FEATURES OF CARCOSA
- “twin suns sink behind the lake” — “twin suns sink into the lake”
- “where black stars hang in the heavens” — “the night where black stars rise” — “the whole world bow to the black stars which hang in the sky over Carcosa”
- “strange moons circle through the skies”
- “the lake of Hali”
- “along the shore the cloud waves break”
- “the lakes which connect Hastur, Aldebaran, and the mystery of the Hyades”
- “…but I saw the lake of Hali, thin and blank, without a ripple or wind to stir it…”
- “I saw the black stars hanging in the heavens: and the wet winds from the lake of Hali chilled my face.”
- “…outside the fog rolled against the blank window-panes as the cloud waves roll and break on the shores of Hali.”
- “I saw the towers of Carcosa behind the moon. Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
- And now, far away, over leagues of tossing cloud-waves, I saw the moon dripping with spray; and beyond, the towers of Carcosa rose behind the moon.
- “I remembered Camilla’s agonized scream and the awful words echoing through the dim streets of Carcosa. They were the last lines in the first act…”
- In Cassilda’s Song described by the epithets Lost Carcosa, Dim Carcosa.
- “the cloudy depths of Demhe”
- “where flap the tatters of the King”
- “songs that the Hyades shall sing […] must die unheard in Dim Carcosa”
- “where the shadows of men’s thoughts lengthen in the afternoon”
- “the Dynasty in Carcosa” [which Castaigne and Wilde believe somehow came to Earth]
- “the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones”
- “he began the wonderful story of the Last King” [Wilde believes to be Louis and/or Castaigne]
- “the people should know the son of Hastur”
- “King by my right in Hastur, King because I knew the mystery of the Hyades”
FEATURES OF THE PLAY
- “Cassilda’s Song” appears in Act I, Scene 2
- “the very banality and innocence of the first act only allowed the blow to fall afterward to more awful effect”
- “No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged.”
- “I remembered Camilla’s agonized scream and the awful words echoing through the dim streets of Carcosa. They were the last lines in the first act…”
- “I thought, too, of the King in Yellow wrapped in the fantastic colours of his tattered mantle, and that bitter cry of Cassilda, “Not upon us, oh King, not upon us!””
- “I thought of The King in Yellow and the Pallid Mask.”
- “my mind will bear forever the memory of the Pallid Mask”
- “we murmured to each other of the King and the Pallid Mask”
- “we spoke of Hastur and Cassilda” [after reading the play]
EFFECTS OF READING THE PLAY
- “my eyes became riveted to the open page [at the beginning of Act 2], and with a cry of terror, or perhaps it was of joy so poignant that I suffered in every nerve, I snatched the thing out of the coals”
- “the book spread like an infectious disease, from city to city, from continent to continent”
- “For those poisoned words had dropped slowly into my heart, as death-sweat drops upon a bed-sheet and is absorbed.”
- “…a mind benumbed and yet acutely sensitive (…) for I had been reading The King in Yellow”
- “She seemed dazed, and when I told her to lie down on the sofa she obeyed me without a word. After a while she closed her eyes and her breathing became regular and deep, but I could not determine whether or not she slept. For a long while I sat silently beside her, but she neither stirred nor spoke, and at last I rose, and, entering the unused store-room, took the book in my least injured hand. It seemed heavy as lead, but I carried it into the studio again, and sitting down on the rug beside the sofa, opened it and read it through from beginning to end.When, faint with excess of my emotions, I dropped the volume and leaned wearily back against the sofa, Tessie opened her eyes and looked at me.”
- “I knew that she knew and read my thoughts as I read hers, for we had understood the mystery of the Hyades and the Phantom of Truth was laid.”
PROPER NAMES
Alar
- “Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
Aldebaran
- “When from Carcosa, the Hyades, Hastur, and Aldebaran…” [opening line of Imperial Dynasty of America]
- “…the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades…”
- “Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
- See Hyades, below.
Aldones
- “Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones…”
Camilla
- Speaks to the Stranger in Act I, Scene of The King in Yellow.
- “I remembered Camilla’s agonized scream and the awful words echoing through the dim streets of Carcosa. They were the last lines in the first act…”
- “He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali.”
Carcosa
- A city. See Features of Carcosa, above.
Cassilda
- Sings a song in Act I, Scene 2 of The King in Yellow.
- “He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali.”
- “…that bitter cry of Cassilda, ‘Not upon us, oh King, not upon us!’”
Demhe
- “He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali.”
Dynasty in Carcosa
- See Features of Carcosa, above.
Hali
- A lake in Carcosa, where “the cloud waves break.”
- “where the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali”
- “He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali.”
