The Sand Man

By Wm. G. Thilgen Jr. (Billl)

In Hans Christian Andersen's 1841 folk tale "Ole Lukøje" recorded the Sandman, named Ole Lukøje, by relating dreams he gave to a young boy in a week through his magical technique of sprinkling dust in the eyes of the children.

Andersen wrote:

There is nobody in the world who knows so many stories as Ole-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely. In the evening, while the children are seated at the table or in their little chairs, he comes up the stairs very softly, for he walks in his socks, then he opens the doors without the slightest noise, and throws a small quantity of very fine dust in their eyes, just enough to prevent them from keeping them open, and so they do not see him. Then he creeps behind them, and blows softly upon their necks, till their heads begin to droop.

Ole-Luk-Oie does not wish to hurt them, for he is very fond of children, and only wants them to be quiet that he may relate to them pretty stories, and they never are quiet until they are in bed and asleep.

As soon as they are asleep, Ole-Luk-Oie seats himself upon the bed. He is nicely dressed; his coat is made of silken fabric; it is impossible to say of what color, for it changes from green to red, and from red to blue as he turns from side to side. Under each arm he carries an umbrella; one of them, with pictures on the inside, he spreads over the good children, and then they dream the most beautiful stories the whole night. But the other umbrella has no pictures, and this he holds over the naughty children so that they sleep heavily, and wake in the morning without having dreams at all.

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) wrote an inverse depiction of the lovable character in a story called Der Sandmann, which showed how sinister such a character could be made.

According to the protagonist's nurse, he threw sand in the eyes of children who wouldn't sleep, with the result of those eyes falling out and being collected by the Sandman, who then takes the eyes to his iron nest on the moon, and uses them to feed his children.

That said:

In the interest of national security, all governments would have you believe that any and all of the various traditions, myths, and legends are in fact only traditions, myths and legends. And that no one would actually put someone to sleep deliberately; would they?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wm. G. Thilgen Jr. (Billl)
• Release date: Jul 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301388745

Wm. G. Thilgen Jr. (Billl)

William Guy Thilgen Jr. (Bill) is a 73+ year young retired former native of St. Paul (East Side), Minnesota commonly known as the Twin Cities. Now living in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. He is the middle child of seven, with three older half-sisters, two younger brothers and a baby sister.Prior to his retirement, Bill followed his grandfather's footsteps as a professional truck driver. A career that allowed him to see parts of the country, taste various foods and to partake in a variety of adventures whenever he happen across them. During those years he considered himself to be a professional tourist.Bill attributes his imagination and story-telling ability to the fact that, like most children during his youth, he grew up in a large family in a small house with no room to play indoors. Most children of that era grew up playing outdoors. He and his friends would spend hours and hours finding things to do, and on occasion making up their own adventures.As Bill aged he viewed life as series of adventures. It was on one such adventure in the winter of 1994.He met Patte!

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