We’ve all heard of the Sandman, from The Chordettes’s ‘Mr. Sandman’ to Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’, this mysterious figure creeps up time and again in pop culture. The 1955 barbershop hit depicts the Sandman as the bearer of dreams who turns on his magic beam and brings you a dream, and likewise in the heavy-metal band’s fifth album almost 17 years later. But who is the Sandman and what does he signify?

The legend seems to originate from Scandinavian folklore whilst its precise date remains speculative. It is believed that the Sandman would come and fabricate children’s dreams when they were asleep- the dust (the discharge that we call ‘sleep’ or more scientifically- rheum) was a byproduct of his work. The idea was first put to paper in a German dictionary in the 18th Century and since then has appeared in literature across the centuries. What most likely happened was that the Germans popularized the fable which originated from the region around Norway or Finland, and hence brought ‘The Sandman’ to North America during the waves of immigration between 1820 and 1870.

E.T.A Hoffmann’s 1817 ‘Der Sandmann’ narrates the tragic tale of Nathaniel, a young student haunted by the memory of his late father’s associate, Coppelius, who disappears without a trace when the protagonist’s father dies in a chemical explosion. He later finds out that the beautiful Olympia with whom he had fallen in love with was in fact an automaton- the brainchild of Olympia’s father, Professor Spalanzani, whom Nathaniel is studying under, and the Sandman, under the disguise of the eye-piece merchant Coppola. The novel toys with the motif of perception and false reality, leaving the reader to ponder whether the sinister plot is merely the product of the protagonist’s imagination amidst his descent into madness or whether the reoccurring phantom of Coppelius was indeed the Sandman incarnate.

24 years after Hoffmann’s publication of ‘Der Sandmann’, the influential children’s story writer Hans Christian Andersen, author of the ‘The Ugly Duckling’, ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Princess and the Pea’, published ‘Ole Lukøje’- another story based on the legend of the Sandman. Although he never used the precise word, the parallels between the mystical figures are uncanny- a ‘dream god’ who comes to children in their sleep and tells them stories based on their behaviour is surely a variation of The Sandman. Andersen’s creative touch meant that this ‘Sandman’ squirted milk into your eyes instead of dust, whilst carrying a special umbrella and dressed all in silk. Also evident of Andersen’s detailed re-imagination was the idea of duality, present in the original folklore, where the Sandman possesses an evil alter ego much like the Santa-Krampus duality. By the same name of ‘Ole Lukøje’, Andersen’s silver-clad character was also known as ‘Death’ and took away the eyes of children who misbehaved.

It just so happens that only a few days ago it was announced that Neil Gaiman’s comic book series ‘The Sandman’, first published under Vertigo/ DC Comics, will soon be turned into a Netflix series. Netflix is reportedly thrilled to bring ‘the rich characters and storylines’ to life onscreen and would presumably follow Gaiman’s iconic god-like protagonist Dream (or Morpheus) in his adventures. The god of dreams is a part of the group Endless, comprised of 6 other beings- Death, Desire, Destiny, Despair, Delirium, Destruction. In the comics, Dream is first trapped, then escapes from a wizard seeking eternal life, and thus ensues a winding quest to recover his lost powers.

So next time you hear the pleasantly recognizable tune play on the radio or on the big screen (the Chordettes’ golden classic has made it onto multiple shows including Doctor Who, Halloween, House, Deadpool and even the game Mafia 2), revel in your fortune- for if you had been born 300 years earlier in Europe, chances are, you would have terror-stricken as a child by the mythical weaver-of-dreams- Mr. Sandman.