OORN "Oorn, though a creature of extremely doubtful nature, was the virtual ruler of Zeth. It obviously belonged somewhere in the outer abyss, but had blundered into Zeth one night and suffered capture by the shamith priests. The coincidence of Its excessively bizarre aspect and Its innate gift of mimicry had impressed the sacred brothers as offering vast possibilities, hence in the end they had set It up as a god and an oracle, organising a new brotherhood to serve It—and incidentally to suggest the edicts it should utter and the replies It should give." "For a moment—as the ritual prescribed—he stayed in this abased position, and when he arose the dais was no longer empty. Unconcernedly munching something the priests had given It was a large pudgy creature very hard to describe, and covered with short grey fur. Whence It had come in so brief a time only the priests might tell, but the suppliant knew that It was Oorn." "Having tidily finished Its food, Oorn raised three small reddish eyes to Yalden and uttered certain words in a tone of vast decisiveness:

“Gumay ere hfotuol leheht teg.”

After this It vanished suddenly in a cloud of pink smoke which seemed to issue from behind the curtain where the acolytes were."

Sel

October 25, 2011 at 12:23 PM

“Gumay ere hfotuol leheht teg.”

"Get the hell out of here ya mug." backwards

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‘The acolytes then came forth from their hiding-place and spoke to Yalden, saying: “Since you have pleased the deity with your concise statement of a very deplorable state of affairs, we are honored by interpreting its directions. The aphorism you heard signifies no less than the equally mystic phrase ‘Go thou unto thy destination’ or more properly speaking, you are to slay the monster-wizard Anathas, and replenish the treasury with its fabled hoard.”

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if mug meant the same thing when the story was written...

“mug is london slang probably cockney. as it is used mostly by londoners and people from essex. it means a stupid, gullible person. someone easily taken advantage of. “

Then I can’t believe this is a coincidence.

Oorn is saying this to a guy about to be swindled by its “worshippers”

Oorn is a Great Old One from the Cthulhu Mythos. She appears as a huge tentacled mollusc with appendages that spray digestive acids. She is worshipped by the men of Leng and the moon-beasts, and there is a temple devoted to her near Sarkomand in the Dreamlands.

Oorn was first written about by Brian Lumley in the 1987 book Mad Moon of Dreams. She is the husband of Mnomquah.

Image source.

Monster master list.

OORN "Oorn, though a creature of extremely doubtful nature, was the virtual ruler of Zeth. It obviously belonged somewhere in the outer abyss, but had blundered into Zeth one night and suffered capture by the shamith priests. The coincidence of Its excessively bizarre aspect and Its innate gift of mimicry had impressed the sacred brothers as offering vast possibilities, hence in the end they had set It up as a god and an oracle, organising a new brotherhood to serve It—and incidentally to suggest the edicts it should utter and the replies It should give." "For a moment—as the ritual prescribed—he stayed in this abased position, and when he arose the dais was no longer empty. Unconcernedly munching something the priests had given It was a large pudgy creature very hard to describe, and covered with short grey fur. Whence It had come in so brief a time only the priests might tell, but the suppliant knew that It was Oorn." "Having tidily finished Its food, Oorn raised three small reddish eyes to Yalden and uttered certain words in a tone of vast decisiveness: 

“Gumay ere hfotuol leheht teg.” 

After this It vanished suddenly in a cloud of pink smoke which seemed to issue from behind the curtain where the acolytes were."

Sel

October 25, 2011 at 12:23 PM

“Gumay ere hfotuol leheht teg.”

"Get the hell out of here ya mug." backwards

---

‘The acolytes then came forth from their hiding-place and spoke to Yalden, saying: “Since you have pleased the deity with your concise statement of a very deplorable state of affairs, we are honored by interpreting its directions. The aphorism you heard signifies no less than the equally mystic phrase ‘Go thou unto thy destination’ or more properly speaking, you are to slay the monster-wizard Anathas, and replenish the treasury with its fabled hoard.”

---

if mug meant the same thing when the story was written

“mug is london slang probably cockney. as it is used mostly by londoners and people from essex. it means a stupid, gullible person. someone easily taken advantage of. “

Then I can’t believe this is a coincidence.

Oorn is saying this to a guy about to be swindled by its “worshippers”