Post originally by Andreas at 2004-03-07 03:55:12
Converted from Phorums BB System

Just a minor note

" but some, like "Dagon" seem quite different (HPL's Dagon being a Deep One, Howard's Dagon being a fertility god). "

Dagon and Dagan are Philistine deitys or they may be the same god. I have read that Dagan generally refers to a agriculture (fertility) deity and that dagon could be another way of spelling it.

However a quick look at the Catholic encyclopedia online contradicts that:

A Philistine deity. It is commonly admitted that the name Dagon is a diminutive form, hence a term of endearment, derived from the Semitic root dag, and means, accordingly, "little fish". The name, therefore, indicates a fish-shaped god.

...

A few scholars, however, waving aside these evidences, consider Dagon as the god of agriculture. This opinion they rest on the following statement of Philo Byblius: "Dagon, that is, corn' [the Hebrew word for corn is dagan]. "

...

It should, perhaps, be admitted that, along the Mediterranean shore, a twofold conception and representation of Dagon were developed in the course of time as a result of the presumed twofold derivation of the name. At, any rate, all scholars agree that the name and worship of Dagon were imported from Babylonia.

from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04602c.htm