Hello,
Have you ever noticed that names in fantasy books can be difficult to hook your mind around? Or is that just me?
Tolkien, the man who built the cornerstone for modern fantasy, started the ball rolling with the complicated, unpronounceable names. As a professional philologist (scholar of historical languages), he drew heavily from Old English, Old Norse, Finish, Welsh, Gothic, Latin, Greek and others. Plus, he invented at least 15 languages—6 or 8 of which are fully developed with grammar, phonology, historical evolution, dialects and etymology.
From this, he created his character names. If he needed an Elvish name, he used Quenya (high, ancient Elvish) and shaped a name from that.
Galadriel has a Quenya etymology meaning “maiden crowned with radiant hair.”
Mithrandir (Gandalf’s Elvish name) means “grey wanderer.”
Moria means “black pit.”
Sauron comes from a root meaning “the abhorred” or “the foul one.”
We didn’t do that.
Possibly because neither Aidan nor I is a professional philologist.
And I struggle to remember the Tolkien names.
Aidan doesn’t.
I wonder if it is because it’s his first language. We started reading Tolkien to him when he was an infant. He absorbed the plot and world so strongly, it has influenced every bit of our writing.
Aidan and I don’t develop our own languages—except for a few lines here and there—but we do have fun naming our characters. Like Tolkien, we use sources from Old English, Old Norse, Welsh, and Latin. There is a moment of real joy when you find the perfect name that fits with the character you’ve imagined.
Sometimes it takes a while. We just renamed a character for the umpteenth time. Aidan has declared Cyrik the man with the most names.
How’s your memory for fantasy names? Drop me a note to let me know what you think?
Warm regards,
Paula Baker and Aidan Davies
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