Editing Azathoth (section)

===Inspiration===
The first recorded mention of the name Azathoth was in a note Lovecraft wrote to himself in 1919 that read simply, "AZATHOTH—hideous name". Mythos editor [[Robert M. Price]] argues that Lovecraft could have combined the biblical names [[Anathoth]] ([[Jeremiah]]'s home town) and [[Azazel]]—mentioned by Lovecraft in "[[The Dunwich Horror]]".<ref>H. P. Lovecraft, [https://archive.today/20090108052810/http://www.mythostomes.com/content/view/63/70/ "The Dunwich Horror"], ''The Dunwich Horror and Others'', p. 158.</ref> Price also points to the [[alchemy|alchemical]] term "[[Azoth]]", which was used in the title of a book by [[Arthur Edward Waite]], the model for the wizard Ephraim Waite in Lovecraft's "[[The Thing on the Doorstep]]".<ref>Robert M. Price, ''The Azathoth Cycle'', pp. v-vi.</ref>

Another note Lovecraft made to himself later in 1919 refers to an idea for a story: "A terrible pilgrimage to seek the nighted throne of the far daemon-sultan Azathoth."<ref>cited in Price, ''The Azathoth Cycle'', p. vi.</ref> In a letter to [[Frank Belknap Long]], Lovecraft ties this plot germ to ''[[Vathek]]'', a supernatural novel by [[William Thomas Beckford|William Beckford]] about a wicked [[caliph]].<ref>Letter to Frank Belknap Long, June 9, 1922; cited in Price, ''The Azathoth Cycle'', p. vi.</ref> Lovecraft's attempts to work this idea into a novel floundered (a 500-word fragment survives, first published under the title "[[Azathoth (short story)|Azathoth]]"<ref>[http://mythostomes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=70 "H. P. Lovecraft's original fragment, 'Azathoth'"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814112342/http://mythostomes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=70 |date=2007-08-14 }}</ref> in the journal ''Leaves'' in 1938),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data Page for "Azathoth" |url=https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/fiction/az.aspx |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.hplovecraft.com}}</ref> although Lovecraftian scholar Will Murray suggests that Lovecraft recycled the idea into his [[Dream Cycle]] novella ''[[The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath]]'', written in 1926.<ref>Price, ''The Azathoth Cycle'', p. vii.</ref>

Price sees another inspiration for Azathoth in [[Lord Dunsany]]'s [[Mana-Yood-Sushai]], from ''[[The Gods of Pegana]]'', a creator deity "who made the gods and thereafter rested." In Dunsany's conception, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI sleeps eternally, lulled by the music of a lesser deity who must drum forever, "for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more." This oblivious creator god accompanied by supernatural musicians is a clear prototype for Azathoth, Price argues.<ref>Price, ''The Azathoth Cycle'', pp. viii-ix.</ref>