This page is about the mythological god, the fallen angel, and the Kushite god. For the aquatic monster, possibly one of the Great Old Ones, created by H.P. Lovecraft, please consult this page. A few references might consequently be present on both pages, notably due to the fact both the aquatic monster and the Kushite god were active in the Hyborian Age.
Dagon is one or many beings of multiple origin: Fallen angel, god (degenerated, Hyborian Age death god, Annunaki), demon, gigantic aquatic creature, Old One...).
History
Origins and early years[]
Dagon has multiple origins, or rather many beings have used his names and posed as each other:
- Dagon, also known as Enlil in Sumer and Ellil in Babylon, was the first born son of Anu and Ki, and the Annunaki god of wind and air.[1] The Annunaki were worshiped as far back as the Pre-Cataclysmic Age Atlantis and Valusia.
- Dagon was an angel living in Heaven who, according to unconfirmed sources, became a fallen angel, cast out of Heaven,[14] possibly for participating in Lucifer's rebellion.
- Dagon was an Hyborian death god.[12]
- Dagon was also the name of a gigantic aquatic creature,[12] suspected to be one of the Old Ones[15][12] or a degenerated god.[15]
An connections between between these Dagons remain speculative,[12][15] although at least one form of the Kushite god matches the known form of the Annunaki god.[17]
Annunaki[]
Dagon, the Annunaki
Early years[]
It is speculated that Enlil usurped the name and followers of the monster Dagon who predated him.[12]
Dagon was exiled from Dilmun to the underworld of Irkalla for raping the goddess Ninlil.
He was eventually allowed to return to Dilmun. He was later granted by Anu the Tablets of Destiny, empowering him as supreme organizer of the universe, while Anu served as the Annunaki's figurehead.
Ninlil became his wife at some point.[1]
Great Cataclysm[]
That tale is the Mesopotamian version of the flood-myth, and is presumably meant to be the Great Cataclysm.
At another point, Dagon planned to annihilate humanity with a great flood, but Ea persuaded him to only punish them.[16]
Annunaki Civil War[]
When Tiamat and her son Kingu attacked the Annunaki, Tiamat's minions stole the Tablets of Destiny from Dagon, and Kingu used them as a breastplate granting him great power.
They then started the Annunaki Civil War, Kingu leading Tiamat's monster-progeny armies (horned serpents, snake-dragons, demonic lions, lion-men, scorpion-men, and bull-men) and besieging Dilmun.[18]
Ba'al (with the help of his brother Ea) usurped Dagon's rule, who had succeeded to Anu and whom they perceived as ineffective.[8]
Dagon sired the giant god Ullikummis, made entirely of impenetrable diorite stone, who grew rapidly and chased Ba'al,[1] though he was later defeated by Ba'al and Ea.[8]
As Anu and Dagon proved incapable of ending the war, Ea's son Marduk offered to lead Anu's forces against the armies of Tiamat, and in return would become the supreme ruler of the Annunaki. He slew Tiamat, defeated Kingu, retrieved the Tablets of Power and slaughtered Tiamat's remaining followers. He then was crowned ruler of the Annunaki.[18]
Age of Acheron[]
Dagon was worshiped as a Death God in Kush at least 16,000 BC.[12]
Hyborian Age[]
The following tales could be tied to the Kushite god, as they are tied to Black Coast, but could as well be related to the aquatic monster, as they were set in the Western Ocean.
- An area within the Western Ocean was considered forbidden, to enter being to defy the curse of Dagon, as the black corsair Ahmaan the Merciless had vanished there a century before the Age of Conan.[19]
- The Talons of Dagon were a hoard of ancient jewels, dwarfing the fabled treasure-trove of Cap'n Bloodraven,[20] and as fabled as the Phoenix-Trove or the Treasure of Tranicos.[21]
Dagon became Derketa's husband (Derkata was originally Derketo, a male Shemite god whose story was garbled, and eventually became the goddess Derketa to mate with Dagon).
