Chthonians
Created: February 2017
| Updated: February 2017
This article uses material from the Chthonians article on the Lovecraft wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
Overview
Chthonians (/ˈθoʊniənz/; from Greek: chthon, "earth") are massive burrowing worm-like creatures. The species is the creation of Brian Lumley and was first featured in his short story "Cement Surroundings" (1969)—though the creature never made a direct appearance. The chthonians had a more prominent role in Lumley's novel The Burrowers Beneath (1974), whose title was taken from one of the stories said to have been written by Robert Blake in Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark."
Summary
—Brian Lumley, The Burrowers Beneath
Chthonians are described as immense squids, with elongated worm-like bodies coated with slime. Despite their squid-like appearance, chthonians are land-dwellers and are even harmed by water. Chthonians are powerful burrowers, live for more than a thousand years, and are protective of their young. It is said that a chanting sound accompanies every chthonian, and that by such they can be detected while underground and unseen.
The most important individual chthonian is the gigantic Shudde M'ell, which is worshiped by the rest.
In Greek mythology, "chthonian" refers to beings that inhabit the underworld; they are considered to be the dark, shadowy counterparts of the Olympians.