D&D 5E What's the origin of the Nightmare?

T

Thunderfoot

Hero

• Dec 12, 2014

• #11

If I remember correctly, the mare = horse is an Old English term from roughly 900 CE and the correlation was due to the homophone of maera (goblin) versus meahr (female equine). So at some point it made sense that the same myths that gave us Hell Hounds (Abyssal dogs) would equate nightmares with horses (Horses of horrors) versus the night hag origin.

 

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Hand of Evil

Hero

Epic

• Dec 12, 2014

• #12

Got to wonder if it was due to raiders and the sound of thundering hooves that created mass nightmares in the people of the time, like traumatic events sometimes do.

 

Klaus

First Post

• Dec 12, 2014

• #13

I think the succubus/incubus/nightmare family has a close relation in the Headless Mule: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headless_Mule

 

MasterTrancer

Explorer

• Dec 12, 2014

• #14

If it helps, "nighmare" in italian is translated as "incubo", which stems from (your guessed) the latin "incubus"

 

Giltonio_Santos

Hero

• Dec 12, 2014

• #15

I thought about that too, @Klaus! Looking at the D&D description of a Nightmare and trying to find mythological equivalents, I saw the headless mule as the closest thing I could find (but without a head, of course ).

 

I'm A Banana

Potassium-Rich

• Dec 12, 2014

• #16

My vote is for classic Gygaxian pun. This is the same game that gave us "beholders" as basically eyes and a hungry maw. Nightmare. Evil horse. Womp womp.

Though the connection to horses in the actual entymology is interesting. And makes me think of the al-Buraq, which is a fun bit of hadith in Islam. There's a lot of horse-riding in dreams (or dream-like horse riding said to be real) in folklore. Possibly also connected to older shamanism and spirit-journeys.

If you go with that, the D&D nightmare might be the horse that brings your soul to Hell (or wherever) when you die. Adventure idea: A powerful evil cult leader dies...and a nightmare shows up as the body is disposed of, with an image of the cult leader upon it. The party is called in, as the worry is that the cult leader has somehow risen from the dead, but the party discovers that the horse is actually called up by a group of demons who are calling the soul of the cult leader to the abyss, to be granted status as a fiend (making him that much more powerful). The party must find their own magical horse, thwart the demons along the horses' route, and the nightmare itself.

 

Klaus

First Post

• Dec 12, 2014

• #17

Giltonio_Santos said:

I thought about that too, @Klaus! Looking at the D&D description of a Nightmare and trying to find mythological equivalents, I saw the headless mule as the closest thing I could find (but without a head, of course ).

Click to expand...

Or *is* it without a head? The usual look for the headless mule could simply be because its head is obscured by the dense smoke it belches (well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

Same thing with the saci having only "one leg" because it's lower body is a dust devil when it moves.

 

G

Guennarr

First Post

• Dec 25, 2014

• #18

In German the literal translation "Nachtmahr" is rather unusual. The more common name is "Albtraum" (Alb = elf/ fey, Traum = dream). The image associated with this creature is a fey creature sitting on one's chest during sleep and causing bad dreams.
Similar as in the other languages mentioned above most Germans mean very bad, frightening dreams when talking today about having experienced an "Albtraum".

 

P

PnPgamer

Explorer

• Dec 25, 2014

• #19

Guennarr said:

In German the literal translation "Nachtmahr" is rather unusual. The more common name is "Albtraum" (Alb = elf/ fey, Traum = dream). The image associated with this creature is a fey creature sitting on one's chest during sleep and causing bad dreams.
Similar as in the other languages mentioned above most Germans mean very bad, frightening dreams when talking today about having experienced an "Albtraum".

Click to expand...

Evkl version of a unicorn?

 

G

Guennarr

First Post

• Dec 25, 2014

• #20

Unlikely. Similar to the English word "mare", there's "Mähre" in German (i.e. an old, weak, female horse), but there isn't any conotation of Albtraum regarding horses. Alb/ Mahr rather means "evil fey".