A friend of mine was wondering about the history of the wish spell in Dungeons and Dragons. It is his suspicion that the spell “only” exists because they needed something for genies to cast to work in the famous Arabian folklore. Obviously, wishes are a large part of the folklore of many cultures, but his understanding is that genies are the only (famous) case of getting a “free” wish for anything you like (as opposed to specific deals with devils or bargains with fey).

Does anyone know of any information on why wish was added to Dungeons and Dragons? Did any of the authors ever comment on the decision to write and include the spell?

A friend of mine was wondering about the history of the wish spell in Dungeons and Dragons. It is his suspicion that the spell “only” exists because they needed something for genies to cast to work in the famous Arabian folklore. Obviously, wishes are a large part of the folklore of many cultures, but his understanding is that genies are the only (famous) case of getting a “free” wish for anything you like (as opposed to specific deals with devils or bargains with fey).

Therefore, I am interested in answers to the following questions:

• When was wish, or the ability to make wishes and have them magically fulfilled, added to Dungeons & Dragons?
• Was wish originally a spell, or did it ever exist in non-spell form (a particular ability of genies, perhaps?)
• Does anyone know of any information on why wish was added to Dungeons and Dragons? Did any of the authors ever comment on the decision to write and include the spell?

Anyone who can provide answers to any or all of these would help.