay, but now he sends his hours to destroy cities and all things. The chapter ends with the prophecy that Time will one day turn upon the gods, except Māna-Yood-Sushāī.
Chapter 9
The Sayings of Slid
Slid, the small god of waters, declares that mortals should not pray to Māna-Yood-Sushāī, the god of Having Done, but to the small gods who made Death and Pain. He proclaims himself lord of all waters, with his soul in the sea, where he finds ease and exultation. He laments over the bones of those who followed his call to the sea, and foresees a final gathering of all lives at the feet of Māna-Yood-Sushāī.
Chapter 10
The Deeds of Mung
Mung, the Lord of All Deaths between Pegāna and the Rim, travels the Earth and encounters mortals who fear him. He explains the inevitability of death, the fixed nature of the cosmic scheme, and the fleeting nature of sorrow, ultimately severing life from flesh with his sign.
Chapter 11
The Chaunt of the Priests
The priests of Mung chant endlessly to their god, who does not listen. They instruct the people to bring gifts to the priests so that they may cry louder to Mung, hoping that Mung will eventually hear and lift the shadow and tread that darkens their lives.
Chapter 12
The Sayings of Limpang-Tung
Limpang-Tung, the god of mirth and melodious minstrels, reflects on the strange ways of the gods, the inevitability of death and sorrow, and his own role in bringing joy and art to the world. He paints the sky with ever-changing pictures, creates music from nature, and inspires minstrels, yet acknowledges his lesser status among the gods and his inability to understand the deeper scheme of sorrow and death.
Chapter 13
Of Yoharneth-Lahai
Yoharneth-Lahai is the god of little dreams and fancies, who sends dreams from Pegāna to comfort the people of Earth each night. He is so busy that he often confuses the poor man with the king. Those who do not receive his dreams must endure the mocking laughter of the gods. At dawn, he departs and the gods resume their play with men. The truth of dreams versus reality is known only to Māna-Yood-Sushāī, who has not spoken.
Chapter 14
Of Roon, the God of Going
This chapter introduces Roon, the god of Going, who compels all things—worlds, moons, comets, streams, winds, and people—to be in constant motion. It contrasts Roon with the thousand home gods, such as Pitsu, Hobith, Habaniah, Zumbiboo, old Gribaun, Kilooloogung, Jabim, Triboogie, Hish, Wohoon, and Yoharneth-Lahai, who preside over domestic life, stillness, and the cycles of day and night. The chapter emphasizes the restless, unyielding nature of Roon and the inevitable journey he imposes on all beings.
Chapter 15
The Revolt of the Home Gods
The three river gods Eimēs, Zānēs, and Segástrion rebel against the gods of Pegāna by flooding the plain and killing men for pleasure. The gods send Mung to summon Umbool, the drought, who grins at the river gods until they retreat and submit. The river gods return to their proper roles, playing only with fishes and frogs, not men.
Chapter 16
Of Dorozhand
Dorozhand, the god of Destiny, sees all ends and drives both men and gods toward an unknown purpose. Life itself is his instrument, and when his goal is achieved, Māna-Yood-Sushāī will awaken and unmake the gods, possibly restoring lost days.
Chapter 17
The Eye in the Waste
Beyond the seven deserts of Bodraháhn stands the image of the god Hoodrazai, carved by the gods from the living hill Rānorāda. Hoodrazai, once the god of mirth, became silent and sorrowful after learning the secret of Māna-Yood-Sushāī. The camel drivers, hearing this tale, choose wine and laughter over wisdom.
Chapter 18
Of the Thing That Is Neither God nor Beast
The prophet Yadin, doomed by the gods to seek wisdom, journeys into the desert and prays to Hoodrazai. He is carried by three flamingoes beyond the worlds to the Rim, where he encounters Trogool, the Thing that is neither god nor beast, which turns the pages of a great book of all that was and will be. Yadin prays for Trogool to turn back a page, but Trogool refuses, and Yadin is returned to the desert. The chapter explores the limits of knowledge and the inexorable nature of fate.
Chapter 19
Yonath the Prophet
Yonath, the first among prophets, recounts a vision in which Pegāna drew near, revealing the gods but not Māna-Yood-Sushāī. He imparts the central wisdom that man cannot know the purposes of the gods, and that seeking such knowledge is futile. The gods obscure the future with brightness to make it seem better than the present, but all is unchanging in Pegāna. Yonath, weary from his own seeking, counsels against the path of inquiry, affirming only that man knows not.
Chapter 20
Yug the Prophet
After the death of Yonath, men seek a new prophet and choose Yug, who claims to know all things. He speaks of the Beginning and End as centered on himself, but when he witnesses Mung making a divine sign, his identity is undone.
