Sandman-
 |
The Sandman Of Legend that gave
Good Dreams |
Good evening & Welcome my dearest Friends and Followers to my humble Blog. I have an interesting Urban Legend for you all today. I thought I had done this one, but I had a peek on my Labels and it seems that I haven't come across the 'Sandman' just yet---There seem to be many different versions of this popular western folklore legend that brings good sleep and dreams to children. However, there are other tales of the Sandman that aren't so nice and don't give good dreams.
 |
The Sandman
of Legend that would
give Good Dreams |
Originally the Sandman was a character in the western world who would give sleep & good dreams to all children by sprinkling magic sand onto the eyes of children. He was traditionally a character in many children's stories, invoked to help or lull children to sleep[Helping parents to get their children to go to bed then fall to sleep quickly]. It was said that he would sprinkle sand or dust on or into the eyes of the children at night to bring on dreams and sleep. The grit or 'sleep' in one's eyes upon waking is supposed to be the result of the Sandman's work the previous evening.
 |
The Darker Sandman
That would take
and not give. |
There was another creature that bore the name 'Sandman', but this creature they called Sandman was very different & quite creepy so have said. Its skin is that of a dead person, decayed and discolored. It has very long fingers and many sharp teeth. This Sandman hides just out of sight in the dark and whispers, "tik toc, tik toc'' to its unlucky victims. This strange chant quickly puts his victims into a deep sleep. Once asleep, This Creepy Creature of a Sandman will come out of hiding and devour the sleeping victim with its sharp teeth. It only needs to feast once per night, but it will sometimes choose to kill for fun. This creature can only come out in the dark. It is said to be the evil brother of the Good Sandman, but some disagree. So what do yu think?
 |
In the Sandman
origins in ancient
Greco-Rome times
the God of Sleep |
It is said that the sandman's origins can be traced back to ancient Greco-Rome and the God of Sleep.
Scandinavian Folklorist Hans Christian Anderson Danish folktale
is another of the earliest recorded tales of the Sandman.
There was another Sandman in Urban legends of German folklore that was quite horrific they say---some have said he would steal the eyes of children who don't shut their eyes while going to sleep & then feeds them to his children on the moon. It is a very stark contrast to the Has Anderson's Sandman story. The German Fantasy was written by author E.T.A Hoffman in 1776-1822. Hoffman's tale, known as the Der Sandmann of 1816 tells, of a more sinister sandman who comes into the children's rooms, only at night, of course, throw very coarse sand into their eyes which caused them to fall out of their sockets.
 |
| The Der Sandmann of Germany |
After that, the Der Sandmann scoops the children's eyes up and places them in a bag. Then takes them back home to the crook of the crescent moon where he feeds them to his bird-like progeny. Yes, it's a terrifying tale, but can you image the European children of the 18th to 19th centuries being actually told this tale by their caretakers as a warning as to why they should go to bed when they were told! As far as today, the Sandman is still an important figure in the western folklore and in pop-culture, appearing in films, books, and songs too.
As far as the Scary version of the Sandman, it seems that there are a few filmmakers that are still interested in making unusual plotlines and visuals with this scary creature. One of these Filmmakers is Dario Argento who is known for his Giallo Italian Horror movies.
I found this video of one person
a version of the Sandman by
KingSpook
-It's very interesting -
This is my favorite Sandman!
