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.
[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 <ref>Harms, "Great Old Ones", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, p. 128.</ref>. 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.<ref>Harms, "Old Ones", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 228–9.</ref>
[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 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 as a background race in Warhammer Fantasy 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 named 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 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).
[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.
[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.
- Old ones also refers to a vague legend similar to the Lovecraft mythos. A loose translation/explanation of this legend would be, They are beings that existed at the dawn (possibly before) of the universe, and as the physical and quantum laws setteled into place their powers waned, and their children (the gods we know now, think of the legend of the Greek titans) were able to force them from our reality and into other places of existence. It is also said that before this happened they were at war with each other, and they destroyed and usurped each other's staked out territories, and that their idea of death isn;t the same as ours, that one day everything will be right again, and they will be able to rise once more.
- The Old Ones also make an appearance in Anthony Horowitz's series, The Gatekeepers.
[edit] References
- Harms, Daniel. The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.), Oakland, CA: Chaosium, 1998. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.
[edit] Notes
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[edit] External links
- "Who Were The Old Ones?" by Daniel Harms, an essay about H.P. Lovecraft's "Old Ones"
