Genies in popular culture

Genies or djinns are supernatural creatures from pre-Islamic and Islamic mythology.[1][2][3] They are associated with shapeshifting, possession and madness.[1][2] In later Western popular representation, they became associated with wish-granting[1][3] and often live in magic lamps or bottles.[2][3] They appear in One Thousand and One Nights and its adaptations, among other stories.[1][4] The wish-granting djinns from One Thousand and One Nights, however, are the divs of Persian origin, not the Arabian djinns.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d Gurel, Perin E. (2014-02-28). "Djinn and Genie". In Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (ed.). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 166–169. ISBN 978-1-4724-0060-4.
  2. ^ a b c Clute, John (1997). Clute, John; Grant, John (eds.). "Genies". The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  3. ^ a b c Westfahl, Gary (2005). "Supernatural Creatures". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 772. ISBN 978-0-313-32952-4.
  4. ^ Armstrong, Richard B.; Armstrong, Mary Willems (2015-07-11). "Genies". Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series. McFarland. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4766-1230-0.
  5. ^ Thompson, C. J. S. (1927). Mysteries and Secrets of Magic. Senate. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-85958-156-8. Those acknowledged by the Arabs differed from those of the Persians. The genii of "The Arabian Nights" were the divs of Indian legends adapted by the Persians to their romances.