Thursday, August 11, 2011

Question #3

Our third question for the series is from Angie, who asks:


Okay, this may be a silly question but how do you come up with the names of your characters? Aethelbald isn't a name you see every day. ;)

I don’t think that’s a silly question at all! It’s actually rather an interesting one with a variety of answers!

We’ll start with Aethelbald since you mentioned him specifically. He actually has many names, though in Heartless we know him almost exclusively as Aethelbald. This is a relatively new name that he has taken on during his presence in the Near World in the form of a mortal man. But we also see Torkom the goblin dealer call him Eshkahn, and as the series progresses, we will come to know him by a wide variety of other names.

But Aethelbald specifically . . . how did I choose it? Well, I’m embarrassed to say that it wasn’t a particularly complicated reason. I simply wanted something that sounded silly. Something to make my snooty heroine would turn up her nose at the very idea of being courted by a man of that name! My first thought was the Anglo-Saxon name Ethelred. But that has too close an association with the historical king, Ethelred the Unready.

Nevertheless, inspired by Ethelred, I browsed around a list of Anglo-Saxon names and hit upon Aethelbald. I don’t think I’ve ever snorted so loudly when reading a name. I mean, what heroine is going to take a man named Aethelbald seriously? It made me laugh even to think of it, which made it the perfect choice in my mind. The name actually means “Noble and Bold,” however, which also suits the character of the Prince. Not that Una would notice that!

As to the rest of the names, I have a variety of methods for selecting the right one. All of the names in Parumvir are Latin-based: Una, Fidel, Felix, Argus, etc. All of the names in Beauclair are French-based: Gervais, Grosveneur, Genevieve (she’s Gervais’s little sister, whom you will meet in Moonblood).

The Southlanders are a little more complicated. I have grown to hate having to pick out Southland names! I picked Lionheart for the symbolism of the thing: A cowardly prince with a name like Lionheart is the last word in irony. But then I felt the need to make all the other Southland names match, thus King Hawkeye, Captain Catspaw etc.

But now I’m working on the rest of the series, trying to make Southlander names consistent. And I’ll tell you what, it’s difficult! The girl’s aren’t so bad. Many of them get flower-based name: Rose Red, Daylily, Starflower, etc. But finding good male names that don’t sound Native American is tough. I’ve succeeded tolerably well so far: Leanbear, Foxbrush, Mousehand . . . all animal-based names.

But the manuscript I just finished for Book 4 is largely set in ancient Southlands, and those names definitely tended toward the Native American bent, despite my best efforts. You’ll meet characters like Panther Master, Sun Eagle, Darkwing (please, please, please don’t think of Darkwing Duck! Oops. Drat.).

The manuscript for Book 5 is also set in Southlands, and I am fit to be tied with the naming business! So if you think of any good Southlands-sounding names, do please pass them on! I am all ears.

There are a handful of names mentioned in this series that are developed off of Faerie Language . . . which is a half-formed language with a fairly complex grammatical system that I invented back in my more ambitious high school years. I don’t often resort to these names, but sometimes I feel they suit the story best. From Faerie, we get names like Imraldera, Etanun, Akilun, HymlumĂ©, LumĂ©, and Gleamdren (which should be pronounce Glee-AM-dren . . . but I tend to forget and just call her Gleem-dren, so pronounce it as you will!)

There are plenty of Faeries in Goldstone Wood who have names from other sources, depending on the demesne from which they hail. For instance, the Faeries who live in Rudiobus have Gaelic-based names. King Iubdan and Queen Bebo are two figures from real life Gaelic mythology. Iubdan’s captain, Glomar, is another. But in mythology, Iubdan’s chief poet is named Eisirt, which I didn’t care for as much . . . so I renamed the poet Eanrin, which is a Gaelic name that means “handsome.”

The goblins all have Armenian-based names because the Armenians have such seriously awesome names! Torkom, Anahid, Vahe, Varvare, Khud etc. I couldn’t make up names half as interesting! Often I will tweak a name from the Real World to make it sound a bit more “fantasy.” But I’ve never had the heart to do so with these names. They are so beautiful and otherworldly as it is!

