We heard it in songs, we read it in comics: So who is the Sandman who haunts these sleeps?

Although Neil Gaiman's adaptation of The Sandman, which took its place in the Netflix skies, brought this character that haunts sleep to the agenda again, the relationship of this character with popular culture, which comes from European mythology and sprinkles sand into our eyes at night while we sleep (where do you think those burrs come from?), goes back a long way.

Although we call it Sandman, just like in Neil Gaiman's comic book series; Each geography and each culture may have a different name for this being identified with dreams. But we still see it for the first time in European mythologies; Let's haunt Sandman, the sandman who works with all his might so that we can drift into sweet dreams. Oh, by the way, speaking of Sandmen and the like; Sandman, one of Spider-Man's fierce enemies, has nothing to do with this issue.

The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.

Sandman is also a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Illustrators of the series include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, and Michael Zulli. All covers for the series were designed by Dave McKean. It began to be published under the Vertigo brand of DC Comics, starting from the 47th issue. Sandman tells the story of Rüya, a descendant of the Eternals. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996.

Critically acclaimed, Sandman was one of the first graphic novels to hit the New York Times Best Sellers list. Sandman, which is outside the classic superhero comic book genre, is mostly inspired by horror, mythology, or fantasy fiction elements.

Even though we said "He came out of European mythology", it is a bit complicated when Sandman first appeared. This ambiguity actually applies to the origins of all characters in mythologies. Yes, this character, who sprinkles sand into children's eyes so that they can sleep well, has found a place in fairy tales and hearsay stories for centuries, but it is not known whether the Anglo-Saxons, Germans, or Scandinavians were the first to tell about it.

Oh, and sometimes it sprinkles dust and sometimes sand. Now, the material can change depending on who tells it and how. On the eyelids or right inside the eye; Where it aims the dust or sand may also vary. But yes, everyone agrees that the things we call burrs are actually Sandman's nighttime sprinkles.

Of course, it is much easier to trace Sandman in written sources. Sandman first appeared in some German words in the 18th century. More precisely, the expression "der Sandmann kommt" means "Sandman is coming"... When they see someone rubbing their eyes and looking sleepy, they say "Sandman is coming"; In other words, this sentence expresses that that person is about to sleep.

But things changed a little in the 19th century. The portrayal of Sandman also takes a dark turn. In the story Der Sandmann, written by the German writer E T A Hoffmann in 1816, Sandman turns into a malicious, demonic character. It's not as sweet as before. Again, he sprinkles sand on children's eyes to make them sleep, but he also causes the eyes of children who do not sleep to protrude. Yes, Hoffmann writes a somewhat uncanny story. It also spoils Sandman's mental counterpart a bit.

The path of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, who played an important role in shaping many things in our minds with his compiled and written tales, also crosses Sandman. In his 1841 tale called Ole Lukøje, he tells the story of this mythological character who brings children together with sleep and dreams. Not like Hoffmann; He carries this character to his pages with a compassion close to Sandman's essence. However, the Sandman in Ole Lukøje seems to dispense justice, making good children have sweet dreams and leaving the naughty ones dreamless. Here's a look:

''He carried an umbrella under each arm; He used to hold the umbrella with pictures on it over good children so that the children saw beautiful stories in their dreams throughout the night. But there was no picture in the other umbrella. He kept it above the naughty children; "It would cause them to sleep heavily throughout the night and leave them dreamless until the morning."

Let's say that what Neil Gaiman tells us ends up in a place similar to Ole Lukøje; because Ole Lukøje also has a brother: Death. Like Ole Lukøje, he makes those he visits close their eyes and fall asleep, but here it is... This is a sleep from which they will never wake up again. What a pity…

This brotherhood is also present in The Sandman series. Sandman/Morpheus/Dream's closest brother is Death. But that's not our point. We are only in 1846. Ole Lukøje is also translated into English but as Ole Luckoie for ease of pronunciation. And for some reason, in these early translations, Ole Luckoie squirts sweet milk. The children close their eyes to prevent the milk from coming out, and this sweet creature runs away from the scene without being seen by anyone. Over time, the narrative changes, of course, and this milk begins to be passed off as a magical powder or powder. Everyone has their own Sandman.

Sandman's counterpart in popular culture is never like in fairy tales. For example, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, The Chordettes want a handsome man from Sandman in their 1954 song titled Mr Sandman. In your dreams, I mean... Oh, I'm so lonely, bring a handsome man with rose lips to my dreams, they say. Well, not exactly, but more or less they have a wish like this. Not for kids.

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