What was the reason for the Demon/Devil split?

[JoesephBear]

My own understanding of mythology does not agree with that much at all. I think what you're suggesting is really a very recent development in Christian mythology (and my apologies to believers for referring to it as such). But if you look at the lore of other cultures of old (Celtic, Greek, Norse, Arabic, and the various Asian cultures) I think you'll find quite the opposite.

It seems to me that historically, mankind has viewed the universe as being populated by a bewildering array of wicked beasts lurking out in the dark. Uniting them under one barrier is relatively new.

True, the pre-judeo-christian cultures have many types of ghastly beasties. However, they never really struck me as "evil" in the sense of how D&D portrays it. They are more Chaotic Neutral than anything in the grand scheme of the universe.

I guess it's just that I like to play up the "medieval" in my medieval fantasy campaigns. The fact of the matter is that the Catholic church was a very influential force in that era. I simply can't ignore all the philosophical tropes that they started.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

I'm pretty sure Demons were drawn from the Elric saga by Moorcock (with perhaps the exception of the Balor - I think we all know that came from Tolkein's Balrog). Again, if I'm remembering correctly, Moorcock's demons dwelled in the abyss, or were associated with that "place".

In Elric Demons were simply lifeforms from one of the other of the Million Spheres. The Abyss comes from Dante as it was part of Hell.

http://travizzt.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/circles.jpg

 

[Uder]

The majority of demons presented in Eldritch Wizardry seem like original creations, inspired by S&S stories. AFAIK they were mostly created by Blume. The Abyss, The Hells (and thus the need for monsters to populate it) etc., probably came out of Gygax's early Dragon articles on the planes and the resulting alignment system.