I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to all he realms of foreign religions, ancient and otherwise, but I've read theentire 8 pages of this forum and have come up with a few conclusions of my own. They don't point to a god or deity, but they do take a few things into consideration.

Wealth is not a new concept. If he were a new god, a member of the Intangibles, he wouldn't have been in Las Vegas where he could see directly the flow of money. I think the reason he is forgotten is the same reason he is powerful: people put money into machines, lose them, all of a sacrifice in a ritual that they do not know they are part of. They do not know that he is being worshipped, even as they do it. If he were greed, however, he wouldn't have give the waitress the idea that she could makes some money quickly.

He's an idea, almost, that hunch people get, the reason they walk the long way home just once and it so happens to be the day they meet the love of their life. It's a stretch, but he reminds me of that. The waitress doesn't know why she'll go, but she will, and it will change her life.

Also, I like the idea with Soma.

And the gods remember him, we do not. That's why Neil didn't put anything he says or references made about him inte book It makes it more realistic.

And I can't handle the Hades/Pluto idea because the greeks and romans, although they didn't name the god of death, they knew he was there. Shadow doesn't even remember having seen him after he's out of the car.

Just some ideas.

*Libra*

The strangest thing is that when I saw Neil at a very small (about 25 people) signing in Florida in January, I asked him who that God was. I figured since someone had requested him not to post the answer on the journal, I figured he could tell me in person.
So when I got up to him in line I asked him, "Who was the God that Shadow couldn't remember?"
Neil looked at me a little confused.
"Which bit was that?" he said.
I thought he was being funny.
"No, serioulsy, I said, is there a God in a pantheon that has no form, that people can't remember?"
"Do you have a page number? He asked offering me copy of the book to point it out to him.
"No, I admitted I don't remember exactly where he turns up but he is a god who appears with other gods present and Shadow can hear and see him but after he leaves, Shadow can't remember what that God looked like or what he said." I admit I was getting a little frustated.
Neil looked at me a little sheepishly and a little guiltily and said, "I'm sorry I can't help you, but I really don't remember"
"But you wrote the book!" I protested.
He only shrugged and smiled and looked at me rather quizzically for a moment before turning away and signing for the next person in line.

My take on this God, and it may seem odd at first, is that it is Christ. My reasoning is thus.

Aside from the obvious remark that we don't have the Christian God in this book that deals out more gods than a four-armed blackjack dealer, we have a few clues that could possibly point in this direction.

Firstly we see that this God is in Vegas, the money being talked about as a sacrifice, much like the sacrifice that Jesus made for his people. I find it more than ironic that if it is Jesus that he is staying in the "City of Sin." Secondly someone pointed out that Wednesday offers him Soma, which is a drink of spirit, much like the drinking of sacrificial wine at mass which is thought to be the blood of Christ and used to represent the spirit of Christ being alive in everyone. And perhaps the most perplexing one is the forgotten nature of this God. And while Christianity is certainly not a forgotten religion, if you think about it, it is perhaps the only religion in the world that has more people who are raised in it only to drop out of it later in life. More people who are raised in the morals and ethics of the faith and then lose and forget them over time. With the amount of swindlers in the faith and the amount of people who leave Christ behind and forget about him and his teachings due to their frustrations either with the Church or with evangelists, I think it is at least an interesting take on who this calm and forgotten God is who simply sits amongst the people and watches.

-Dave

quote:

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Originally posted by Ellyllons:
The strangest thing is that when I saw Neil at a very small (about 25 people) signing in Florida in January, I asked him who that God was. I figured since someone had requested him not to post the answer on the journal, I figured he could tell me in person.
So when I got up to him in line I asked him, "Who was the God that Shadow couldn't remember?"
Neil looked at me a little confused.
"Which bit was that?" he said.
I thought he was being funny.
"No, serioulsy, I said, is there a God in a pantheon that has no form, that people can't remember?"
"Do you have a page number? He asked offering me copy of the book to point it out to him.
"No, I admitted I don't remember exactly where he turns up but he is a god who appears with other gods present and Shadow can hear and see him but after he leaves, Shadow can't remember what that God looked like or what he said." I admit I was getting a little frustated.
Neil looked at me a little sheepishly and a little guiltily and said, "I'm sorry I can't help you, but I really don't remember"
"But you wrote the book!" I protested.
He only shrugged and smiled and looked at me rather quizzically for a moment before turning away and signing for the next person in line.

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I'm telling you, that "god" was Neil himself -- the author as god of this narrative. Why else would he be so coy about this question?

I'm telling you, that "god" was Neil himself -- the author as god of this narrative. Why else would he be so coy about this question?

[/B][/QUOTE]

Or, Neil was being 'coy' because the whole point is supposed to be that humans don't remember this god, so Neil wouldn't remember either....

