# Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530 "2004-03-26T07:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/1 "2004-03-26T07:45:32Z")
Neil Gaiman is one of those authors that I always wanted to try reading but wasn’t sure if I would like and didn’t want to spend good money on a book I wasn’t going to finish. As an avid Terry Pratchett fan, I bought “Good Omens” which I thought was great, but, as an avid fan, it just seemed like a darker version of PTerry’s usual style, particularly as I then followed it up with “Night Watch”. Anyway, thanks to a BookCrossing bookring, I finally decided to give him a go for nothing more than the price of postage to San Antonio. Long story slightly shorter, I really enjoyed “American Gods” and I’ll certainly be looking out for Gaiman next time I’m at Half Price Books or Waterstones, depending which country I’m in. Anyway, on to the question. Most of the gods in the book were either explained, at least in terms of their pantheon, or I could at least take an educated guess at who they were. One has left me completely stumped though - the god who is instantly forgettable. He appears twice as far as I remember - Shadow drives him from the House On The Rock (after the carousel scene) to the restaurant where he is abducted, and, later, he steps up to say something (which was generally agreed upon but, of course, forgotten as soon as the next god stepped up) before the battle begins. Can anyone enlighten me as to who this god is and where he was originally from? Have I just glossed over something in the text that should have told me? Or is it that there is something deeper in his lack of presence that I’m being dumb and missing? ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/2 "2004-03-26T11:33:31Z")
No, you didn’t miss any (obvious) explanation in the book. This has bugged me for a while too. Then I saw this – from the [FAQ](http://www.neilgaiman.com/faq/faq.asp#amgods) at Neil Gaiman’s fabulous [website](http://www.neilgaiman.com): > [@](#): > > \*\*American Gods > > Who was the forgotten God? > > Okay, so who is the God who everyone forgets after meeting him (or at least, who Shadow forgets)? \*\* > > and > > **For the god whose name everyone forgets in American Gods, is there actually a name? If we search long and hard and scour books and web sites and whatnot, is it possible for us to come up with the right answer? Or will we just be searching in vain?** > > and simply > > **who’s the forgotten God?** > > and I really was planning to answer it, but then we got… > > \*\*Okay, so this isn’t so much a question as a request for you to not answer a question that other people are probably going to ask. > > Please don’t reveal the identity of the god/folkloric entity that people always forget, without gigantic neon flashing spoiler signs. > > I think I’m really close to identifying him; so I’m living with the daily terror, as I read the journal, of the cat being let out of the bag… > > You’re a nice author, so I’m sure you understand. Maybe a spoiler section could be set up separately if you do intend to answer this kind of thing? Thank-you!\*\* > > Which I think, as heartfelt pleas go, is pretty heartfelt. And effective. –which of course didn’t help any. Gaaah. By the way, I think that _Neverwhere_ was better than _American Gods._ Give it a shot. Sometimes I think that Neil was trying very hard to write in an “American” style, and it was occasionally a bit forced. (Not that I could define what I mean by “American style” writing…) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/3 "2004-03-26T12:49:00Z")
My theory is that it’s Amun (or Amun-Ra.) ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/4 "2004-03-26T13:39:20Z")
I don’t know who the god was, but I wish he’d visit me so I could forget I read that book. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/5 "2004-03-26T13:47:33Z")
I briefly entertained the notion that it could have been Hypnos, God of Sleep. The Greeks had a godd_ess_ of memory, Menemosyne, but it’s clearly not her. After that, I drew a blank, and decided to leave at least one mystery. 🙂 I tried to read _Neverwhere_, I really did, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’ll have to give it another go at some point, but I found it rather torturous. Not nearly as bad as some I’ve read, but I just couldn’t bear to waste my time when I wasn’t that interested. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/6 "2004-03-26T13:54:28Z")
I knew exactly who he is, but I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/7 "2004-03-26T15:01:27Z")
> [@LunaSea](#): > > My theory is that it’s Amun (or Amun-Ra.) Not that I’m disputing you, but I’d be interested in hearing your argument as to why the god was Amun (or Amun-Ra). My theory was that he was Aten. (If you show me yours…) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/8 "2004-03-26T16:27:43Z")
nitpick: Mnemosyne, not Menemosyne 😃 And no, it wasn’t me! The [American Gods section](http://neilgaimanboard.com/6/ubb.x?cdra=Y&s=733605825) of the Neil Gaiman message boards has more discussion than you want to read about this and about the other gods in the book. You either come out of there convinced its one god or another, or you come out feeling like a total moron - at least that was my experience! Despite my username, I know depressingly little about the various mythologies (I chose the name because I liked the sound of it, and I can be oddly forgetful about some things, and have a sharp memory about bizarre other things). I plan on catching up on my mythology before rereading AG. Do try and read Neverwhere - it really is a great book (I’ve read it twice now). Coraline is good too, as are the short stories in Smoke and Mirrors…basically, I like everything by Gaiman that I’ve read so far! ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/9 "2004-03-26T17:27:33Z")
