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. The grit or “sleep” (rheum) in one’s eyes upon waking is the supposed result of the Sandman’s work the previous night. Hans Christian Andersen wrote “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.”
Alias Sand Man, Mos Ene (Ene the Elder), Ole Lukøje, Ole-Luk-Oie, Der Sandmann
First Appearance “The Sandman” (“Der Sandmann”) in Die Nachtstücke (1816–1817) by E. T. A. Hoffmann
First Publisher ○
Appearance List “The Sandman” (“Der Sandmann”) in Die Nachtstücke (1816–1817) by E. T. A. Hoffmann; “Ole Lukøje” in Eventyr, fortalte for Børn, Ny Samling, Tredie Hefte (1841) by Hans Christian Andersen; “The Sandman” in Tales from the German (1844); “Olé Luckoiè, (Shut‐Eye)” in Wonderful Stories for Children (1846 transl. by Mary Howitt); “The Sandman” in Tales for Children (1861) by Hans Christian Andersen; “The Sand‐Man” in Weird Tales vol. 1 (1885) [Internet Archive]; “Ole‐Luk‐Oie, the Dream‐God” in Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales: A New Translation Specially Adapted and Arranged for Young People (1888); “The Sandman” poem in Cosmopolitan Magazine vol. 49 #2 (July 1910) by Mary White Slater. Opera: Hansel and Gretel (1893). Film: Lullaby Land (Disney Silly Symphony short, 1933).
Description 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. The grit or “sleep” (rheum) in one’s eyes upon waking is the supposed result of the Sandman’s work the previous night. Hans Christian Andersen wrote “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.”
