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===Inspirations and sources=== The 1946 short novel ''[[The Dark World]]'' by [[Henry Kuttner]] and [[C.L. Moore]]<ref name="the_dark_world">Kuttner, Henry. [http://www.manybooks.net/titles/kuttnerhother07dark_world.html ''The Dark World''] (downloadable text from [http://www.manybooks.net ManyBooks.net]).</ref> was acknowledged by Zelazny as one inspiration. Similarities appear in the theme and in specific instances: some character names are common to both works, and they share the fantasy literary device of moving a present day, realistic character from the familiar world into a fantastical, alternate reality world, exposing the character to this shift as the reader experiences it. Zelazny is quoted as saying: {{cquote|... the Kuttner story which most impressed me in those most impressionable days was his short novel ''The Dark World''. I returned to it time and time, reading it over and over again, drawn by its colorful, semi-mythic characters and strong action ... looking back, Kuttner and [C. L.] [[C. L. Moore|Moore]] — and, specifically, ''The Dark World'' — were doubtless a general influence on my development as a writer. As for their specific influences—particularly on my Amber series—I never thought about it until Jane Lindskold started digging around and began pointing things out to me.<ref>''Amberzine'' No. 5, [[Phage Press]]</ref>}} Zelazny admitted that the series was also inspired by [[Philip José Farmer]]'s ''[[World of Tiers]]'' series, specifically the concepts of a powerful family in rivalry over the fate of multiple universes.<ref name="CallMeRoger">"...And Call Me Roger": The Literary Life of Roger Zelazny, Part 2, by Christopher S. Kovacs. In: ''The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny, Volume 2: Power & Light'', NESFA Press, 2009.</ref> Given Zelazny's academic interest in the Medieval European period, it is not a stretch to see a possible influence in [[Henry Adams]]' 1905 work ''Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres'', wherein he discusses the building of Chartres Cathedral, and the tidal-islet of [[Mont Saint-Michel]], on the Normandy coast of France. However, these possible influences are not supported by Zelazny's own commentary about the origins of the Pattern. He indicated that he loosely based the Pattern in part on the [[Tree of Life]] or [[Sephirot|Sephiroth of Kaballah]], and preferred to allow the reader to imagine what the actual Pattern looked like.<ref name=CallMeRoger/> More generally, the series draws from many mythological sources as inspirations, especially [[Celtic mythology|Celtic]] (see [[Tír na nÓg]]), [[Norse mythology]], and Arthurian legend. Zelazny cited Jessie L. Weston's 1921 book ''From Ritual to Romance'' as a key influence: it examined the pagan and Christian roots of the legends of King Arthur, the Wasteland myths, and the Holy Grail. For example, the Celtic Wasteland myth ties the barrenness of a land to a curse that a hero must lift; Corwin's curse is in part responsible for the Black Road.<ref name=CallMeRoger/> Philosophical texts have influenced the series as well: many similarities exist between Amber and [[Plato's Republic]] (see the [[Allegory of the cave]]) and the classical problems of [[metaphysics]], virtuality, [[solipsism]], [[logic]], [[possible worlds]], [[probability]], [[Doppelgänger|doubles]] and [[essence]]s are also repeatedly reflected on. The references made by Zelazny could be considered foreshadowing. For example, the name [[Ganelon]] was taken from the [[Matter of France]], a body of classic French legends and literature that includes the ''[[Song of Roland]]''. Throughout the Matter of France, Ganelon was often called "Ganelon the Traitor"; thus, for readers familiar with the original Ganelon, Zelazny's use of the name foreshadowed events in ''[[The Hand of Oberon]]'' where Ganelon purposefully loses a battle to spite [[Corwin (The Chronicles of Amber)|Corwin]]. In the ''Song of Roland'', Ganelon was also the stepfather of the protagonist [[Roland]], which Zelazny may have used to foreshadow the relationship between Corwin and Ganelon at the conclusion of ''The Hand of Oberon''.
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