Post by xiaogui17 on Oct 31, 2010 19:11:26 GMT -6
Gary Gygax claims he got the idea for illithids, or “mind flayers,” from the cover art on Brian Lumley’s The Burrowers Beneath. Burrowers is actually fan-fiction—based on the Cthulhu Mythos.
Mind flayers always struck me as Cthulhu-esque, and this confirms that Lovecraft was, in fact, the origin of the idea behind them. Yet if you go to the Wikipedia page on them, there’s no mention of Cthulhu, Lovecraft, or any related term beyond a brief mention of Burrowers. One would have to know in advance that Burrowers is a piece of Cthulhu Mythos fan-fiction in order to make the connection at all. (I should probably do something about that, but I still can't figure out how to insert a citation in a Wikipedia article, and I'd need to cite that.)
I have mixed feelings about Gygax. Having seen him on certain forums, I’m aware that he’s often loathe to admit the sources of inspiration for his work. The main set of character races are clearly based on Tolkien, but Gygax trash-talks Tolkien at almost every conceivable opportunity. He even admits that he uses the term “halfling” because “hobbit” would have been too obvious a reference, and that he created gnomes for the sole purpose of stealing halflings’ thunder because they were still too obviously Tolkien-dependent.
The system that Gygax created was ingenious, and that alone is enough of an accomplishment for the man to deserve some credit. But many of the fantasy elements he incorporates are clearly inspired or borrowed from others’ work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I just don’t understand why he’s such a bitch about crediting the sources of his ideas.
By His loathsome tentacles,
Vanessa
Esoteric Wizard of the Terrible Darkness
Cult of Cthulhu
Mind flayers always struck me as Cthulhu-esque, and this confirms that Lovecraft was, in fact, the origin of the idea behind them. Yet if you go to the Wikipedia page on them, there’s no mention of Cthulhu, Lovecraft, or any related term beyond a brief mention of Burrowers. One would have to know in advance that Burrowers is a piece of Cthulhu Mythos fan-fiction in order to make the connection at all. (I should probably do something about that, but I still can't figure out how to insert a citation in a Wikipedia article, and I'd need to cite that.)
I have mixed feelings about Gygax. Having seen him on certain forums, I’m aware that he’s often loathe to admit the sources of inspiration for his work. The main set of character races are clearly based on Tolkien, but Gygax trash-talks Tolkien at almost every conceivable opportunity. He even admits that he uses the term “halfling” because “hobbit” would have been too obvious a reference, and that he created gnomes for the sole purpose of stealing halflings’ thunder because they were still too obviously Tolkien-dependent.
The system that Gygax created was ingenious, and that alone is enough of an accomplishment for the man to deserve some credit. But many of the fantasy elements he incorporates are clearly inspired or borrowed from others’ work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I just don’t understand why he’s such a bitch about crediting the sources of his ideas.
By His loathsome tentacles,
Vanessa
Esoteric Wizard of the Terrible Darkness
Cult of Cthulhu