Mana is a word that comes from a Polynesian language meaning something along the lines of "supernatural power". The concept of mana was introduced in Europe by missionary Robert Henry Codrington in 1891 and was popularized by Mircea Eliade in the 1950s. It was first introduced as a source of wizards' power in a 1969 short story by Larry Niven , and in role-playing games by Dungeon Master in 1987. It has since become a common staple in both role-playing and video games.
"The History of Mana: How an Austronesian Concept Became a Video Game Mechanic"
, June 17, 2014, Alex Golub, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
复制自Wikipedia
UPDATE：
文中提到的拉里尼文的作品：
ftp://ftp.seti.org/phillips/scifi/Not%20Long%20Before%20The%20End%20-%20Larry%20Niven.txt