Origins of the name Gadlen
My cousin Sam recently asked me where I got the name Gadlen:
I took the name Gadlen from a comic book that I used to read called Sandman by Neil Gaiman. The main character being The Sandman, the god of sleep… Morpheus, Dream.
There’s this one time in the story when Dream comes home from a rough trip to his castle in his funky dream-domain. We get to meet the two caretakers of the place, Gadlen and Hobbes. They are these fairly strange little guys that didn’t have particularly important jobs… cleaning the castle, tending to the grounds and stuff. They sort of feel like the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern of the Sandman world (mostly in the funny “R & G Are Dead, the movie way). I really enjoyed their presence… how they held themselves.
The name “Gadlen” stuck out in my mind when I wanted to create a unique name for myself to use on the internet. It pleased me that the name was, and still is, virtually unused by anyone else on the internet and the world. So there you have it!
Sandman is a tremendous comic that had a big impact on the way comics were made and marketed to older (17+) readers. It was the impetus for DC Comics’ “Vertigo” label. If you’re mature enough, I think you might get a lot out of it. They’re now available in graphic novel format, 10 books in all I believe. I only have the first 5. Hmm… you know…. gift giving is the finest form of flattery!