Episodes 104 -- 107: The Shadow Out of Time

[TheSnark]

EDIT by Genus Unknown: We had a couple of different SOOT threads, including one that was started many months before the episode came out (and was itself split from the At the Mountains of Madness discussion), and another started by Chris Lackey in anticipation of the podcast episode. In an effort to keep things relatively organized, I have merged the threads, but I still wanted Mr. Lackey's post to be first because it's his show. The only way I could do that was to crudely wedge his post into the first post of the old thread in the form of a quote, which you will find below. It's messy, and kind of counterproductive to my original goal of keeping things organized, but I can't undo it, so let's just make the best of things. The best-laid plans of mice and shoggoths, etc. ...

I don't know if I've ever done this before, but I thought it might be a good idea to see if any of you guys have anything you want to add to the show. Like an idea about the story or a tidbit or something. If I have it in my notes already, you get no shout out. But if I do, we'll mention that you said it on the forums.

Sound cool? Lame? Squamous?

... we now return you to your regularly-scheduled thread-reading.

...

(split from At the Mountains of Madness episode discussion)

As to the discussion of what the Pnakotic Manuscripts are, personally, I've always thought they were - you know - manuscripts from Pnakotus.

Think about it - the Great Race Race of Yith have been abducting huge numbers of individuals of all languages, races, species, and eras and making them write out manuscripts explaining their society and history.
After the Yith have abandoned ancient Earth under the attacks of the Flying Polyps, the various other prehuman races must have stumbled across these writings - some in a language vaguely related to their own, and realised that they foretold the future.

Sneaking past the flying polyps to grab new fragments and/or trying to translate them must have been a full-time occupation for adventurers and scholars for millions of years, especially as new languages formed and old ones shifted and thus new fragments became comprehensible...


That's my theory and it makes sense to ME, dammit!

[Genus Unknown]

As to the discussion of what the Pnakotic Manuscripts are, personally, I've always thought they were - you know - manuscripts from Pnakotus.

Think about it - the Great Race Race of Yith have been abducting huge numbers of individuals of all languages, races, species, and eras and making them write out manuscripts explaining their society and history....

Holy crap! I never made that connection before, mostly because I completely forgot that Pnakotus was the name of the Yithian city (man, it's been awhile since I read "Shadow Out of Time"). But you're right! Pnakotus is totally the name of the Yithian city, and once you realize that, the clear implication is that the Pnakotic Manuscripts is a product of Pnakotus, and the manuscripts we know of from Pnakotus are the product of abducted minds from all over time and space...

That's such a cool payoff! The Pnakotic Manuscripts is (IIRC) the very first "forbidden tome" that Lovecraft introduces, waaaaay back in "Polaris," and it finally gets some context in one of HPL's very last stories.

My mind has been blown.

(Genus Unknown - You really couldn't understand what Culbard was saying?
That's a really mild accent)

Well, I may have exaggerated a little for comic effect. It was mostly the audio quality from the phone, really.

[Bob Lovecraft]

As to the discussion of what the Pnakotic Manuscripts are, personally, I've always thought they were - you know - manuscripts from Pnakotus.

Think about it - the Great Race Race of Yith have been abducting huge numbers of individuals of all languages, races, species, and eras and making them write out manuscripts explaining their society and history.
After the Yith have abandoned ancient Earth under the attacks of the Flying Polyps, the various other prehuman races must have stumbled across these writings - some in a language vaguely related to their own, and realised that they foretold the future.

Sneaking past the flying polyps to grab new fragments and/or trying to translate them must have been a full-time occupation for adventurers and scholars for millions of years, especially as new languages formed and old ones shifted and thus new fragments became comprehensible...


That's my theory and it makes sense to ME, dammit!

Bravo, sir. This is why I listen to the podcast and read the forums. I never would have made that connection. I tip my hat to you.

Bob

[Genus Unknown]

One sign of a really great insight is when it makes everyone else kick themselves for not seeing it earlier. Pnakotus, the manuscripts from Pnakotus, the Pnakotic Manuscripts... it's all so obvious when you put it like that, but man, I've been reading Lovecraft for years and never pieced that together.

[Eric Lofgren]

That is cool! I even just read Shadow Out of Time and I still missed that.

I've always liked the idea of the Necronomicon, but The Pnakotic Manuscripts is just a way cooler name. While the name Necronomicon implies writings about death (re: necro), the name Pnakotic Manuscripts have always left me feeling that it's more about madness and insanity (re: Pnakotic= psychotic).

 

[Genus Unknown]

I always thought of "narcotic," which also fits.

[Eric Lofgren]

True. That does work as well. Narcotic psychotics are definitely Lovecraftian

[Genus Unknown]

Waaaaaiiiiit a second. I just searched "The Shadow Out of Time" for the name Pnakotus, and didn't pull up any results. 

[Bob Lovecraft]

Maybe we should ask Ruth to run a search for the word "Pnakotus" with her miraculous database. Maybe we could pinpoint all of the instances of it's usage or derivative.

Bob

[Genus Unknown]

I've got a disturbingly complete (I say "disturbingly" because it includes his infamous poem "On the Creation of N_____s") Lovecraft collection on my Kindle at home. That's got a search function, I think.

EDIT: Okay, I just searched the complete Lovecraft, and "Pnakotus" doesn't pop up anywhere.

[TheSnark]

Actually, that's a really good point. Although the name 'Pnakotus' has been generally assigned to the Yith's Library City within the Mythos, I don't recall Lovecraft specifically calling it that.

It's very possible that it went the opposite way than I had thought, and the name 'Pnakotus' was derived from the 'Pnakotic Manuscripts' and not the other way around...

[Bob Lovecraft]

AH, sounds like the RPG influenced that bit of mythos history.

Bob

[MediaGhost]

Well, it might not be "orthodox" - but it's still way cool!

[old book]

The term to search for would be the root Pnak. I'll give it a shot and get back to you.

[Bob Lovecraft]

The term to search for would be the root Pnak. I'll give it a shot and get back to you.

Rest easy, friends, Old Book is on the case.

Bob