Bizarro World History 101: Monster Origins

[LuYangShih]

Fun thread. Good work, Demiurge.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

More Monsters: Monsters of Faerun

Abishai: Not sure where the demon aspect's from, but Abishai is a guy in the Bible IIRC.

Leucrotta: Tarchon told us about these.

Peryton: From Roman mythology. I believe that rather than the taloned feet, a peryton was merely a winged stag.

 

[Voobaha]

I believe the D&D troll comes from a Poul Anderson novel I haven't read (The Broken Sword?), not from Tolkien at all. Tolkien's trolls are much much closer to D&D ogres.

Yes, from the series "Three Hearts and Three Lions". It's the tale of a Danish World War II resistance fighter who gets transported to a fantasy world where he takes on the role of a noble knight. He fights a troll that is looks and acts exactly like the trolls in D&D (empty black pits for eyes, long nose, green skin, regenerating limbs).

The code of chivalry the main character follows in these books directly parallels the traditional Paladin's code in the D&D books, and is one of the main sources for the Paladin class (including traditional works like the story of King Arthur and the Song of Roland).

His love interest in the books is also the source of the Swanmay in D&D.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Tarrasque: It killed and consumed anybody who approached it, and held all of southern France in terror.

But how hard could that have been?

[/cheap shot]

Thanks for the cool info demiurge. I'll have to go through this soon.

 

[Stormrunner]

The Penaggalan (sp?) is from Southeast Asia - it supposedly had to soak its blood-gorged intestines in vinegar to fit them back into the body after a night of feasting.
The mooncalf and moonbeast I believe come from an early work of science fiction, around the Wells/Verne/Merritt era, though I don't recall the details.
The brass golem in the shape of a minotaur is from a Ray Harryhausen film - there's a plastic action fig of it in my FLGS.
Sylph - a spirit of the air, just as dryads were for trees, naiads for rivers, and oreads for mountains. I think that "sylph" is the Roman version whereas Dryad, etc. are Greek.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

If i'm not mistaken i belive the whole werewolf legend was started during the dark ages because of mass hysteria and hallucinations caused by a fungus (primitive form of the fungus used to make LSD) that was growing on rye bread. The bread was baked and eaten with the fungus in it. Thus as the fungus spread across europe so did the hallucinations.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

DP. Grrr.

 

[Steverooo]

Actually, part of this probably comes from a story by the British fantasist Lord Dunsany, who wrote a story called "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art Upon the Gnoles". Dunsany is mentioned in the appendix in the back of the 1e DMG listing influential authors.

Gygax has confirmed that, on another board, although the Gnolls are nothing like the Gnoles of Dunsany!

 

[Shoon]

Herodotus wrote a TRAVEL GUIDE? Wow. That's a new way to define the first work of anthropology/history in the Western world...

 

[Steverooo]

It's been too long since college Shakespear, but IIRC, "night hags" or p'rhaps "hags of night" are mentioned by him (in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"?)

Also, Carrol loved to put words together, and "Snark" was obviously supposed to be a combination of "Snake" and "Shark". I recall an illustration of such a creature, in one of the books (and I believe it was an original illustration, from the first edition).

Likewise, the Jabberwock is also illustrated, being a vaguely man-like, draconic critter with enormous, thin "claws that catch", stubby little flightless wings, a long, thin neck, stands upright on two legs, and with "jaws that bite" remarkably too small and manlike. I even have a miniature made from the illustration, and have seen it in a Clip-Art collection!

FWIW...