We called him in songs and read about him in comics. So who is this sandman who moves in on our sleep?

Although the Neil Gaiman adaptation The Sandman, which took its place in the Netflix skies, brought this sleepy character to the agenda again. This character who comes out of European mythology and sprinkles sand in our eyes at night while we sleep. He has a long history with popular culture.

While The Chordettes’ 50’s classic Sandman asks for a dream full of love, Metallica’s Enter Sandman turns things into a nightmare, scaring us even more by saying “sleep with one eye open”. And now, it’s a series! 

Thanks to Neil Gaiman who brought mythological characters into today’s world from the most fantastic places. Lord of the Dreams took on a more gothic and charismatic form in our minds.

Although we call it Sandman, every culture appears to have a different name for this entity that is identified with dreams. Let’s take a closer look at the sandman depictions, which first appeared in European mythologies and worked hard so that we could be thrown into sweet dreams.

Who Is Sandman?

The classic problem of mythological narratives, “not being able to guess where it first came from” is also valid for Sandman. It is a name that has spread f through oral tradition, like its counterparts. Its first appearance in written texts coincides with the 18th century, in German dictionaries with this phrase; “Der Sandmann kommt.” This saying, “Sandman is coming”, is actually an expression used for sleepy people. It expresses the difficulty in keeping the eyelids open when sleep comes and the need to rub them as if someone has spilled sand on them.

Yes, this character who sprinkles sand in the eyes of children so that they can sleep soundly, has found its place in fairy tales and stories told from ear to ear for centuries, but it is not known whether the Anglo-Saxons were the first to tell, the Germans or the Scandinavians. Oh, and sometimes he sprinkles dust sometimes sand; sometimes it on the eyelids or just inside the eye. The material and the action can change depending on who tells how. But yes, everyone agrees that what we call burrs are actually the Sandman’s doing.

Dark Prince of Sleep

When we come to the 19th century, Sandman turns into a gothic figure that we encounter in dark stories. German Author E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairy tale Der Sandmann plays a major role in the gothicization of Sandmann. We called it a fairy tale, but it’s actually a psychological thriller. In this tale, the Sandman appears as an evil being, depicted as reminiscent of a monster. He throws sand into the eyes of the children to make them sleep and steals the eyes of the little ones who resist sleep and do not go to bed persistently. Yes, it’s definitely a generational trauma.

Let’s Lower the Dose of Tension

The Sandman interpretation of the writer Hans Christian Andersen, whom we know with Andersen Tales, is not so dark. On the contrary, the Sandman story Ole Lukøje, written a few years after Hoffmann, is actually a children’s tale! Sandman is depicted here as a being who sends children to sleep. It rewards smart children with good dreams, and punishes the naughty ones, of course. But not by intimidating or threatening them with nightmares; but by not allowing them to see any dreams.

From Tales to The Sandman We Know

The Dream Lord begins to transform with time and with translation! In the original German fairy tale, Sandman threw sugary creams into their eyes to send children to sleep. Children with cream in their eyes would have to close them and then slowly fall asleep. As the tale was translated into different languages, the cream turned into sand, thus the foundation of the classic Sandman narrative was settled.

In the end, Sandman has taken its place in folk tales as a friendly figure that allows us to sleep comfortably by pouring sand on us, showing beautiful dreams and the sand that it pours turns into burrs in our eyes when we wake up. But of course, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman belongs to a completely different world.

Nail Gaiman’s Sandman

The Sandman, created by Neil Gaiman, consisting of 75 issues and 10 volumes between 1988-1996; is like a rare flower that bloomed in the modern era when comics got deeper and darker. The series, which started to be published under the DC brand continued in Vertigo -which is also a DC brand- started to tell tougher and darker stories from the 47th issue.

Although we say Neil Gaiman created it, before that, Sandman was already a DC copyrighted character that was recreated over and over again in 1939 and 1974. Not long after Gaiman mentioned to then-DC editor Karen Berger that he was interested in the Sandman character, Berger said; “Create a new series from Sandman. Keep the name, the rest is yours,” and presents Gaiman with an offer to use his skills. Gaiman evaluates the offer and transforms Sandman into Dream, one of the 7 eternal siblings, and establishes his universe. In the original text, all siblings’ names begin with “D”. They are all immortal, divinely empowered, conceptual beings. 

Each of the seven Endless, (Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium/Delight, Dream) has a responsibility tied to their station and a realm they rule over that exists as a reflection of themselves. 

How About The Netflix Adaptation?

It was really exciting to visually and audibly experience some of the key dialogue or tirades from the comic that directly defined the legacy of The Sandman – and its author. Although it’s not a secret that some of these characters come into existence differently than in the comics. Yet, their appearance in the series was good enough to please the audience.

Many characters require high-end CGI except for some demons; true to the works of Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, and many more veteran artists: Gregory, Irving or Goldie, the pet gargoyle of Abel and Cain, especially Lord Azazel…

In the first season, we met Death, Desire, and Despair. However, what is certain is that; Desire is portrayed effectively enough to hypnotize the audience. In the comics, this character has “pale as smoke” skin, “brown and sharp as yellow wine” eyes, and “midnight black” hair. Even though his eyes have turned golden and his hair has turned yellow in the series, he still uses the catchphrase to seduce others, “Can I get you something you desire?” Moreover, we can say that the Desire character is one of the most successful

Endless portrayals with his insidious grin and attitude as if he is always after something. Of course, the awesome aura of actor Mason Alexander Park plays a big role in this. Neil Gaiman’s original The Sandman comic book series featured many LGBTQ+ characters. Also, in the serial adaptation of Desire, one of the queer characters of the series, it is quite good to stick to the main material of the characters.