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IronAngel
Seeker
65 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Nov 2007 : 20:49:16
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This may seem like an odd and relatively unimportant question, but I'm curious nonetheless. This is one of those trivial details that just won't leave me alone:
As we all know, people love celebrities, be they great historical, ideological or artistic names. Popular culture is a source of inspiration, as well. It's rather common for people to name their children after famous people who they admire; Mary is not the most popular female name in the Christian world by coincidence.
This got me thinking: Does this apply to the Realms as well? How common is it to name your child after a great lord, prophet or adventurer? In fact, they have whole pantheons of gods who could lend their names to children. I would assume Faerūnians are just as prone to doing this as people on Earth, but is there any evidence pointing that way? I wonder if Ed has ever discussed the subject anywhere.
Basically, are there many little Azouns, Piergeirons, Alustriels running around? Does young Eltargrim play with her little sister Amlauril somewhere under the trees of Yuirwood? I don't think I've ever seen an NPC named after another, unless they are related, which is a shame. It would add quite a bit of flavor to use existing names, instead of making up completely new ones, in new Realms fiction. Of course, the possibility for confusions is there, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Does this happen, and to what extent?
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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1073 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2007 : 21:06:15
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quote:
Originally posted by IronAngel
Does this happen, and to what extent?
two spring to mind straight away, both named after Gods
Torm and Shar(antyr) from the KoMD
In fact Sharantyr is named after two Gods!
Cheers
Damian
ps hmm wondering if they are deliberate? Question for THO perhaps? |
So saith Ed. I've never said he was sane, have I?
Gods, all this writing and he's running a constant fantasy version of Coronation Street in his head, too. .
shudder,
love to all,
THO
Candlekeep Forum 7 May 2005 |
Edited by - crazedventurers on 20 Nov 2007 21:07:25 |
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Akeri Rualuavain
Seeker
Canada
99 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2007 : 21:25:38
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| TO my opinion this is quite a good question, and you made me curious too. Also, i think would be funny someday that an hero came in front of a child name just after him... Odd but could be so cute and funny. |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2007 : 22:01:12
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| He has, check his compiled replies but mostly, during TSR days, they didn't want game designers to reuse names because TSR felt that it would confuse people, so you hardly see NPC's with the same first names. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2007 : 15:38:08
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
One of my favorites is Elfinster, from Zakhara. It's said that he left Shadowdale because he kept being confused with Elminster. 
Which probably didn't go over so well for him, with all the rival archmages/red wizards/malaugrym/zhents/dragons/liches/demigods after the real thing.  |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2007 : 15:44:02
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
One of my favorites is Elfinster, from Zakhara. It's said that he left Shadowdale because he kept being confused with Elminster.
Ah much like Wooly's less wrll known Step-brother,
Wooly Ruprecht.
P.S. Hope you have seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Steve Martin and Micheal Caine), |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2007 : 16:12:59
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Now that I had more time, I found a few passages from Ed:
March 11, 2004: Hi, Damian! Fangs awfully (sorry) for your questions. Herewith responses: in the original Realms campaign, I had a lot of NPCs with the same name (just as in real life) for maximum confusion = realism = force engaged roleplaying reasons. Obviously, when the Realms was to be published for a wider audience, TSR wanted to eliminate these confusions, so we have just one: Torm the thief sharing his name with a god (which of course is actually very common in the Realms, which has some gods risen from mortal status recently enough that there are peoples still around in which the god's name(s) are still in popular use, and even more often because devout parents often name children after the gods (particularly if the babe is sickly, because they hope the favour of the god will result in the child surviving its early years).
And THO said on June 23rd, 2006: Ah, I can answer this one.
One touch of realism that Ed had in the original Realms, that TSR largely expunged for the sake of clarity and simplicity, was lots of characters with the same first names (how many "Johns" do you know?), a demon and a devil with the same name (Astaroth, if I recall correctly) so those making the SLIGHTEST mistake in the ritual for one could end up with the other arriving, not under their control at all (!), and, of course, lots of children named after gods (Torm the thief being one of those - - and, yes, his personal character, as played by Victor Selby, tending to make this a mockery of what the god stands for). So in the "home" Realms there are LOTS of name confusion incidents; it all makes for more and better roleplaying. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
Edited by - Kuje on 21 Nov 2007 16:13:25 |
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe
USA
527 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2007 : 18:06:56
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| Wooly Rupert and Wooly Ruprecht...both a variation on Robert. Is it possible they are all being named like George Foreman named all his kids... |
'Everyone dies...I only choose the time and place for a few.' --Eric Destler |
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Faerūnian Celebrity Names
