Monday, September 28, 2015

The Cthulhu Tablet

Letchetane brings us this carved slate tablet based on the one created by Henry Anthony Wilcox in "The Call of Cthulhu".  I'm tempted to call it Mignola-esque, but I think a better explanation is that both artists share a preference for clean, assertive designs.


4 comments:

CoastConFan said...

Again I like the use of natural materials and the fact that you seldom see slate as a medium for carving. At first glance it made me think of a printing plate, with the clean lines and smooth surface. In a way I am itching to see it patinated with some encrustation and some moss growth, but who would want to sully such a fine surface. I also like the mix of Norse Futhark text with an almost Pennsylvania Dutch hex symbol. It’s really quite inventive.

I did some Googling around and found there are a good number of artists working in this medium these days. I remember it was popular in the 1970s, but hadn’t realized that it had made a resurgence. I’m impressed with this new crop of artists and artisans.

De Profundis said...

That is simply beautiful.

Raven said...

Well, my poor eyes are reading the Furthark runes as:

Ph Nglui Mgup Nafh
Cthulhu-r
[nominative form in Norse] Eeh Gah
————
Nagl Fhtagn
Ail Ail Cthulhu Fhtagn
Y Ai Ng Ngah (...?)
Yog Sothoth


I'll leave in your hands the late lamented Candace McBride's excellent Elder Script vocabulary guide to translate this invocation. For instance, "Ail""ai""speak/call/glory to".

Raven said...

(Odd, though, that the first letter of Cthulhu is given as "Sowulo" [ ᛊ the S-rune] rather than "Kenaz" [ < the K-rune]....)