Tonguez said:Also does anyone remember the Sinbad movie in which the Evil Grand Vizier has hidden his heart in a tower and so can't be killed? Sinbad and crew have to find the tower and destroy the heart (which I remember was protected by a giant spiked gauntlet!)
That sounds like Lich and Phylactery to me...
Henrix said:Lich is indeed old english/german/nordic for a (primarily deceased) body. In modern swedish it's Lik, and in english it has seen more recent usage in Lichgate and Lykewake.
(I suppose that the pronounciation [leik] is older than the [litsh], but I could be wrong.)
I think that the origins of the monster in modern fantasy lies in stories by C.A. Smith, or R.E. Howard. I can't remember any undead spellcasters in Lovecraft, but I am not sure, i haven't read his books in some years. The theme seems to have been widely used in Weird Tales, anyhow.
Tonguez said:Also does anyone remember the Sinbad movie in which the Evil Grand Vizier has hidden his heart in a tower and so can't be killed? Sinbad and crew have to find the tower and destroy the heart (which I remember was protected by a giant spiked gauntlet!)
Andrew D. Gable said:I put this up on the Ask Gary thread so maybe we'll have an official answer soon enough.![]()
heirodule said:Clark Ashton Smith might have used Lich in the sense D&D uses it. See Tales of Zothique
Clark Ashton Smith said:These also they raised up from death; and Mmatmuor bestrode the withered charger; and the two magicians rode on in state, like errant emperors, with a lich and a skeleton to attend them.