The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

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Yuillegan:

--- Quote from: g33k on June 10, 2020, 06:25:37 PM ---I think Jim has cast other entities in this role.
His faeries seem to be mortal-origin, at least in part.  I guess that doesn't preclude being mortal/angel hybrids, though...
That's a fascinating discovery in lore!
I think it's just an amusing coincidence, as you say.  I'm almost certain I recall a WoJ saying MacAnally was named for a good friend of Jim's, going back to his high-school days, who "liked his drink."

--- End quote ---

1. Do you mean the Denarians? And some of the Fae have mortal origins and some of the Fae are like Toot-toot (dewdrop faeries). It's a inconsistency that Jim is unwilling to address (a classic "I'm not gonna tell you"). I wouldn't be surprised if their are elements of both.
2. Thank you, I thought so. I also think the Banefire isn't a coincidence as is connected to the Tower.
3. I mostly agree but you never know eh?

Bad Alias - There are many possible reasons a Wizard might have a tower, but far less probabilities about why there might be one on Demonreach. Just my thinking though.

Literary experts who believe fantasy is beneath contempt are idiots. Fact. They just hate it because it is so popular.

Indeed, that was my understanding of Faeries too. But it seems Gutenberg had other ideas...I wonder how true they are? I wouldn't be surprised if Jim has made a connection. There certainly seems to be more than normal connections between the Faeries, the Greeks, the Norse and the Angels.

Bad Alias:

--- Quote from: Yuillegan on June 12, 2020, 05:40:07 AM ---Literary experts who believe fantasy is beneath contempt are idiots. Fact.

--- End quote ---
Truth.

Avernite:
One relevant biblical-like inference: in the bible magic-doers who go out to do things (the Gandalf trope) are good guys (e.g. the 3 wise men), while magic-doers who dig in, do their thing, stay put, those amass wealth and followers but are not so good (e.g. Simon the magician, the root of the word simony, though he gets the chance to be uprooted and start doing good).
So a wizard staying put in his tower is essentially announcing that he's evil.

Or alternatively, tvtropes says it's likely astronomy/astrology https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MageTower

Bad Alias:
From the TV Tropes link provided by Avernite:
--- Quote ---May originate from the fact that many traditions link magic with astronomy or astrology, making the top of a tower a commonsense place for a mage to hang out. A high tower also conveys a sense of isolation from "normal" people, which the magician can use to study in peace, much the same way that monasteries are often on mountaintops. In another sense, high towers are ancient symbols of arrogance and hubris.
--- End quote ---

Yeah. The magi from the Bible were astrologers/astronomers. A lot of early science is largely indistinguishable from what we would call sorcery or superstition, so anything associated with early science, most specifically astronomy, would make sense to be associated with wizards. The isolated scholar or holy man could be closely associated with wizards and magi as those words originally just meant wise man.

Some of the practical reasons for wizards (or anyone really) having towers were astronomy, defense (or a bunch of stuff that are elements of defense like being able to see far away), full castles are too big for the solitary/small household wizard, airflow, and demonstration of wealth, power, and skill.

g33k:

--- Quote from: Yuillegan on June 12, 2020, 05:40:07 AM --- ... Literary experts who believe fantasy is beneath contempt are idiots. Fact. They just hate it because it is so popular.
--- End quote ---

So far as I can tell, the "literary snob" sorts lump all of "genre fiction" as... well... a lump.  One does not take genre fiction seriously; it is -- at best -- something that a real writer can churn out by the ream, mechanically following the genre formulas, to pay the bills so they can do real writing.

Plus, fantasy (in particular) is really just children's fairytales.  And nobody writes anything complex or meaningful for children, because they cannot grasp the complexity, understand the meaning, or appreciate the deeper elements.

We should all grow up, I suppose, and move beyond the K-3 curriculum.
 
 ::)

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