I hope that gives you some idea of how I go about naming my people and places! There is a system to it, odd system though it may be. I’m not generally wild about simply “making up” names since those names tend to ring false in my readerly ears (unless the author is like Tolkien and has made up many entire languages!). I love sticking to names from our real world as much as possible. They can sound completely fantastic, and yet they are grounded in reality, so we readers believe them more.



I don’t know about you, but I am thoroughly enjoying this Question/answer series! It makes me think and write about things I might never have thought to blog on otherwise. Do please add your questions below if you think of anything you would like for me to blog about!

17 comments:

Angie said...

Ah, now the hero being named Aethelbald makes sense! lol I know when I first read his name, I was like "Aethelbald?!" :D But now after reading why you picked that name I have to say it was the perfect name for that character.

Reading how you pick name was quite interesting. A lot more thought goes into the names of your characters than I ever imagined.

I'll have to see if I can come up with any Southlander names. My email name might make a good female name. Sundaisy. :) Okay, I'm a cat person and for some reason the name Catsbreath popped into my head. lol Not sure that is a name you would want to name one of your characters. Oh, how about Bearhug. :D I think I'd better stop now. ;)

Before I go just wanted to say that I'm reading Veiled Rose now and loving it. :)

Anonymous said...

Hello!My name is Manise perhaps you could cunsider these names Pearl Shellhart Jasmen and Vilet my fav names are Foxbrush and Rose Red

Christinanthemum said...

That's very interesting!

Araken said...

Was Una taken from Spenser's Faerie Queene?

Anne Elisabeth Stengl said...

@Araken: Yes it was. Good spot! She plays a similar symbolic role, though taken a different direction. Actually, this is such a good question, I hope you won't mind if I add it to my question/answer series. I talked about it a tiny bit at the end of this article: http://anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/2011/06/u-is-for-una.html . But I will enjoy an opportunity to exand on that particular symbol.

I'm glad you saw it. Not many people are familiar enough with Faerie Queen to make the connection.


@Everyone Else: Thanks for the name suggestions! :)

Araken said...

I am at Book V, Canto IX. Artegall and Arthur just killed the Souldan.

Barka said...

Male Southland names:
Sunraven
Fireblood
Wormtongue
Diamondeye
Ironhorse
Dragonmail (as in chainmail)
Marshwrithe
Eelfoot

Anne Elisabeth Stengl said...

Oh, I particularly like Sunraven and Ironhorse!

Elf said...

I think one of the worst parts in writing for me are the names. I always want something unique and something that will fit my character. I usually take a few days just looking in magazines and books for good names. Sometime the thing that stops a story that I am writing is finding names.
There is one name in particular that I really like and I haven't used it in any of my writing because I think it is just too special. Maybe I'll use it as a pen name or something...

Anonymous said...

Male: Taenor, Herron, Jyndan, Einlor
Female: Eirwyn, Nyx, Nixie, Tristana

~Clara

Anonymous said...

Christa here!
I just finished reading Veiled Rose and the Moonblood teaser. I've got a question. How do you pronounce places like Aiven, Lunthea Maly, and Ay-Ibunda?

Anonymous said...

How about Staghorn and Boarshead? (I couldn't resist. =P)

Anonymous said...

Christa again.
Badgersnout
Dogear
Cattail (couldn't resist =P)
Stouthare
Brownbird
Crowpie (don't ask me why)
Wolfsfang
Bulltail
Hindsfeet (I know it's basically the same as Deerfoot, but I'm trying to be creative)
Otterpaw
Uh, that's all I can think of right now.

Anonymous said...

Christa again!
Ok, here's some more:
Stoatfur (for those of you who don't know, the stoat's part of the weasel family)
Firelily
Foxglove
Redlily
Red Emerald
Woodlily
Copper Rose
Copperleaf
Leopardlily
Rabbitsfoot
Scarletsage
Silverberry
Silverheart
Silverstar
Silvertree
Starjasmine
Starlily
Swordfern
Whiteheart

And that's it for now!

Anonymous said...

Christa again. This is gonna be the last time but it's been fun thinking up of or looking up these names!

Lionmane
Harefoot
Buckeye
Houndstongue
Wolftail
Catear

Anne Elisabeth Stengl said...

These are such great lists! I find myself turning to them for ideas while drafting my newest manuscript. Christa, you will be pleased to hear that "Harefoot" just made it into Book 5. :)

Christa said...

Really!? That's epic! =D