His statue was one of the many in the Temple of a Thousand Gods of Messantia, in Argos.[6] He was chieftain of Kushite gods.[13] Both Derketo and Dagon were worshiped in the temple of Zembabwei, in gold images.[22]
Age of Conan[]
When Conan and Bêlit came to the Temple of a Thousand Gods to acquire the Iron-Bound Book of Skelos, the priest used his hypnosis powers to have both of them to appear to the other respectively as Dagon and Derketa, for them to fight each other. Conan, triumphing over "Derketa", was able to figure things before he would slay Bêlit.[6]
Antiquity[]
Biblical times[]
The ancient Philistines had a legend about Dagon, the Fish-God,[10] and worshiped him.[23][24]
The Israelites, now including many idol-worshipers, went to battle with the Philistines, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to ensure their victory. Allegedly, due to God being angry with the Israelites who worshiped idols, the Philistines won the battle and took the Ark. They brought it to their city of Ashdod and placed the Ark in the temple of Dagon. The two next nights, the statue of Dagon fell or broke, and the Philistines returned the Ark to the Israelites, as the prophet Samuel had said they would.[24]
Modern Age[]
It is suspected that in recent years, Dagon impersonated Yahweh as El, leading violent factions of Angels, such as the Asura.[12]
Dagon and Asteroth at the Devil's Advocacy
Attributes
Powers
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Notes
- Dagon was an Assyro-Babylonian and Levantine (Canaanite) deity.
- The name was later used by H.P. Lovecraft in the stories "Dagon", adapted by Richard Corben in Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft #1 (August, 2008), and The Shadow Over Innsmouth,[25] as well as by Robert E. Howard, as a Kushite god, for his Conan stories.
- It remains to be seen what relation, if any, exist between the mythological Dagon (considered to be the same as the Kushite god) and Lovecraft's Dagon (the monster and possible Old One) are the same entity in the Marvel Universe,[12][15] where they both exist.
Uzumi and a statue of Dagon in Conan the Barbarian #59 (February, 1976)
- It remains to be seen what relation, if any, exist between the mythological Dagon (considered to be the same as the Kushite god) and Lovecraft's Dagon (the monster and possible Old One) are the same entity in the Marvel Universe,[12][15] where they both exist.
- It should be noted that the "Dagon" present at the Devil's Advocacy in Journey Into Mystery #627 (September 14, 2011) was drawn to resemble Uzumi, Chieftain of the Bird-People of the Silver Isles, from Conan the Barbarian #59 (February, 1976). As both Dagon and Uzumi appeared in the same panel in Conan the Barbarian #59, it is unclear if the depiction of Dagon as Uzumi in Journey Into Mystery #627 was merely a mistake by the artist or rather an intentional decision to have Dagon possessing Uzumi's body or assuming his shape (Uzumi was a Dagon worshipper, and died in Conan the Barbarian #59).
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See Also
- 1 appearance(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 5 minor appearance(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 8 mention(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 10 invocation(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
- 4 image(s) of Dagon (Annunaki) (Earth-616)
Links and References
- Dagon at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
- Dagon at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- Enlil and Dagon at Wikipedia
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Annunaki's profile, Dagon's first paragraph
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; The Annunaki's profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3 ; Council of Godheads' profile
- ↑ Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft #1 ; Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Annunaki's profile, Nergal's paragraph
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Conan the Barbarian #66
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #59
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1 ; Ba'al's profile
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Journey Into Mystery #627
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft #1 ; Dagon
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #197 ; A Night in Messantia
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Annunaki's profile, Dagon's second paragraph
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Conan the Barbarian #62
- ↑ Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 ; Angels' profile
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 ; Demons' profile
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Annunaki's profile, Ea's paragraph
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #59 shows a statue matching the form of Dagon in the Annunaki profile of Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica #1
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Annunaki's profile, Marduk and Kingu's paragraph
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #65
- ↑ Marvel Comics Super Special #2 ; Revenge of the Barbarian
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #67 ; Plunder of Death Island
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #25
- ↑ Bible Tales for Young Folk #2
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Bible Tales for Young People #4
- ↑ Dagon at Wikipedia