nerikson

Magical Librarian: Answers!

Added 2023-09-26 19:30:52 +0000 UTC

Each book tells a story, so here are the 11 references that I've hidden in the Magical Librarian project.

Please do keep in mind that I did try to sculpt the characters to be quite generic, so it was absolutely possible to have more than one interpretation. However these are the ones I had in mind when sculpting them:

Bram Stroker, Dracula. This was a last minute addition. I just didn't want to leave the castle without a proper reference. Just had to place a vampire in there.
Nikolai Gogol, Taras Bulba. A shashka, a pipe, and big, wide pants. This novel is really worth the read.
Walter Scott, Ivanhoe. This one was a hidden reference. "On the first day of the tournament, in a bout of individual jousting, a mysterious knight, identifying himself only as "Desdichado" (described in the book as Spanish, taken by the Saxons to mean "Disinherited"), defeats Bois-Guilbert."
Alexander Pushkin, The Queen of Spades. "On the third night, he bets on the ace—but when cards are shown, he finds he has bet on the Queen of Spades, rather than the ace, and loses everything."
Merlin. Some say that Merlin was the primary inspiration for Gandalf. Since LoTR is still under copyright...
Slavic Folklore, Koshei the Deathless. Referencing probably the historical Polovtsian (Cuman) leader Khan Konchak, this character appears many, many times in slavic folklore as the main antagonist in the story.
Ares, the God of War. This one was very hard. "There was an archaic Spartan statue of Ares in chains in the temple of Enyalios " and "His symbols include the boar, dog, wolf, spear, sword, and vulture" were the hidden references for him.
L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (some of it should not be copyrighted anymore). "One day, Dorothy and Toto are caught up in a cyclone that deposits them and the farmhouse into Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz"
Lewis Carroll,Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "a perpetually grinning Cheshire Cat."
Slavic Folklore, Zmei Gorynich. This is the most common dragon from the slavic folklore. Just 3 heads though?
...and for last, my favorite. Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen. "The robber girl frees Gerda and the reindeer to travel north to the Snow Queen's palace. "