Hey this might be a little off the wall but wasn't the clue Neil gave at the book signing a hint of where we should look. He said he couldn't possibly remember. Surely then the "forgotten" god is actually the god of memory. Just list the gods of memory from the main hot countries that are brought up in the book. That leaves Africa, Egypt and Indian gods. I've searched some internet sites but come up with no main bits on it. Oh and as a side note people who are using the Americangods.com link it no longer works it just redirects straight to NeilGaiman.com not the board post. Noticed that in both this thread and the Shadows real name thread.

I remember the forgotten god very well... charcoal grey suit, no dialogue. The part that confuses me, though, is that I can't find where he appears for the second time in the book. After all, Wednesday went to him for help at a later date, didn't he? So why is he in the book at all.

Now I could be just missing the reference, which is where I could really use some help. Thanks all

IMO, the forgettable god is Pluto/Hades. Not only is he god of wealth and the underworld, he's also linked with forgetfulness through the River Lethe. Bathe in it and you forget everything.

Astrologically speaking, Pluto rules nuclear weaponry, and I would expect him to be quite at home in Nevada -- not just at Las Vegas, but at the various nuclear testing grounds.

I only know of one god whose name is not known, The God. The Christan, Muslim and Jewish God "I am" or Yahway. Conspicuous by his absence in the story.

But what would He have been doing hanging out with Odin and company in Vegas??

But what would He have been doing hanging out with Odin and company in Vegas??

This is a small chance but my theory, this could've been posted before too sorry i couldn't make it through all of them.

In Good Omens, once the antichrist has taken form and begins armageddon, Anathemea knows something is going on but all her attempts to focus in on the antichrist himself proves fruitless. In fact, in the book, it seems like the entire world ignores the fact the antichrist is there and goes out of its way to avoid them. The only downfall to this theory is that, its not that they forget him... its that they can't pin him down.

www.zerocalx.com

quote:

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And the gods remember him, we do not. That's why Neil didn't put anything he says or references made about him inte book It makes it more realistic.

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Just an aside, we don't necessarily know that all the gods remember him. We only know that Wednesday does. And Wednesday, if you'll recall from when he was reciting his charms in the diner, knows the names of every god.

=Brian

read somewhere in the book that this God wanted Soma. Isn't Soma hindu in origin?

and about this God being unnamed...I dunno...but I sometimes think that maybe perhaps his name really was forgotten and that only Gods like himself can really remember what it is. Hindu gods and thus Hinduism in itself is prolly the oldest myth-stuff, and maybe all this unnamed God stuff is just another way of Neil saying that Gods can get to be so old they're almost totally forgotten.

BUT, like maybe some or even most of you, I still do hope Neil speaks up eventually about this matter (heck, I don't exactly believe my theory entirely either LOL)

"I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies" - Samantha Black Crow, from American Gods

Perhaps we should also be attending to what it was that the unnamed God did when he gave the waitress the tip about where to go.

Everyone seems convinced that he did the girl a favor by directing her to a place in which she could participate in a spend-fest.

A couple things.
1) this is only a temporary cure for what ails her.
2) It isn't necessarily a good thing either. After all, if he is gaining power from the flow of money, he could just be aiding himself more than her.

hey everyone. I'm new here. Now I'm not saying that this is *right*-but when reading the book I always figured that the forgotten god was just that. Forgotten. Like a lost god of a lost civilization, who NO mortal could ever distinguish.

After reading this thread, you all have convinced me that he is actually a god we can look up somewhere. But I was just a little surprised that no one seemed to have brought up my opinion earlier.

Hey there y'all. I was browsing the web, and found this. Wasn't quite sure what to make of it, so I thought I'd post it here for you guys to discuss...
A website about Neil:
http://www.facade.com/celebrity/Neil_Gaiman/

"Rune
(Equivalent of "Neil Richard Gaiman")
Fehu represents cattle the Norse symbol of wealth. This rune has some interesting implications based on the fact that cattle, unlike land, move about of their own accord. Cattle also reproduce, so this rune often speaks of wealth that renews or perpetuates itself. Wealth takes many forms, but this rune generally represents the value that is purely material or monetary in nature.
Alternatively, this rune is deeply associated with Frey, and hence can be the harbinger of fertility and children."

ok, so I dunno what cattle has to do with anything, but Neil's rune being a norse symbol of wealth seemed like a fun tidbit to post here

I wonder if Neil's seen that. Would probably find it pretty amusing that someone spent the time to do that.

"If you're not Outraged, you're not paying Attention!"

if no one remembered him... wouldn't he be a dead god? wasn't that one of the main topics in the book, that gods only exists because people believe in them and worship them?

that's why I believe being forgotten is just an attribute of this God somehow. He's not forgotten, he's forgettable