Do fantasy wizards draw most of their inspiration from Merlin

>>51905009
> Do fantasy wizards draw most of their inspiration from Merlin and Gandalf
No. You don't see Merlin and Gandalf throwing around fireballs, their magic was usually subtle.

> Wizards in towers
That's probably Lord of the Rings.

>>51905009
I believe that Merlin had a tower

>>51905416
no in some stories he got trapped in one, but he didn't live in one

>>51905045
Merlin was able to at least cast Sleep

>THEREWITHAL came Merlin and said, Knight, hold thy hand, for an thou slay that knight thou puttest this realm in the greatest damage that ever was realm: for this knight is a man of more worship than thou wotest of. Why, who is he? said the knight. It is King Arthur. Then would he have slain him for dread of his wrath, and heaved up his sword, and therewith Merlin cast an enchantment to the knight, that he fell to the earth in a great sleep.

even in medieval times mages were fucking annoying with that shit

>>51905496
huh, been a while since I read Le Morte.

He has one in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"

>>51905009

The modern fantasy wizard is based on what is ultimately a complete fabrication. DnD basically invented the idea of the 'front line wizard' who had the power to just throw around fireballs willy nilly and could be the protagonist himself, and fantasy settings inspired by Dnd took the ball and ran with it. Before that. wizards were either background characters or the villain.

As for the tower thing, thats because the term 'wizard' essentially means wise man. Back in the day, being smart was basically the same as having magic. Wizards are associated with towers because of ancient observatories and the smart people who lived in them.

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>>51905009
In Russia, the association of wizards with towers comes from Yakov Bruce. He was an alchemist and an astronomer, which was enough to convince the simple folks that he was a wizard. His observatory where he spent much of his life was located in a tower, which is how people came to associate towers with wizards. I believe that there must have been similar cases in every country: some astronomer watched the stars from a tower, and people misinterpreted it as summoning demons and doing other wizardly stuff.

>>51905045
Gandalf wore the Ring of Fire and definitely threw a few fireballs.

>>51905045

>You don't see Merlin and Gandalf throwing around fireballs

Ignoring him throwing fireballs at wargs from a tree, and him making a lightshow seen for miles when fighting the Nazgul on Weathertop.

>>51910175
>Ignoring him throwing fireballs at wargs from a tree
Wut? He did set trees on fire, but he never used fireballs.

>>51910429
He turned pine cones into grenades, as I recall.

>>51910175
He also made a fire when they tried to cross the mountains, freezing, and even couldn't get a campfire going. He said something like "everyone for miles is going to know "Gandalf is here" after doing that.

>>51905009
No, because Gandalf is an angel sent by god to help in the fight against Satan's understudy, and Merlin is the anti-christ except good

>>51905045
subtlety is fine and dandy

but throwing fireballs and other ostentatious spectacles are awesome

Gandalf and Merlin had some serious problems. Merlin lived his life backwards, starting old and literally going backwards through time. His yesterday is your tomorrow. Gandalf was basically an angel and had a ton of baggage related to that.

Sauron and Saruman lived in towers.

>>51905009
>Do fantasy wizards draw most of their inspiration from Merlin and Gandalf?
Medieval western wizards? Yes
Modern fire-slinging supers and eastern wizards? No

>Also, where did the stereotype that wizard's live in towers come from?
Wizards stereotyped as that ugly freaky bachelor who glance too long at everyone's daughters.

>>51910595
>Merlin is the anti-christ except good
I fear I'm unfamiliar with the details of Arthurian legend, and maybe unclear on what you mean by the antichrist in this context. Explain?

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The inspiration for the modern wizard goes back to Odin and Väinämöinen. Odin who could see the future and spin curses with runes, Väinämöinen who could reshape the land and hypnotize men with his voice. Incantations for spells find their roots there.
The general appearance comes from Odin, too. Comfortable, breezy robes, a walking stick, and a wide-brimmed traveler's hat, good for traveling incognito as he did so often among men.

As for living in towers, that comes from Odin as well. Hliðskjálf was the tower of Valaskjálf, citadel of Odin, from which he could peer out and see the whole of Midgard.

>>51911902

He's probably some fag that thinks because Merlin is a cambion (half human, half demon), it makes him the anti-Christ.

>>51911767
>Merlin lived his life backwards, starting old and literally going backwards through time. His yesterday is your tomorrow.
Now, that was a creation of T.H. White for "The Once and Future King". It's not actually from the myths.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great retelling, he's a good author, but that was his creation.

>>51911902
Merlin was a cambion, his father was an incubus. His mother dunked him in holy water as soon as he was born, and so he was able to use the (satanic) power of witchcraft without being evil. The only darkness he was left with was a taste for virgin girls.

>>51912045
To be fair, speaking generally, there's a lot of antichrists. It's not just the one False Prophet (Beast from the Land).

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>>51912049
>he only darkness he was left with was a taste for virgin girls

Sounds quite normal realy, atleast he wasn't a furry.

>>51912008
It will never cease to boggle my mind how the vikingaboos will twist and turn everything to fit into their insane worldview where the Vikings created everything from rockets to computers.

>>51915066
It's accurate on this part though. Wizards are 80% Odin, 10% alchemist imagery (spell circles 'n shit), and 10% assorted pagan mysticism (witches and shamans etc.).

>>51905009
Is that Wil Wheaton?

Disney's Merlin lived in a tower. Also is an adaptation of once and future king.

>>51905556
He's been able to cast mists, create/summon a mist dragon, and glamour Uther into a rival's wife so he could sneak and sex her. Off the top of my head.

>>51915066
Are you denying that there are a fuck ton of aspects of fantasy that stem from Norse culture? Because there are. Odin's vision quest for the Runes are one of the earliest assimilation of voice and magic, with concepts of things literally not existing until the runes are combined to describe them, for example.

>>51915482
Merlin was also depicted with a large beard, robes and a pointed hat, and he was a Celtic creation. So was Hermes Trismegistus, actually.

>>51918113
It's just a variant of shared ancient European belief that true names grant absolute control over objects.
I'm not denying that Norse mythology made a great impact on modern fantasy, predominantly filtered through Tolkien's worldbuilding, but shoehorning it into every nook and cranny is ridiculous.