*gasp* I am sort of catching up!
My background is philosophy and history of ideas, so I know what you are saying. I was tempted to throw in Heart of Darkness for good measure, but I really should stop doing half a**ed "modern man ala Zygmunt Bauman" idea tracing and get back to what I'm suppose to do with this game academically - computer game philosophy. I just get distracted a lot. The game is packed to the brim with ideas I wan't to explore, but there's not enough time.
But, please, throw in yours! I'd love to read it.
Oooh, I would be delighted!
I'm afraid I'd take up way too much space if I go into minute details and I'm not sure how much coherence I can lend a post on academic analysis while keeping that in mind and there are so many directions to go.
Alright, let's see; so I'm primarily interested in the "folklore" aspect (as defined by the late Alan Dundes, i.e. including genre fiction and its movie/series/video game counterparts in my interpretation) and the psychological value of this mythopoesis, this is my framework that I approach this through.
I'm not even sure where to start within that - I wrote 50-some pages on this in general and barely scratched the surface - but if I have to pick a spot: the reason why I love playing Bioware games in particular is that the mythopoeic folklore elements build on the solid foundations of the original Tolkien-esque mythopoesis, even down to the elements of the somewhat... dystopic ending to LotR that catches some people unaware. (The movie hardly does it justice, although I like to handle adaptations in a category of their own.) Furthermore, it makes full use of the quintessential archetypes that define the mythology of humanity's past, which I could best describe by comparing DA's emotional interactions to a Shakespearean basis (because there the ideals, the "tropes" if you will, are defined much more clearly than in other collections I've perused), and also to it's present, for which there are more contemporary "bridges" such as Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson (The Wheel of Time) which offer a delightful reconstruction of a basic Tolkien-esque world, fleshed out to further develop the nuances of the battle between light and shadow that is so fundamental in the psyche. Nuance, meaning the very blurring of lines and the stark differences that appear despite that - I've often wondered in such cases what the thoughts must be like on the other side of this mess, and I think Jordan's world gives the best pointers to reveal this enigmatic dynamic.
Oh, there are just so many things to talk about.
Right, nitty-gritty: Tel'aran'rhiod. (WoT) This is completely the Fade. It's concept, however, is not at all new in genre fiction; I would best describe it with Jung's Collective Unconscious. This is the dream realm (literally) and it is somehow directly linked to magic. Coincidence? No. It is merely an archetype for the memories that infuse our blood from times that now live only in myth and legend.
Once we're on the WoT topic: channeling the One Power. There is an elegant simplicity in the design of the One Power that implies magic without ever straying too far from the 5 alchemical elements, but let us not get in too deep into magical realism just now, we could write papers on that. The point being, there is danger in touching it, in holding it inside - there are no demons/spirits, yet the wielders are visited by the same issues that magic users have in multiple worlds.
In fact, still WoT: the Forsaken, who wish to be gods in the world and who tie themselves to the Dark One to achieve their goal.
Oh, I could go on here, but I merely wished to delicately brush it.
The Balance as is depicted in Earthsea (LeGuin) is pervasive in DA, giving a concept of boundaries that are necessary to wield magic safely. I think that without a look at Balance, it is difficult to understand the nature of the relationship between Thedas and magic.
As was stated before, Dune is an excellent connection - I would go with the Spice as the focus here, a lyrium counterpart. Need I say more to those who know the tale?
The concept of a "chosen one" I won't even go into, the Hero role is almost generic in its appearance in fantasy - as it should be. The point being the "why" of it. This is a subject of a healthy psyche development that stems in a balanced folklore (and I don't mean only folktales, as I stipulated earlier). Yet, as in WoT, we get a chance to change the archetypal hero role and we can play the Reluctant Hero, which is an element of realism here.
Elves - well, I would happily delve into Arthurian legends and go into the mix of pagan lore that inspired the beings in the first place, yet here it is impossible not to talk about Tolkien, for that type of elf has become the basis for all other elves since. I respect DA deeply for changing the narrative and making them mortals - they become part of the world in a way that other stories don't quite achieve. But I digress. The elves being a "declining race that either recedes from the modern world or that is eliminated by force" seems to always be the direction, yet here in DA we get elves who, it is revealed, basically had a healthy hand in their own destruction (yet, is it better to consider Tolkien's world that suffers a "loss of magic" by stepping into the industrial age? The elves leave, the Shire becomes changed, nothing is quite the way it should be.) I'd love to go on a drow tangent, but I shan't.
The concept of the Well of Sorrows - oh, well, how about Macroscope (Piers Anthony)? Seemingly unlimited knowledge of "a higher civilization" at your fingertips - and it's deadly to most people.
Hah, and how about Thor walking among mortals? (Douglas Adams)
Shakespeare! I think pretty much all of us here can relate to the tragic, sweet sorrow of a tenuous romance, yet that is not by far the most fascinating connection. Spirits that are simultaneously sinister and helpful, potions that reveal the occluded future, the willingness to kill to achieve an end and the ultimate defeat suffered at the hands of morality...? Macbeth is the one of which I speak, and each interpretation of it just adds nuances.
Mirrors! Oh, where to start with the mirrors...............
For that matter, the halla could be a classic reinterpretation of the Hungarian csodaszarvas (the magical deer that lead us to the Carpathian basin).
Once we're on Hungarian lore - revolutionary poetic souls is kind of a Hungarian thing.
Morrigan - Morgan la Fey. I think that was pretty obvious from the start.
I realize all this is very chaotic and probably is impossible to follow. There's just no way to cram this into brevity. Perhaps I will seize upon these ideas individually, yet does that not defeat the purpose of an objective analysis of multiple worlds simultaneously?
...Perhaps I should just stay quiet now.
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Gosh I love Solas at Halamshiral. And I'm glad I was able to play my Inquisitor as being happy that he was happy. Because directly before this had been the death of his friend, then Adamant, then Cole's personal quest (where she'd made him more human). That's a lotta depressing stuff in a very short period of time, and she was worried about him. 