- “At last I was King, King by my right in Hastur, King because I knew the mystery of the Hyades, and my mind had sounded the depths of the Lake of Hali. I was King!”
- “…I saw the lake of Hali, thin and blank, without a ripple or wind to stir it…”
- “I saw the black stars hanging in the heavens: and the wet winds from the lake of Hali chilled my face.”
- “…outside the fog rolled against the blank window-panes as the cloud waves roll and break on the shores of Hali.”
Hastur
- “When from Carcosa, the Hyades, Hastur, and Aldebaran…” [opening line of Imperial Dynasty of America]
- “I [Castaigne] thought of Hastur and of my own rightful ambition…”
- “…the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades…”
- “the people should know the son of Hastur” (See Imperial Dynasty of America, below.)
- “At last I was King, King by my right in Hastur, King because I knew the mystery of the Hyades, and my mind had sounded the depths of the Lake of Hali. I was King!”
- “Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
Hyades
- “songs that the Hyades shall sing, where flap the tatters of the King, must die unheard in Dim Carcosa”
- “When from Carcosa, the Hyades, Hastur, and Aldebaran…” [opening line of Imperial Dynasty of America]
- “…the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades…”
- “At last I was King, King by my right in Hastur, King because I knew the mystery of the Hyades, and my mind had sounded the depths of the Lake of Hali. I was King!”
- “Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
- “I knew that she knew and read my thoughts as I read hers, for we had understood the mystery of the Hyades and the Phantom of Truth was laid.”
Imperial Dynasty of America
- A text written by Mr. Wilde (“The Repairer of Reputations”).
- “…from the beginning, ‘When from Carcosa, the Hyades, Hastur, and Aldebaran,’ to ‘Castaigne, Louis de Calvados, born December 19th, 1877…’” Also: “‘Hildred de Calvados, only son of Hildred Castaigne and Edythe Landes Castaigne, first in succession,’ etc. etc.”
- “Mr. Wilde explained the manuscript, using several volumes on Heraldry, to substantiate the result of his researches. He mentioned the establishment of the Dynasty in Carcosa, the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades. He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali. “The scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill forever,” he muttered, but I do not believe Vance heard him. Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones, and then tossing aside his manuscript and notes, he began the wonderful story of the Last King.”
- “the people should know the son of Hastur”
- “Woe! woe to you who are crowned with the crown of the King in Yellow!”
King in Yellow [play]
- See Features of the Play, above.
King in Yellow [individual]
- [of Castaigne’s crown] “The King in Yellow might scorn it, but it shall be worn by his royal servant.”
- “The scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill forever…”
- “Woe! woe to you who are crowned with the crown of the King in Yellow!” (See Imperial Dynasty of America, above.)
- “…the King in Yellow wrapped in the fantastic colours of his tattered mantle…”
- “Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts which fluttered and flapped as they passed like the scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow.”
- “Death and the awful abode of lost souls, whither my weakness long ago had sent him, had changed him for every other eye but mine. And now I heard his voice, rising, swelling, thundering through the flaring light, and as I fell, the radiance increasing, increasing, poured over me in waves of flame. Then I sank into the depths, and I heard the King in Yellow whispering to my soul: ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!’”
- “…but still we murmured to each other of the King and the Pallid Mask.”
- “Then, as I fell, I heard Tessie’s soft cry and her spirit fled: and even while falling I longed to follow her, for I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now.” [this said as the dead man comes for the Yellow Sign]
Naotalba
- “Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones…”
Pallid Mask
- “I thought of The King in Yellow and the Pallid Mask.” — “my mind will bear forever the memory of the Pallid Mask”;
- “…every man whose name was there had received the Yellow Sign which no living human being dared disregard. The city, the state, the whole land, were ready to rise and tremble before the Pallid Mask.”
- “…but still we murmured to each other of the King and the Pallid Mask.”
Phantom of Truth
- “Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones…”
- “I knew that she knew and read my thoughts as I read hers, for we had understood the mystery of the Hyades and the Phantom of Truth was laid.”
Phantom of the Past. In “The Prophets’ Paradise,” which is otherwise not directly related to the Yellow Sign mythos, Chambers speaks of the Phantom of the Past.
Stranger
- Speaks to Camilla in Act I, Scene 2 of The King in Yellow.
Thale
- “Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones…”
Uoht
- “Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones…”
Yellow Sign
- “taking with me the jewelled crown and the silken robe embroidered with the Yellow Sign”
- “…every man whose name was there had received the Yellow Sign which no living human being dared disregard. The city, the state, the whole land, were ready to rise and tremble before the Pallid Mask.”
