Shub-Niggurath
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.
| Shub-Niggurath | |
|---|---|
| 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 Goddess |
| Gender | Female |
| Title | Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young |
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". He describes her as a kind of Astarte in the same story. In Out of the Aeons, she is one of the deities siding with humanity against "hostile gods".
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.