RE: Gloranthan Names

From: Posselt, Theo (US - Foster City) <"Posselt,>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 15:43:20 -0500


Hi, Everyone -

I just can't keep up... Sorry to everyone if this is old news by now.

As a reminder, the reason I'm bring this whole topic up is two-fold:

  1. to have a simple method for my players to be able to generate names that make some level of sense
  2. to allow characters in my Lunar setting to know intuitively where most of the NPC's are from. For example, if they meet someone named 'Liam', I'd like them to know he's from, for example, Ralios (if they're cultured enough to know that).

I know I'm at risk of setting up some false analogies, but at the same time, I'd like to get the bulk of the intuitive feel right.

Based on the comments from Mikko/Adept, Bryan, and David, I'm currently thinking of the following analogues:

Brithini: Latin
Safelster/Ralian city-states: Italian (sooner or later my characters will have to run into Gian Gero)
Loskalm: French
Seshnela: Spanish? not quite sure about this

Hsunchen all over: Finnish, Basque, Hungarian*

Pentans: Mongolian and Turkic
Praxians: American Indian

Carmanian: Persian**
Firespeech: Hebrew*** (possible replacement: Ancient egyptian?) Pelandan: ancient greek
Dara Happan: Sumerian
Darjiinian: 'soft' sumerian
New Pelorian: Arabic****

orlanthi languages:
Ralian: scandinavian
Alakoring/sairdite: germanic
Esrolian: irish/gaelic
Sartarite: angle/saxon
Heortland: middle english

Some specific responses:

>From Bryan:

> 1) In a lot of languages names were (or at least started as)
> descriptive words or phrases. .... Sure, maybe
> they wouldn't really know that Dzurallek-Akar means "Fire-Spitter,"

True, we then only need a naming convention for the 'others'. Unfortunately, for me playing in the empire, the 'others' is still a very large group.

>
> 2) On earth many names were derived from religion and myth. I'm sure
> the same is the case in Glorantha, so you can always grab a few names
> for a culture by taking variants on its gods or spirits.

Also a good point... this is one reason I'm leaning towards hebrew now for the firespeech. We have so many hebrew-derived names, it would be useful for modelling all those wacky yelmites.

> 4) If you need more languages to work from, you haven't even touched
> slavic family languages yet,

I'm not sure if any gloranthan cultures feel slavic to me. Perhaps some of the areas east of Loskalm, I don't know, but so far nothing else.

>
> I don't know if any of this was useful, but I hope you have fun with
> names all the same!

Very useful, thanks!

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