Domdaniel is a fictional cavernous hall at the bottom of the ocean where evil magicians, spirits, and gnomes meet.

Overview

Domdaniel was first mentioned in the continued story of the '' Arabian Nights'' by Dom Chaves and Cazotte (1788–1793). It was described as being located in the sea near

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. In this hall, the ruler Zatanai held his court, which included the magician Maugraby and his students.

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

later used Domdaniel in his multi-volume oriental poem ''

Thalaba the Destroyer ''Thalaba the Destroyer '' is an 1801 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The origins of the poem can be traced to Southey's school boy days, but he did not begin to write the poem until he finished composing ''Madoc (poem), Madoc'' at the ag ...

'' (1797). The hero of Southey's story, Thalaba, is the son of Hodeirah and the last surviving member of his family. It had been prophesied that the spirits of the Domdaniel were destined to be destroyed by a member of that family, so they sought to put an end to it. One of the magicians named by Southey as dwelling in Domdaniel was Abdaldar. He was selected by lot to hunt down Thalaba and slay him. But the youth Thalaba accomplishes the destruction of the magicians in the final volume of the poem despite their efforts to kill him and his surviving family.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

used Domdaniel in his romance ''

The House of the Seven Gables ''The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England family and their anc ...

'': "Hepzibah put her hand into her pocket, and presented the urchin, her earliest and staunchest customer, with silver enough to people the Domdaniel cavern of his interior with as various a procession of quadrupeds as passed into the ark". In T.H White's book '' The Sword in the Stone'' Merlin, before his famous duel of magic with the witch Madam Mim, says: "Now we shall see how a double first at Dom-Daniel avails against the private tuition of my master Bleise". H. P. Lovecraft used Domdaniel in the short story ''He'' (1925), as follows: ''...heard as with the mind's ear the blasphemous domdaniel of cacophony...'' British author

Angie Sage Angie Sage (born 20 June 1952) is an English author of children's literature, including the ''Septimus Heap'' series, the ''TodHunter Moon'' trilogy, and the ''Araminta Spook'' series (''Araminta Spookie'', in the United States). Life According ...

used the name DomDaniel (styled this way) to name the main foe of her fantasy novel series

Septimus Heap '' Septimus Heap'' is a series of fantasy novels featuring a protagonist of the same name written by English author Angie Sage. In all, it features seven novels, entitled ''Magyk'', '' Flyte'', '' Physik'', ''Queste'', '' Syren'', ''Darke'', a ...

. Domdaniel is the headquarters of the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Marvel 1602 ''Marvel 1602'' is an eight-issue comic book limited series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove; Scott McKowen illustrated the distin ...

'' and includes large caverns. Domdaniel secretly served as the headquarters of Grand Inquisitor Enrique and The Brotherhood of those Who Will Inherit the Earth. Gaiman also made reference to Domdaniel in ''Sandman'' #19, referring to Auberon, the King of Faerie, as "Auberon of Dom-Daniel", and again in ''

The Books of Magic ''The Books of Magic'' is the title of a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has ...

'' #3 where

Doctor Occult Doctor Occult (sometimes dubbed the Ghost Detective, one time referred to as Doctor Mystic) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (known commonly as the creator ...

lists Dom-Daniel as one of the names of the land of Faerie.

References

* Room, Adrian (1999). ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable'' 16th Edition; Harper Collins. Fictional buildings and structures Fictional magic schools Fictional caves {{fict-location-stub

Overview

See also

References