Origin of the concept of Liches

[Roman]

Where did the concept of liches originate from? I have never even remotely heard of the term Lich before encountering it in D&D.

 

[Lord Judas]

Unsure. Maybe Tolkien and the Undead King?

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

I heard the word lich (it's Old English, I think, for corpse) before, but never as what we know as the lich. Sauron/the Ring sounds close to lich/phylactery. Maybe that was the origin?

 

[Dakkareth]

I don't think, it's possible to say 'here is, where someone invented the lich'. The idea of a magician continuing to 'live' even after his death is an old one and often used in fantastic literatur. As for the term 'lich', I'd assume it has indo-germanic roots (in German 'Leiche' means 'corpse'). There are several threads around discussing the matter in a more in-depth matter, so if someone could do a search ...

 

[Blue]

I seem to remember from somewhere that "Liche" was root or torso, but can't seem to find that.

Looking online, Etymology Online has:

Lich

ghastly
c.1305, from O.E. gæstan "to torment, frighten" + -lich "-ly." Spelling with gh- developed 16c. from confusion with ghost.


Also looking at a few places for other terms (lych-gate) I find that they are derived from "Middle English lycheyate, from lich body, corpse (from Old English lIc)"

Hope this helps,
=Blue

 

[Napftor]

It has at least some of its origin with Russian folk tales about a character named Kotchkey the Deathless--a magician that wouldn't die (IIRC).

 

[shilsen]

It has at least some of its origin with Russian folk tales about a character named Kotchkey the Deathless--a magician that wouldn't die (IIRC).

The story of Koshchei/Koschei/Koshchey (and other variants thereof) is the one that always comes to mind for me where the origin for liches is concerned. He fits the bill in many ways, down to an equivalent of the phylactery, which must be destroyed to kill him.

 

[Ibram]

Another possible source for the Lich "unded powerful spell caster" is the stories of H.P.Lovecraft which occasionaly involve very lich-like villians.

The same is true for R.E.Howard, Conan encountered several creatures that could be easily described as a lich.

 

[Henrix]

Lich is indeed old english/german/nordic for a (primarily deceased) body. In modern swedish it's Lik, and in english it has seen more recent usage in Lichgate and Lykewake.

(I suppose that the pronounciation [leik] is older than the [litsh], but I could be wrong.)

I think that the origins of the monster in modern fantasy lies in stories by C.A. Smith, or R.E. Howard. I can't remember any undead spellcasters in Lovecraft, but I am not sure, i haven't read his books in some years. The theme seems to have been widely used in Weird Tales, anyhow.

 

[Tonguez]

Howard uses the word 'lich' as an adjective in one of the Conan tales (though I don't remember which). and yeah Koschei seems a likely original.

Also does anyone remember the Sinbad movie in which the Evil Grand Vizier has hidden his heart in a tower and so can't be killed? Sinbad and crew have to find the tower and destroy the heart (which I remember was protected by a giant spiked gauntlet!)
That sounds like Lich and Phylactery to me...