Chapter 21
Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet
After Yug's disappearance, the people appoint Alhireth-Hotep as their prophet, claiming he is as wise as Yug. He declares authority over Life and Death, accepts gifts, and writes that he knows all things because he has spoken with Mung. Mung appears, confronts him, and Alhireth-Hotep is destroyed.
Chapter 22
Kabok the Prophet
Kabok, a prophet who claims to know all things and advises men on Mung's signs, grows arrogant and fat on gifts. When Mung treads in his garden at night, Kabok's fear reveals his ignorance. After three nights, Mung makes the sign of Mung against Kabok, ending his life.
Chapter 23
Of the Calamity That Befell Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
Yūn-Ilāra, a shepherd who fears not Mung, is made prophet and builds the Tower of the Ending of Days, from which he curses Mung daily. Over time, Sish ages him and ivy overtakes the tower. Eventually, weary of life, Yūn-Ilāra prays for death, but Mung never heeds him. His bones remain at the tower's base, his voice still crying for Mung's mercy.
Chapter 24
Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
The people of Sidith, suffering from pestilence, famine, and war, demand their High Prophet Arb-Rin-Hadith confront the gods directly. After the gods refuse to help, the people send him to appeal to Māna-Yood-Sushāī, who is never to be prayed to. Arb-Rin-Hadith climbs Mount Aghrinaun and disappears upon reaching the summit, never to be seen again. Sidith is later destroyed by a fierce tribe.
Chapter 25
Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One
Imbaun is initiated as High Prophet in Aradec, learning that the Secret of Things is faintly writ in an unknown tongue in the Hall of Night, a truth all prophets share. Later, the god Dorozhand appears to him and leads him along the paths of Sish into the future, where he witnesses endless human slaughter, the rise and fall of cities, and a final peace. As the end approaches, Dorozhand pulls him back, and Imbaun realizes that the doom of the gods is hidden from mankind.
Chapter 26
Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
The prophet Imbaun, resting by a river and pondering the sorrow in the Worlds despite the goodness of the gods, encounters an old man who reveals himself as Zodrak, a former shepherd who was brought before the gods in a mirthful mood and, claiming the right of one who has looked upon them, demanded and received the power to bestow riches, love, and wisdom—only to bring poverty, grief, and despair instead. Zodrak, now a fool among the gods, seeks Imbaun's forgiveness, which Imbaun grants, acknowledging that a god may sin against men.
Chapter 27
Pegāna
The prophet Imbaun seeks from the gods the secret of what happens to a man after death, but the gods refuse to reveal it. Yoharneth-Lahai visits Imbaun and speaks of the nature of life and eternity, suggesting that death is but a brief pause. Imbaun, fearing loss of his position, then tells the people a comforting vision of Pegāna as a paradise where the dead dwell with the gods, free from sorrow, and where even enemies are forgiven.
Chapter 28
The Sayings of Imbaun
Imbaun, the Prophet of the gods, contrasts his own painful wisdom with the comforting lies of a false prophet, who tells people what they wish to hear. Imbaun reflects on the limits of human knowledge, the inevitability of fate under Dorozhand, and the quiet beauty of life and death, questioning whether life arises again after death.
Chapter 29
Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
In Aradec, a pestilence causes the King to fear his own mortality. He summons the High Prophet of All the gods save One, who confirms that the King will die. The King responds by asserting his power over the lives of his people until his own death, and has the prophet led away. Thereafter, prophets in Aradec avoid speaking of death to kings.
Chapter 30
Of Ood
This chapter describes the perilous journey to the land of forgotten hills and the Great Temple of One God Only, where the prophet Ood and his drowsy priesthood rest in perpetual stillness, forbidden to work or pray, lest their prayers awaken Māna-Yood-Sushāī and end the worlds.
Chapter 31
The River
This chapter describes the River Imrāna, a river of silence that flows from Pegāna through the skies to the Sea of Silence. It tells of the god Yoharneth-Lahai, who sails a dream-built ship upon this river, weaving the hopes and fancies of people into dreams and returning them to the sleeping worlds. Those weary of worldly clamor may board the ship and drift up the river, passing Sirāmi, the lord of All Forgetting, who relieves them of their memories. The chapter also foreshadows the end of the gods, when they will sail down Imrāna to the Silent Sea.
Chapter 32
The Bird of Doom and the End
The chapter describes the prophesied end of all things, where the bird of doom Mosahn heralds the final destruction. The gods sail away in golden galleons down the River of Silence, never to return, while Māna-Yood-Sushāī remains alone in thought. Time, the hound of the gods, dies after devouring all worlds, and a heretical Saigoth tradition holds that Mung will fight a last battle with Time under Trehágobol, both perishing in the struggle.
