Pnakotic Manuscripts

A set of esoteric texts of great antiquity. Also known as the Pnakotic fragments.

Origin

The Pnakotic Manuscripts are said to be from distant and frozen Lomar [HPL Other (online text), Kadath (online text)]. In ancient Lomar, the Polaris narrator studied the Pnakotic Manuscripts for long hours each day [HPL Polaris (online text)].

However, it appears that some portions of the Pnakotic Manuscripts predate Lomar. Thus,

Some frightful portions of the Pnakotic Manuscripts are too ancient to be read [Other; Kadath].
A few daring mystics have hinted at a pre-Pleistocene origin for the fragmentary Pnakotic Manuscripts. Prof. Dyer said that the Pnakotic Manuscripts have pre-human implications. [HPL Mountains (online text)]
The Pnakotic Manuscripts are alleged to be pre-human [HPL Aeons (online text)].
Parts of the text of the frightful Pnakotic Manuscripts survive physically and directly from the time of the Great Race [HPL Time (online text)].

Contents

The most ancient portions of the Pnakotic Manuscripts include a curious symbol that was later found carved on Hatheg-Kla after Barzai scaled the peak and was taken by the Other Gods [Other; Kadath].

The eighth Pnakotic fragment includes a long ritual, concerning things that existed in the north before the land of Lomar, and even before humanity. Information from that ritual lead George Rogers to the lost city where he found Rhan-Tegoth. [HPL Museum (online text)]

The Pnakotic Manuscripts also include

Hints about the First Gateway, which Randolph Carter recognized partly from the Pnakotic fragments [HPL Gates (online text)].
Whispers of Kadath in the Cold Waste [Mountains].
Sky lore, which the Polaris narrator tried to recall when he fell under the spell of slumber from the Pole Star [Polaris (online text)].
Mention of Tsathogguah [HPL Whisperer (online text)].
Hints of fiendish elder myths about the crinoid Old Ones [Mountains].
A frighted account of Sansu, who climbed Hatheg-Kla in the dreamlands and found only wordless ice and rock [Other].

Surviving Copies

In the dreamlands, Barzai the Wize was familiar with the Pnakotic Manuscripts [Other]. According to a zoog, the Pnakotic Manuscripts were borne into the land of dreams when the hairy cannibal Gnophkehs conquered Lomar. The last copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts lingers in Ulthar, beyond the river Skai. [Kadath (online text)]

In the waking world, the Miskatonic University library had a copy or copies of the Pnakotic Manuscripts:

Haddon found fragments of the Pnakotic Manuscripts among the books of Amos Tuttle. Paul Tuttle donated the book to the Miskatonic University library [AWD Hastur]
Prof. Upton Gardner asked Laird Dorgan to request a copy or photostat of the Pnakotic Manuscripts from Miskatonic University. The papers left on Gardner's desk included pages copied from the Pnakotic Manuscripts. [AWD Dweller]
Tony Alwyn, a librarian at Miskatonic University, knew something of the weird knowledge hidden in the Pnakotic Manuscripts. A recent case involving Ithaqua was clearly related to the mythology so horribly narrated in the Pnakotic Manuscripts [AWD Beyond2].
David, a librarian at Miskatonic University, had delved into the Pnakotic Manuscripts [AWD Sandwin].
Winfield Phillips read from a Pnakotic Manuscript (sic) borrowed from Dr. Seneca Lapham, who in turn had probably borrowed or copied it from the Miskatonic University library [AWD Lurker].
Amos Piper consulted a copy while possessed by a member of the Great Race [AWD Space]. Since Piper was a member of the Miskatonic faculty, he probably consulted the copy at their library.
Laban Shrewsbury made notes from a borrowed copy, which probably came from the Miskatonic University library. Shrewsbury spoke to Andrew Phelan of various esoteric texts, including the Pnakotic Manuscripts.[AWD Curwen] Shrewsbury also told Nayland Colum of the Pnakotic Manuscripts.[AWD Keeper] Shrewsbury told Horvath Blayne that the Cthulhu Mythos sprang from old manuscripts including the Pnakotic Manuscripts.[AWD Island]

A number of copies exist in private hands in the New England area:

Alijah Atwood found a copy among Dr. Jean-Francois Charriere's books and papers [AWD Survivor (online text)].
Robert Blake found a copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts in the deserted church of the Starry Wisdom sect in Providence [HPL Haunter (online text)].
Claiborne Boyd found passages from the Pnakotic Manuscripts among the papers of his late great-uncle Asaph Gilman [AWD Gorge].
The Gable Window narrator found a copy in the house of his late cousin, Wilbur Akeley [AWD Gable (online text)].
Dan Harrop found a copy in the collection of his late cousin, Abel Harrop [AWD Whippoorwills].
Marius Phillips found a copy that had been hidden by his late uncle, Sylvan Phillips [AWD Seal (online text)].
Alonzo Typer read from the text of the Pnakotic Manuscripts in the library of the deserted van der Heyl house, and regretted having come there [HPL Diary (online text)].

George Rogers claimed to have read the prehistoric Pnakotic fragments [Museum (online text)]. We don't know the location of the copy that Rogers read. He lived in London but had also traveled.

Etymology

The mysterious word Pnakotic is not defined. However, Microsoft Bing Chat, on 5/22/2024, generated this fanciful and endearingly poetic etymology:

The prefix “Pna-” could be a variation of “pneuma,” which is Greek for “breath” or “spirit.”

The suffix “-kotic” could be a variation of “cotic,” which might be derived from the Greek “kotikos,” meaning “pertaining to sleeping,” though this is a stretch as “kotikos” is not a standard root.

Combining these, “Pnakotic” could hypothetically mean “pertaining to the spirit of sleep” or “breath of sleep.”

On this interpretation, the term Pnakotic might imply that the content originated in dreams, or it might refer to the fact that the manuscripts were taken from Lomar to the dreamlands.

Related Manuscripts

In Inganok, ceremonies are observed as set forth in scrolls older than the Pnakotic Manuscripts. [HPL Kadath].

The T'yog scroll from ancient Mu had hieroglyphs resembling some symbols found in the Pnakotic Manuscripts. [HPL Aeons (online text)]

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