Old One
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Old One is a term used to refer periphrastically to God or a deity. It is also widely used in fantasy and horror ficton.
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[edit] Referring to God
Albert Einstein, the famous 20th-century physicist, famously said:
- Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.
This quotation is widely condensed into the short sentence I cannot believe that God plays dice, or God does not play dice (with the Universe).
[edit] Fantasy
[edit] Cthulhu Mythos
In H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, the term Old Ones is used in different contexts. In his short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), Lovecraft used "Old Ones" to refer to Cthulhu's spawn.[1] Lovecraft also mentioned the Old Ones in "The Dunwich Horror" (1929), naming them as mysterious entities associated with the Outer God Yog-Sothoth. In "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1936), the Old Ones (whoever they were) had the power to keep the Deep Ones in check. In Lovecraft's revision story "The Mound" (1940), "Old Ones" referred to the denizens of K'n-yan.
In Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness (1936), "Old Ones" was another name for a fictional alien species, the Elder Things, which were described in vivid detail in the story. These aliens built cities around the world during prehistory but were eventually relegated to Antarctica. At the end of their reign, they were all but destroyed by the shoggoths, a slave race of their own creation.
Old Ones can also refer to the Great Old Ones, alien beings of immense power. Along with the previous definition, these two uses of the term are the most popular among Cthulhu Mythos authors.[2]
[edit] Buffyverse
In the fictional Buffyverse established by the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the Old Ones are the powerful pure-breed demons that once dominated earth before humankind appeared and during its first years.
[edit] Warhammer
Within Games Workshops fantasy and sci-fi settings there is reference to the Old Ones; these are implied to be the same creatures though they have been presented in slightly different ways.
[edit] Warhammer 40,000
In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Old Ones traveled through space manipulating minor species on several planets and growing them into tools for their battle against the C'tan. The Slann were probably their servants.
[edit] Warhammer Fantasy
Though less prevalent, the Old Ones also appeared in the background material for the Warhammer Fantasy setting and the Slann are the rulers of the Lizardmen. Before the Lizardmen Army book was released, the race now known as the Old Ones were called the Slann (primary referenced in the High Elf rulebook); after the book was released, they were renamed the Old Ones allowing the name Slann to be assigned to the Mage-Priests of the Lizardmen. No current allusions are made as to the physical appearance of the Old Ones, although it is assumed they were bipedal - as were the two races that served them (the High Elves and the Slann). Some materials (Drachenfels) referred to them as the "toad men" from the stars. The Old Ones/Slann were the ones who set up the warp gates at either pole of the planet and shifted it into a more favourable orbit before encouraging the development of the native species.
[edit] The Dark Tower series
In The Dark Tower series written by Stephen King, the Old Ones (also sometimes called Great Old Ones) were a highly advanced civilization that ruled the All-World many centuries, or possibly millennia ago. They were obsessed with technological development and saw their inventions as a solution to everything; replacing the immortal, magical essence of creation with mortal machinery. They were wiped out in an unknown catastrophic event that was apparently worse than a global thermonuclear war. Technological relics of the Old One's era can still be found scattered throughout the world.
[edit] The Dark Is Rising series
In The Dark Is Rising series by the British author Susan Cooper, the Old Ones are timeless wizards whose task is to prevent the Powers of the Dark from taking control of the world. They are capable of extra-sensory perception, immortality, time-travel, transcendence of what humans perceive to be reality, psychokinesis, control of people's memories, and negotiation with such beings as Oceans and Stars. There are five books in the series: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver On The Tree.
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[edit] Forgotten Realms
In the Forgotten Realms universe of Dungeons & Dragons, the Old Ones are an extinct race of extremely powerful, cruel, reptilian humanoids (likely the sarrukh) who had enslaved the "warm blood" races in ages past. The original Neverwinter Nights story revolves around their queen's attempt to resurrect the race - also called the "Creator Race" - and reestablish its dominance on Faerûn.
[edit] Other appearances
- There is a filk entitled The Old Ones by Zander Nyrond that was inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos.
- A theocratic group of Martians mentioned by the main character in Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land are called the Old Ones.
- In Marvel Comics, Cthulu-esque Old Ones appear as extradimensional demons who once ruled the Earth tens of thousands of years ago. They serve largely as a backstory, the only one of note being the Dr Strange enemy Shuma-Gorath..
- The Old Ones make an appearance in Anthony Horowitz's series, The Gatekeepers.
- Old Ones appear in Madeleine L'Engle's series of science fantasy books about the Murry family, notably in A Swiftly Tilting Planet. These Old Ones are similar to the ones in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series -- humans born with unusual mystical powers and dedicated to a never-ending struggle against the powers of darkness and evil. In both series, the Old Ones are associated with an Old Music.
- In the novel "Shadow Scourge", part of the Outlanders series by Mark Ellis, the villain, Ocajinik, is suspected of being an Old One.
- In the universes and dimensions that collectively make up the Palladium Books Megaverse, the Old Ones are a group of extradimensionally imprisoned Alien Intelligences that were responsible for the creation of the "science" of Magic.
[edit] References
- Harms, Daniel. The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.), Oakland, CA: Chaosium, 1998. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Harms, "Great Old Ones", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, p. 128.
- ^ Harms, "Old Ones", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 228–9.
[edit] External links
- "Who Were The Old Ones?" by Daniel Harms, an essay about H.P. Lovecraft's "Old Ones"
