A book of short stories by
Lord Dunsany, published in 1905 and therefore
in the public domain
. Despite its relative obscurity nowadays, it had a great influence on many important fantasy authors, such as
J. R. R. Tolkien,
Ursula K. Le Guin, and
H.P. Lovecraft.
The book is basically an exercise in
World Building by Dunsany - there's little plot to speak of, but many short vignettes. It chronicles a few isolated parts of the history of an invented universe, starting with its creation at the probably metaphorical hands of
Māna-Yood-Sushāī and ending with the apocalypse.
The Gods of Pegāna contains examples of:
- Creation Myth
- Divine Delegation: Most of the interesting (or at least human-relevant) parts of creation are made by the gods that Māna-Yood-Sushāī creates before falling asleep.
- End of the World as We Know It: The End, when even the gods shall die.
- God of Gods: Māna-Yood-Sushāī, who falls asleep early on, after creating the gods. Gods and mortals alike take great care not to wake him up, because when he does, the world and the gods will cease to exist (but, curiously, Skarl the Drummer will survive).
- Great Big Book of Everything: Trogool, the thing that is neither god nor beast, has one.
- Immortality: Yun-Ilara.
- Mythopoeia
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Yun-Ilara spent his youth cursing Mung, the god of death. In retaliation, Mung never takes him, even after everything he knows is dead and he himself is a pile of dust.
- World Building
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