Angell, George Gammell

   In “The Call of Cthulhu,” Angell is a professor of Semitic languages at Brown University. In 1908, at a meeting of the American Archaeological Society, Angell first learns of the Cthulhu Cult when he is approached by inspector John R.Legrasse with a sculpture of a strange idol. Seventeen years later, when the artist Henry Anthony Wilcox shows him a bizarre bas-relief that he has just fashioned from something he dreamt of, Angell embarks anew on research into the strange cult—an act that ultimately results in his untimely death.

   Angell’s last name is derived from Angell Street, one of the leading thoroughfares in Providence (itself named for Thomas Angell, a companion of Roger Williams and one of the original settlers of the city). The middle name is an echo of HPL’s aunt, Annie E.Phillips Gamwell (in Providence speech, “Gamwell” and “GamwcGammell” would be pronounced in an approximately similar manner).