Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegāna (1911 illustrated edition)
Skarl the Drummer
Skarl belongs to Lord Dunsany’s invented mythology of Pegāna. After Mana-Yood-Sushai makes him and the gods, Skarl begins to drum; weariness and the sound send the creator to sleep. His continuing rhythm gives the gods time to carry out their work. The narrator offers two accounts of the worlds and suns: echoes of the drumming, or dreams stirred in the sleeper’s mind. Neither is settled as certain. When the drumming finally stops, Mana will wake and the existing gods and worlds will end. Skarl then walks into the void with his drum, his own future left open.
Also known as Skarl
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In the sources
A rhythm that sustains the worlds
DocumentedWithin the story, Skarl drums Mana-Yood-Sushai to sleep and continues so that the gods can do their work.
An uncertain origin
DocumentedThe narrator records rival explanations of the worlds as echoes or dreams and explicitly leaves their truth unknown.
Context & interpretation
This account follows the complete two-page chapter “Of Skarl the Drummer” in Dunsany’s literary mythology. The book presents alternatives and uncertainty within that imagined world.
Original passages
Source 1
The Gods of Pegāna
but none knowethOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Gods of Pegāna, “Of Skarl the Drummer”, printed p. 2
Actual 1911 Pegana Press Reader image inspected; printed text checked directly. Literary narrative, not testimony about historical supernatural events.
- Edition
- IMJ-0254-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0254-E001-P0008
- Original scan leaf
- 16
- Recorded leaf number
- 16
- Current Reader position
- 9
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Source 2
The Gods of Pegāna
the work of Skarl is overOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Gods of Pegāna, “Of Skarl the Drummer”, printed p. 3
Actual 1911 Pegana Press Reader image inspected; printed text checked directly. Literary narrative, not testimony about historical supernatural events.
- Edition
- IMJ-0254-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0254-E001-P0010
- Original scan leaf
- 19
- Recorded leaf number
- 19
- Current Reader position
- 11
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