Thanks for the replies and the links guys. I guess until the people on those message boards get around to lobbying Gaiman to release the name we all have to come up with whatever theory we think fits best. And there are some pretty interesting ones there that people have put a lot of work into. Personally I liked the idea that he was the Judeo-Christian God for a short while, but now I’m liking him being Morpheus, the god of dreams. After all, the most common dream of mankind is of wealth even if we don’t always like to admit it. Of course it also helps that Morpheus is also known as the Sandman… Oh, and oops. Completely forgot about the casino scene with him in. Not that that surprises me considering the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/10 "2004-03-26T17:28:36Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > nitpick: Mnemosyne, not Menemosyne I thought so, too, but the encyclopedia disagreed with both of us! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/11 "2004-03-27T02:18:18Z")
I seem to be alone in this, but I don’t believe for one minute that this god is taken from the mythology or religion of any culture. If you “search long and hard and scour books and web sites and whatnot” you may learn a lot about world religion, but you’re not going to find the “right answer” because it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/12 "2004-03-27T15:14:33Z")
> [@Mausmagill](#): > > Not that I’m disputing you, but I’d be interested in hearing your argument as to why the god was Amun (or Amun-Ra). > > My theory was that he was Aten. > > (If you show me yours…) 😛 Here’s a quote from this [site](http://www.egyptianmyths.net/amon.htm) that encapsulates what I think pretty neatly: > [@](#): > > The word or root amen means “what is hidden”, “what is not seen”, “what cannot be seen” and the like. This fact is proved by many examples which may be collected from all periods. Now, not only is the god himself said to be “hidden”, but his name is also "hidden,"and his form is said to be “unknown.” Aten is right up there also, because of his ‘erasure’ from the pantheon after the rule of Akhenaten. I’d love to hear your thoughts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/13 "2004-03-29T15:39:33Z")
> [@LunaSea](#): > > Aten is right up there also, because of his ‘erasure’ from the pantheon after the rule of Akhenaten. That’s exactly where I was going. I had never heard about Amun being “hidden”, but that does make sense. Alas, I fear there may be no correct answer, and the forgotten god may be a Rorschach test of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/14 "2004-03-29T16:00:12Z")
I kind of guessed he was one of the he was the personification Money which a lot of people worseship. And yes, the casino stuff caused a lot of that, plus the fact that he was a snappy dresser, if I re-call that correctly. The forgetting him all the time metaphore I explained by the fact that money isn’t really a thing at all, just a placeholder, something you exchange for something else. Not an argument I would like to defend against some well informed fan who has read the book eighteen times, just the first thing I thought of when reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/15 "2004-04-07T23:05:17Z")
Is there a god who is worshipped by other gods? The reason I ask is because Wednesday quite obviously had no problem remembering him, but humans were unable to it seems. And if he was a god for humans, thier inability to remember him would be the end of his existence. ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/16 "2004-04-07T23:24:48Z")
[Here](http://www.frowl.org/gods/) is a good site. It doesn’t have your answer, but it does have the names of the other gods. My theory is that Gaiman made up his version of Lewis Carrol’s “why is a raven like a writing desk?” question. He didn’t have an answer but someone else came up with a really really good one. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/17 "2004-04-07T23:41:26Z")
What are you talking about? I don’t remember that part of the book at all. > [@Draelin](#): > > I tried to read _Neverwhere_, I really did, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’ll have to give it another go at some point, but I found it rather torturous. Not nearly as bad as some I’ve read, but I just couldn’t bear to waste my time when I wasn’t that interested. IIRC, Neverwhere was written as a tv show first, and then as a book. I happened to see the end of the TV show (it was showing on PBS - I was channel surfing) before I read it, which I think helped when I read the book. It’s a fascinating idea. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/18 "2004-04-10T12:17:00Z")
It couldn’t possibly be a reference to the Greco-Roman tradition of having a statue dedicated to the forgotten gods, in case they missed any. ---
**Author:** ![Tallayan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Tallayan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tallayan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/19 "2004-04-10T15:22:11Z")
I think it might be Hades/Pluto, as he was the god of the underworld, and, as precious metals come from there he was also the god of wealth. Furthermore I remember reading that Hades was not his name, simply what people called him (big difference ya?) but they did not wish to say his name lest it attract his attention. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-american-gods-question/236530/20 "2004-04-10T21:06:24Z")
The thing is, there are no Greco-Roman gods in the book, according to Mr. Gaiman. I’ll try and dig up where I read it.