Granted I haven't done a ton of research but quick googling hasn't found anything but Angel had an episode on a mystical prison with tons of similarities so I was just wondering if snyone knew more.
Posted Apr 5, 2022, 8:19 PM UTC
Tartarus is another option for a bit of a folklore basis
See also: Loki’s Cave, Monkey King trapped under a mountain, Apep imprisoned in the underworld, Zenu (supposedly locked in a mountain somewhere, go ask Tom Cruise), and that demon boulder in Japan.
New fancanon: British guy is Xenu.
I don’t know about Tartarus considering the Underworld is a place in Dresden.
There's multiple stories that line up in legends about Merlin, which obviously make sense since it was built by Merlin in the DF canon. I copied these from an old discussion, but they're specifically about Merlin's "end" because he never quite seems to die.
Morgan makes Merlin sleep forever in a pit in the forest of Darnantes, "and that is where he remained, for never again did anyone see or hear of him or have news to tell of him."
He manages to find the rock under which Merlin is entombed alive by Niviene, as she is named there. He communicates with Merlin, but is unable to lift the stone;
his tomb is unsuccessfully searched for by various parties, including by Morgan and her enchantresses, but cannot be accessed due to the deadly magic traps around it
Niniane peacefully confines him in Brocéliande with walls of air, visible only as a mist to others but as a beautiful yet unbreakable crystal tower to him (yet Merlin's disembodied voice can escape his air prison as he does speak to Gawain
What's this from?
Pretty sure it's from a modern English translation of "Le morte d'Arthur".
(Or maybe a retelling of the Arthurian legend which is based on that work)
Could have been inspired by the Deeping Well from the buffyverse. I think it shows up in Angel, and it's where beings like Ilyria are kept on ice.
Edit to add:Of course there's a fair chance that was based on something else
I'd at least expect Jim to have watched Angel at some point, since that seems like kind of his thing, so he could have been influenced by it, even if he might not have been aware.
He's said that Buffy was one of the biggest influences on the Dresden Files, and there are Buffy references in the books. So yeah, he probably watched Angel as well.
Also, Butcher's style of killing characters is rather Whedon-esque.
I would hope so considering his narrator was a costar on that show lol
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/78/genius-loci
Clark Ashton Smith Genius Loci
lots of parallels between it and avalon but Jim is big on mixing fokelores
Hades’ underworld
Genus Loci (sentient spirits of certain territories / domains) are definitely a thing but I’m not sure of their origin
The 1981 movie Excalibur had Merlin being trapped in a crystal cave. That's the closest inspiration I can think of. But as a few others have pointed out, evil spirits being trapped underground is a thing in multiple cultures around the world.
I don't think there's a direct equivalent. But genius loci were very prevalent in Roman religion, and they had equivalents in many cultures across the world.
I think it's a few things.
The classic spooky, uncharted/lost island trope.
Dudael, the pit of demons that Rafael, the Demon Binder made.
Avalon, the Fae Island where supposedly King Arthur and Merlin rest.
But Jim is just as inspired by modern pop culture like Buffy and the Merlin film, as others have pointed out.
My headcanon is that it's a gritty version of Avalon.
This is what I’ve always figured too… Merlin… uncharted island… yeah… Avalon
Which, knowing Jim, likely means it’s nothing of the sort… he’s just deranged that way… but I still agree it’s Avalon until proven otherwise!!
…did Jim ever say the imprisoned British guy isn’t Arthur?
Yup, but he also said that we should be able to guess it, and that he is willing to lie to us to protect the story. Two different occations.