Fascinating page here, found by AFK Gamer:
Literary Sources of D&D
I've seen so much of this junk now, that it's become a wierd kind of genre all in itself, and is generally commonly accepted as canon when applied to any computer game in the 'fantasy' mileau. "Of course magic works like that...du-uh!". It's only when you realise that the whole thing comes from perhaps three main sources - three individual books, that you start to realise how tenuous it really is, and how daft. And that Gygax is a hack.
So homework today; read three chapters from:
- 'The Dying Earth' by Jack Vance
- 'Three Hearts and Three Lions' by Poul Anderson
(I'll assume working knowledge of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, of course)
The setting, as used in perhaps two or three books, is entertaining, but it's such a tired one now with so much baggage, that it's small wonder that I increasingly turn to the Future for my escapism.
Monster of The Day: The Balor
Demon, Type VI (Balor) - Originally named Balrog, it was taken from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was renamed "Type VI Demon" (with one example being named "Balor") after the Tolkien estate asked TSR to stop infringing Tolkien's copyrights. In 2nd edition, "Balor" went from being the name of one of these creatures to the name for the type of demon. (The illustration in the 1st edition Monster Manual is also vaguely similar to the demon in the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment of Disney's Fantasia.) - The above link, demonstrating further if needed, the naked comerciality and lack of originality inherent in 'High Fantasy'...