Llao

In Klamath mythic time, Llao is the spirit of the underworld who lived beneath Mount Mazama. Stories describe Llao opposing the sky spirit Skell in a series of battles; their quarrel and warfare are given as the cause of the eruption/collapse of Mount Mazama and the subsequent filling of the pit with water to form Crater Lake (giiwas). Variant accounts exist: in some versions Skell defeats and imprisons Llao beneath the mountain and covers the pit with water; in other tellings Llao is killed by Skell during the 'Last Great Battle' and parts of his body are thrown to lake creatures, with Llao's head associated with Wizard Island.

Sources do not record a detailed physical description. Narrative language characterizes Llao as having a 'hideous, underworld nature' (as when he courts Loha), implying a frightening, repellent presence. In at least one version of the tale parts of Llao's body—most notably his head—are transformed in the landscape, being associated with Wizard Island.

Llao is described as ruler/inhabitant of the subterranean pit beneath Mount Mazama and in stories is able to pass from the underworld to the surface by climbing through a hole to the mountain summit. He engages in cosmic warfare with Skell; his actions in those conflicts bring large-scale destructive effects (fire raining down, the eruption/collapse of the mountain). He commands followers who take part in the conflict and is linked in narrative detail to creatures of the lake that consume parts of his body in one account. Human ritual specialists (medicine men) intervene in the mythic struggle—two medicine men sacrifice themselves by jumping into the underworld pit to appease the spirits and influence the outcome.