D&D Reference on the M:TG Site

[Eridanis]

Today's Magic Arcana talks about an old MAGIC card, and its relation to the even older Monster Manual...

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/340

 

[Siridar]

Of course, the poor artist—Richard Thomas—was not as well versed in minor Devils, and painted what he thought the card was supposed to be… a lemur. That's right, a small, nocturnal primate from Madagascar with big eyes and a bushy tail.

Heh. Not exactly what I'd call a frightening creature.

But then was it supposed to be?

 

[Psion]

The article says:
The word "Lemure" doesn't show up in any online dictionary, and may very well be a construct unique to Dungeons & Dragons.

Just to disabuse anyone, a lemure is a spirit from roman myth.

Heck, if the writer of the article bothered to look at the etymology section of Lemur the online dictionary, he might have noticed that lemur is derived from lemures:

New Latin Lemur, genus name, back-formation from Latin Lemurs, lemures (from their ghostly appearance and their nocturnal habits).

and

L., a ghost, specter. So called on account of its habit of going abroad by night.

 

[Zaruthustran]

LOL - check the link now:

Ok, how about "lemure"? The word "Lemure" is quite obscure; it shows up on dictionary.com as "lemures" (LEM-yur-eez), which were "spirits or ghosts of the departed." A ghost with glassy wings… sounds good so far. "Lemure" is a questionable "singularization" of the word, and may have been copied from Dungeons & Dragons.
...
...
Thanks to Timothy Thomas and David Welsh for their word knowledge

Psion, I hope that you are Timothy or David--you deserve some credit.

-z

 

[ArcOfCorinth]

M:tG is based off D&D so it shouldn't be surprising when its site references it.

 

[MerricB]

I don't think you can say "based off" with much truth; there are fantasy elements they share, but in concept, rules and mythology they are hugely apart.

Is D&D a source for Magic? Yes, but hardly the only one. No 5 colours in D&D!

Cheers!

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Just to disabuse anyone, a lemure is a spirit from roman myth.

Heck, if the writer of the article bothered to look at the etymology section of Lemur the online dictionary, he might have noticed that lemur is derived from lemures

And to take it one step further, I recall hearing that the "lost continent" of Lemuria was named after the lemur. The original guy proposed it as an explanation for the lemur's distribution across various islands, IIRC.

 

[Chauzu]

Hey.. who said it can't be a ghost of a lemur?