A Bibliography of NetHack's Database

The game NetHack is remarkable for its extensive glossary (known as the "database"); nearly every item, monster and feature in the game can be queried, and a definition or apposite quotation provided. The latter are drawn from an extremely wide range of sources; this page is an attempt to list them, based on the attributions provided in the database itself. I'm by no means a professional bibliographer, so this will be rather unsystematic; it should however give some idea as to the scope of the database's origins.


Conventional (and unconventional) literary references

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aesop. Aesop's Fables
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three
Anderson, Ian. "Broadsword"
Anderson, Poul. Conan the Rebel
Anderson, Poul. Three Hearts and Three Lions
Anon. The Arabian Nights, "Aladdin" (trans. Lang, Andrew)
Anon. Popul Vuh (trans. Nelson, Ralph)
Anon. The Song of Roland
Anon. Tales of Heike, "Story of Tsutsui no Jomio Meishu"
Arrowsmith, Nancy & Moorse, George. A Field Guide to the Little People
Ashton, John. Curious Creatures in Zoology
Bierce, Ambrose. The Devil's Dictionary
Blackmore, R.D. Lorna Doone
Blake, William. The Tyger
Blaylock, James P. The Elfin Ship
Bottomley, I. & Hopson, A.P. Arms & Armour of the Samurai
Briggs, Katherine. A Dictionary of Fairies
Budge, E.A. Wallis. Egyptian Magic
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Richelieu
Burns, Robert. Grace Before Meat
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes
Butterworth, Oliver. The Enormous Egg
Capuzzo, Michael. Close to Shore
Carroll, Lewis. Jabberwocky
Carroll, Lewis. Sylvie and Bruno Concluded
Ceram, C.W. Gods, Graves, and Scholars
Cervantes Saavedra, Miquel de. Don Quixote of La Mancha
Chesterton, G.K. The Runaway Abbot
Cohen, Daniel. The Encyclopedia of Monsters
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Cook, Harry. Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition
Cox, Barry. Prehistoric Animals
Crichton, Michael. Jurassic Park
Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dahl, Roald. Royal Jelly
Daley, Brian & Lisberger, Steven. Tron
Dana, Richard Henry. Two Years Before the Mast
Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy, "Inferno" (trans. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth; trans. Cary, H.F)
David, Peter. Knight Life
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol
Dorst, Jean. A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The White Company
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo
Dunsany, Lord Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett. The Charwoman's Shadow
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Ode
Epstein, E.L. Notes on Lord of the Flies
Evslin, Bernard. The Minotaur
Flanders, Michael. Lines on Meeting a Portuguese Man-o'-war while Bathing
Gerrold, David. Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Gilbert, Sir W.S. The Mikado
Grant, Rob & Naylor, Doug. Red Dwarf
Grimm, Jakob & Grimm, Wilhelm. Snow White
Haggard, H. Rider. King Solomon's Mines
Haggard, H. Rider. She
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology
Hammett, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon
Headon, Deirdre. Mythical Beasts
Herbert, Frank. The Dosadi Experiment
Herbert, Frank. Dune
Homer. The Iliad
Homer. The Odyssey
Howard, Robert E; Nyberg, B.; & de Camp, L. Sprague. Conan the Avenger
Howard, Robert E. Conan the Conqueror
Howard, Robert E. & de Camp, L. Sprague. Conan the Usurper
Howard, Robert E. Conan the Warrior
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables
Hulpach, Vladimir; Frynta, Emanuel; & Cibula, Vackav. Van Gouden Tijden Zingen de Harpen
Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales, "Jack and the Beanstalk"
Jones, Diana Wynne. The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
Jordan, Michael. Encyclopedia of Gods
Joyce, James. Ulysses
Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth
Keats, John. Endymion
Kilmer, Joyce. Trees
King, Stephen. The Stand
Kipling, Rudyard. Rikki-tikki-tavi
Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Tombs of Atuan
Leiber, Fritz. Swords and Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz. Swords In The Mist
Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera
Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle
Lindemans, M.F. Encyclopedia Mythica (ed.)
Livingstone, Dr David. Travels and Researches in South Africa
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Arrow and the Song
Lovecraft, H.P. At the Mountains of Madness
Lovecraft, H.P. The Cats of Ulthar
Macaulay, Thomas B. Lays of Ancient Rome
McGoohan, Patrick. The Prisoner
Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus and Other Plays
Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones
Matheson, Richard. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick
Meyrink, Gustav. The Golem
Miller, Gustav Hindman. 10,000 Dreams Interpreted
Miller, Thomas A. The Adventurers, Epic IV
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melnibone
Moorcock, Michael. The Jade Man's Eyes
Moorcock, Michael. The Lands Beyond the World
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. The Magic Flute
Nesbit, Edith. The Story of the Amulet
Orwell, George. 1984
Parker, Derek & Parker, Julia. The Immortals
Patrick, Richard. Greek Mythology
Penrose, Roger. The Emperor's New Mind
Poe, Edgar Allen. The Pit and the Pendulum
Poe, Edgar Allen. The Raven
Pratchett, Terry. The Colour of Magic
Pratchett, Terry. The Light Fantastic
Pratchett, Terry. Eric
Pratchett, Terry. Soul Music
Procter, Bryan Waller. For a Fountain
Pyle, Howard. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Raymo, Chet. 365 Starry Nights
Renault, Mary. The King Must Die
Robinson, Herbert Spencer & Wilson, Knox. The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All Nations
Rombauer, I. & Becker, M. Joy of Cooking
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Rumi, Mevlana Celaleddin. Divan-i Kebir, Meter 2
Sandburg, Carl. Fog
Scott, W.B. & Crossman, E.J. Freshwater Fishes of Canada
Scott, Sir Walter. Brignall Banks
Scott, Sir Walter. Marmion
Shakespeare, William. King Richard III
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth
Shakespeare, William. The Winter's Tale
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Abominations of Yondo
Smith, Dodie. The Hundred and One Dalmatians
Stoker, Bram. Dracula
Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda
Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. Maud, And Other Poems
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King
Vance, Jack. Rhialto the Marvellous
Wells, H.G. The Invisible Man
White, E.B. Charlotte's Web
White, E.B. The Trumpet of the Swan
White, T.H. The Once and Future King
Winner, Cherie. Salamanders
Wodehouse, P.G. A Pelican at Blandings
Wordsworth, William. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
Wordsworth, William. Sonnet
Wright, Dudley. The History of Vampires
Zelazny, Roger. Knight of Shadows
Zelazny, Roger. Unicorn Variations

Biblical references

Genesis 3:1-6, 13-15
Leviticus 20:1-5
1 Samuel 17:48-50
Matthew 13:37-42, 49-50
Revelations 6:1-8

Dictionaries, encyclopaedias and other reference works

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore
Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia
Mythology of all races
het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters
Oxford's Student's Dictionary of Current English
Spectrum Atlas van de Mythologie
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition

Non-literary references

http://www.animalsoftherainforest.com
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Episode 5.03, The Replacement
The movie Gargoyles, written by Stephen and Elinor Karpf
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Internet Oracularity 576.6
Snow Day, directed by Chris Koch, written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi
Xsokoban web site
the Bestiary of Xygag
wump (6) -- "Hunt the Wumpus"

Non-specific citations

J.B.S. Haldane
W. B. Seabrook
Mike Stephenson, "for the NetHack DevTeam"

Dylan O'Donnell (psmith@spod-central.org)