Flesh Golems are pretty much Frankenstein’s Monster.
Gargantua are pretty much rip-offs of King Kong and Godzilla.
I’d say sahaugin are more like Deep Ones. But both are clearly Lovecraft-inspired. Also the Aboleth and Gibbering Mouther.
Not that loosely - Clay Golems are actually pretty close to the original legend of the Golem of Prague. Other Golems, obviously, don’t hew as closely to myth, although I seem to remember giant walking statues in Greek legend (or maybe I’m just remembering a Harryhousen film).
That may be the immediate inspiration, but there are earlier examples. In the cartoon Galtar and the Golden Lance, Galtar had a lance/sword thingy that was basically a fantasy version of Darth Maul’s weapon, except that he could also separate it and wield half in each hand. The game Bushido Blade had an enemy that used a double-bladed naginata (a regular naginata is a staff with a short, curved blade on one end only). Bushido Blade came out a couple of years before Episode I.
The Jewish legend predates Frankenstein by at least a couple hundred years. Also, there’s the story of Pygmalion who created an ivory statue of a hottie that was so realistic he fell in love with her. Aphrodite heard his prayers and granted her life.
I have a Tarrasque Pet Peeve. La Tarasca of Astur legend is a conceited, selfish girl who was charmed into the shape of a dragon for treating an old woman with scorn; if she ever learns to care about others, she’ll turn back. She’s not particularly dangerous, as dragons go. Apparently the “movie cheerleader type” already got on people’s nerves several centuries ago, but this should definitely not be the “a tarasque is a big dragon” that you get from RPGs! A tarasque is a bubbleheaded dragon 
There is a game, Akelarre, which draws directly from the Spanish middle ages, trying to meld real living conditions from the time with our own legends. It was written by Catalans who have serious problems grasping the concept of “Nájera-later-Navarra was already different, bubba,” but if you’re not from Navarra-Euskadi-La Rioja or skip those parts, it’s quite well done.
You’re probably remembering Talos, a giant bronze automaton. Although I suspect you’re closer to the mark on the D&D origins with the Harryhousen films.
There’s also a “Gaulish” Tarasque.
Houston’s Menil Museum has a fine small Tarasque–but it hasn’t been displayed in years.
It also makes no mention of animating dead flesh. (Which doesn’t seem to me to be something a Rabbi would do, personally.) The Clay Golem is taken directly from Jewish legend. Other kinds of Golem take only their name from it, taking direct inspiration for the creature’s nature from other works (Flesh Golems from Frankenstein, Doll Golems from a whole slew of horror movies, Cream Puff Golems from my fevered imagination… (Well, actually, I didn’t even invent that one…I keep threatening my players with it after seeing a cream puff monster in a movie.))
Don’t forget Garlic Bread Golems.
Really, the variety of Golems is only limited by the imagination.
Tell it. I’ve been toying with the idea of various non-standard golems, such as:
[ul]
[li]Hair Golem[/li][li]Gem Golem[/li][li]Smoke Golem[/li][li]Sand Golem[/li][li]Rust Golem[/li][li]Mold Golem[/li][li]Bone Golem[/li][/ul]
Garlic Bread…gonna have to add that one to the list. Maybe Coconut and Custard, as well.
The Ravenloft setting of AD&D had bone golems, blood golems, pyre golems, mist golems, stained glass golems, and gargoyle golems.
The Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium for 2nd ed. had a stained glass golem, evidently taken from one of the hallucination scenes in the movie, Young Sherlock Holmes.
Come to think of it, I believe Watson was menaced by a cream puff golem in the same movie.
Jinx! Jayjay owes me a coke!
I guess the question is, what inspired Mary Shelly? Was it the legend of the Golem? Pygmalion? Talos? Or was she doing too much opium?
I’ve never played the game so I can’t confirm the resemblance, but there is a group of elves in Elfquest that ride eagles.
The Ghostwise Halflings, aside from the choice of mounts, are very much like the Wolfriders, and not particularly like the Gliders.
So, I think (assuming I’m right about them being based on the Wolfriders) is really just a way of separating them from the Wolfriders a bit, rather than a reference to the Chosen Eight.
Which, if I might do a minor hijack, brings me to a question I’ve always had: pronounced gollum or go-lem or something else entirely like Rolf?
Great thread btw.
Go-lem - from the Hebrew word for “dummy”, “amorphous mass” and oddly enough, " chrysalis."
And thanks!
This is the part where I run through the thread screming “Joseph Campbell!” along with the occasional “Marshall McLuhan!”
Close. But the ripped off Deep Ones are Kuo Toa. OTTOMH They once ruled the surface and kept humans as slaves. They were driven off in a great war. Some lived in ocean depths but got killed by unknown monsters. The surviving branch took to the Underdark. There they worship an inhuman deity who demands human sacrifice and has an impossible to pronounce name (Blibdoolpoop). They are prone to insanity and degeneration.
My Creature Catalog has no shaugin but does have the very similar SharkKin. At a guess, I’d say sahuagin are based on Polynesian legends of weresharks and sharkmen.
Mindflayers- While not to my knowledge a direct swipe, these things are clearly inspired by the Cthulhu mythos. They have a Cthuloid appearance. They serve a giant elderbrain in a special pool. They eat human brains. Contact with their minds drives humans mad.
Note that Cthulhu and a Melnibonian Mythos appeared in early editions of Legends And Lore
Back To The OP
Mithril- swiped from Tolkien of course.
Catoblepas- Mentioned in the New Testament
Drow- Dark Alfar are mentioned in Norse mythology
Clay Golem- Definitely based on Jewish legend. Control is inevitably lost. The creature eventually breaks free and goes on a rampage.
I got to disagree about Campbell. He was interested in finding the common meaning, the same root cause behind many masks. The people putting together the D&D books just wanted the masks. Forget the meaning of the story, here’s a giant sea turtle to put in the monster manual. Here’s another variety of vampire to use.