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D&D monsters and the myths they come from...
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<blockquote data-quote="DMZ2112" data-source="post: 8902173" data-attributes="member: 78752"><p>Thaaat one's a bit of a stretch. It basically amounts to "they're both giant stag beetles." But as a Final Fantasy fan I was particularly gobsmacked to learn that 'coeurl' predates 'displacer beast!' Thank you for that!</p><p></p><p>I enjoy the weird little discrepancies that have become their own truth. Obviously, Gygax and his fellows knew Medusa was a gorgon, and all snake-haired petrificatrices were not medusae, but they must've really liked the poisonous Libyan bovine from Topsell's 1607 <em>The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes</em> enough to make the allowance.</p><p></p><p>The lamia (as a species rather than an individual named Lamia) and su(-monster) are also apparently from Topsell.</p><p></p><p>(With thanks to afroakuma and dopplegreener on StackExchange for help with the details.) </p><p></p><p>One of my favorite things about D&D is that after 50 years of focused development, it is its own source. Are D&D elves true to Tolkien's elves? Should they be? Was it ever even a consideration? It doesn't matter! There's more content written about D&D elves than there is about Tolkien's elves. Tolkien's elves are the less attested interpretation!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DMZ2112, post: 8902173, member: 78752"] Thaaat one's a bit of a stretch. It basically amounts to "they're both giant stag beetles." But as a Final Fantasy fan I was particularly gobsmacked to learn that 'coeurl' predates 'displacer beast!' Thank you for that! I enjoy the weird little discrepancies that have become their own truth. Obviously, Gygax and his fellows knew Medusa was a gorgon, and all snake-haired petrificatrices were not medusae, but they must've really liked the poisonous Libyan bovine from Topsell's 1607 [I]The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes[/I] enough to make the allowance. The lamia (as a species rather than an individual named Lamia) and su(-monster) are also apparently from Topsell. (With thanks to afroakuma and dopplegreener on StackExchange for help with the details.) One of my favorite things about D&D is that after 50 years of focused development, it is its own source. Are D&D elves true to Tolkien's elves? Should they be? Was it ever even a consideration? It doesn't matter! There's more content written about D&D elves than there is about Tolkien's elves. Tolkien's elves are the less attested interpretation! [/QUOTE]
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