- “Then I unfolded a scroll marked with the Yellow Sign. He saw the sign, but he did not seem to recognize it, and I called his attention to it somewhat sharply.”
- “Have you found the Yellow Sign?”
- “On the pink cotton inside lay a clasp of black onyx, on which was inlaid a curious symbol or letter in gold. It was neither Arabic nor Chinese, nor, as I found afterwards, did it belong to any human script.” [The onyx clasp causes strange dreams and attracts a man long dead in “The Yellow Sign.”]
Yhtill
- “The scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill forever…”
SOURCES OF THE NAMES
The notes below constitute a cursory research into the potential antecedents for the various proper names given above. Many of these are just curiosities and should not, with the exception of astronomical names and the names taken from Ambrose Bierce, be considered an assertion of a name’s source. In most cases, it’s more than likely that Chambers simply invented these names.
Alar: An obscure English word meaning “of or pertaining to wings” (OED). From which, an “alar prolongation,” which is a tapering extension of the cavity within a foraminifera’s shell, usually overlapping but sometimes distorting the creature’s whorls. The name also appears as the middle name of the protagonist in Ambrose Bierce’s “An Inhabitant of Carcosa.” The titular Count Alarcos in Benjamin Disraeli’s Count Alarcos: A Tragedy (1839, first performed 1868) was abbreviated as “Alar” in the speech headings of 19th century editions.
Aldebaran: A star taking its name from the Arabic “al Dabarān,” meaning “follower,” because it seems to follow the Pleiades. It has the appearance of being the brightest star among the Hyades, but we now know it to be unrelated and much older than the Hyades. In 1888, it was discovered to have a binary companion.
Aldones: The Lombards referred to aldermen as “aldones,” apparently detailed in the Origo Gentis Langobardorum. This is mentioned in Charles Oman’s Periods of European History (476-918), p. 182, published in 1893.
Camilla: A common name of probably Etruscan origin. Passing through Latin, it can be found throughout Europe. A Camilla notably appears as a Volsci warrior princess in Virgil’s Aeneid, The name was popularized in English by Frances Burney’s immensely popular novel Camilla: A Picture of Youth (1796). Camilla Urso was a famous 19th-century child prodigy violinist who emigrated to America from France and toured the country extensively from 1855 until she retired in 1895, the same year that Chambers’ The King in Yellow was published.
Carcosa: Taken from Ambrose Bierce’s “An Inhabitant of Carcosa,” where it is the home town of a recently deceased (and disoriented) ghost. (The ghost also sees Aldebaran and the Hyades in the sky “through a sudden rift in the clouds.”)
Cassilda: A common name popular in Spain, possibly of Arabic or Visigothic origin. Saint Casilda of Toledo was a Moorish princess and a locus for a miracle of roses. Cassilda, ou La princesse maure de Tolède by M. L’Abbè G.A.L. was a popular French novel reputedly published in Tours in 1878 (although advertised as available for sale in the back of an 1873 novel) and republished in several editions throughout the late 19th century.
Demhe: No known antecedents, although it does appear to be a rare word in 19th century German texts.
Hali: Taken from Ambrose Bierce’s “An Inhabitant of Carcosa,” where it’s the name of a fictional philosopher.
Hastur: Taken from Amrbose Bierce’s “Haita the Shepherd,” where Hastur is the “god of shepherds.” Chambers also gives the name to an attendant in “The Demoiselle d’Ys.”
Hyades (astronomy): The nearest open star cluster. From Earth it appears in the constellation Taurus, with its brightest stars forming a “V” in combination with Aldebaran. (Aldebaran is located much closer to Earth.)
Hyades (mythology): In Greek myth, the Hyades were the daughters of Atlas (their mother(s) being one of the Oceanid nymphs). Also known as the Rainy Ones. Their names and number are variable. Their brother, Hyas, was a hunter slain by his prey. Their ceaseless weeping for their brother caused Zeus to raise them into the sky as stars. Before their uplifting, they were tutors or nursemaids or consorts of Dionysus. (In some myths, Dionysus gave them the gift of immortality.) Dionysus was, of course, a god associated with masks.
Naotalba: No known antecedents.
Thale: Thales of Miletus was one of the Seven Sages who founded Ancient Greece. “Thale” also means “valley” in German, as well as being the name of a small German town.
Uoht: Likely invented by Chambers. And 1879 article by Rev. Daniel Henry Baigh in the Yorkshire Archaeological and Topological Journal regarding “Yorkshire [Tide] Dials” claims that “uoht” is Old German for the “third tide” at “the beginning of the morning.” There’s no reason to suspect that Chambers knew this.
Yhtill: No known antecedents.
