Banishing of the Great Old Ones
[August Derleth's Cthulhu Mythos]

The Elder Gods (1) defeated and then expelled the Great Old Ones (3):

.. . . the incredible legendry of the Elder Gods and their banishment of the Great Old Ones from Betelgeuse . . . [Gorge]

. . . those Great Old Ones who were exiled forever from the star-kingdom of Betelgeuse by the Elder Gods whose rule these evil ones had defied. [Lurker]

 . . the Great Old Ones . . . beings which had been expelled from the elder stars by the Elder Gods . . . [Gorge]

Incredible time ago, the Old Ones banished from the cosmic places all the Evil Ones, imprisoning them in many places . . . [Hastur]

. . . the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] thrust forth by the Elder Gods . . . [Whippoorwills]

Imprisonment of the Great Old Ones

The Elder Gods (1) imprisoned the Great Old Ones (3):

The Elder Gods long ago cast out the Great Old Ones (3) and imprisoned them with spells. [Sky]

The Great Old Ones were imprisoned in a variety of different places:

Incredible time ago, the Old Ones banished from the cosmic places all the Evil Ones, imprisoning them in many places . . . [Hastur]

Following is a summary of where the Great Old Ones are imprisoned:

However, it may be a bit misleading to refer to the Great Old Ones (3) as being imprisoned at specific places. It seems they were actually locked out of our space/time continuum:

It was a mythology of belief in primal inhabitation of earth by another race of beings who, because of certain dark practises, lost their foothold on earth and were expelled by “Elder Gods,” who sealed them away in time and space—since they were not subject to the laws of time and space as were mere mortal men and were in addition mobile in other dimensions. [Lurker]

In that case, the supposed places of their exile, such as R'lyeh and the Lake of Hali, are probably the places where our universe is linked to the dimensions where the Great Old Ones are actually imprisoned.

One of Derleth's narrators has a brief doubt about whether the Great Old Ones (3) were imprisoned, or whether they hid themselves away:

Suffice it to say that these Great Old Ones did not die, but were imprisoned or took refuge—this is not clear, but presumably it is the former—in great subterranean places on earth and on other stars . . . [Gorge]

Hastur's exit is a bit ambiguous, with one source saying that he "fled," while others say that he was "banished" or even "hurled" there by the Elder Gods:

Hastur fled into outer space . . . [Lair]

After defeating the Great Old Ones (3), the Elder Gods banished Hastur to the region of the Lake of Hali. [Space]

. . . while Hastur was hurled into outer space, into that place where the black stars hang, which is indicated as Aldebaran of the Hyades, which is the place mentioned by Chambers, even as he repeats the Carcosa of Bierce. [Hastur]

Further References for Imprisonment

The gist of these references is given in the previous table, but the detailed quotations are given here for those who want more context.

Some references mention that the Great Old Ones (3) were imprisoned both on Earth and in outer space:

The Elder Gods banished the Great Old Ones long ago to outer spaces, to remote places of earth and universe. [Sandwin]

. . . the incredible legendry of the Elder Gods and their banishment of the Great Old Ones from Betelgeuse—Azathoth, the blind idiot god; Yog-Sothoth, the All-in-One and One-in-All; Great Cthulhu, said to lie dreaming in his great house in sunken R’lyeh; Hastur, the Unspeakable, Him Who Is Not To Be Named, hidden on a dark star near Aldebaran; Nyarlathotep, abiding in darkness; Ithaqua, riding the winds high above earth; Cthugha, who will return from Fomalhaut; Tsathoggua, waiting in N’kai . . . [Gorge]

 . . . their [Great Old Ones (3)] rebellion failing, they were cast out and banished by the Elder Gods—locked away on far planets and stars . . . Cthulhu deep under the sea in the place known as R’lyeh, Hastur on a black star near Aldebaran in the Hyades, Ithaqua in the icy Arctic barrens, still others in a place known as Kadath in the Cold Waste, which existed in time and space conterminously with a portion of Asia. [Valley]

Some of the references emphasize the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones in distant places in the universe:

. . . of the Elder Gods . . . who had cast out into space the Great Old Ones . . . [Dweller]

. . . resulted in their vanquishment and banishment to various places in the universe . . . [Hastur]

. . . but then a revolt on the part of the Ancient Ones . . . resulted in their vanquishment and banishment to various places in the universe . . . [Island]

. . . the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] . . . . had been expelled to alien stars and planets . . . [Keeper]

And to His brothers it happen’d likewise, that They were tak’n by Those Whom They Defy’d and hurl’d into banishment, Him Who Is Not to Be Nam’d be’g sent into Outermost space, beyond ye Stars, and with ye others likewise, until ye Earth was free of Them  . . . [Lurker]

. . . mad genii of evil [Great Old Ones (3)] who inhabited outer space before the world was born, and who descended to ravage Earth and were vanquished by the Elder Gods and banished to various parts of the cosmos . . . [OutThere]

. . . all of whom had been vanquished and exiled to outer spaces . . . [Seal]

. . . the places to which the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] had been banished . . . such places as the distant stars of the Hyades . . . [Gable]

Some references emphasize the Great Old Ones (3) that are imprisoned on Earth:

From this book, Professor Holmes finally drew a consecutive and logical story of the age-long struggle between the forces of cosmic evil and the Elder Gods—the final defeat of the Evil Ones [Great Old Ones (3)], and their ultimate banishment into the far corners of the earth. [Depths]

The Elder Gods long ago banished the beings of evil to the hidden places of earth—the Arctic wastes, the desert land, the shunned Plateau of Leng in the heart of Asia, the Lake of Hali, the vast and remote caverns under the seas. [Sandwin]

. . . Cthulhu was banished to the lost sea kingdom of R’lyeh, while Lloigor and Zhar were buried alive deep in the inner fastnesses of Asia—beneath the accursed Plateau of Sung! [Lair]

. . . mad genii of evil [Great Old Ones (3)] . . . who descended to ravage Earth and were vanquished by the Elder Gods, and banished to the bottom of the sea. [Depths]

He saw the watery depths of R’lyeh where dead Cthulhu lay sleeping. [Lamp]

. . . and were vanquished by the Elder Gods and banished . . . one of them to the bottom of the sea, where its accursed spawn is reputed to live deep in caverns in a lost sea kingdom variously called R’lyeh or Ryah or Ryche. [OutThere]

’Twas done then as it had been promis’d afore time, that He [Cthulhu] was tak’n by Those Whom He Defy’d, and thrust into ye Neth’rmost Deeps und’r ye Sea, and placed within ye barnacl’d Tower that is said to rise amidst ye great ruin that is ye Sunken City (R’lyeh), and seal’d within by ye Elder Sign . . . [Lurker]

. . . in this mythology, Great Cthulhu was banished to a place beneath the seas of Earth . . . [Hastur]

. . . the places to which the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] had been banished . . . such places as . . . Unknown Kadath, the Plateau of Leng, the sunken city of R’lyeh. [Gable]

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