Thuum.org

A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Thuum.org

A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Dragon naming related to ancient egyptian naming?

 1 

Gurin Ucida
January 25, 2016

I know this is a bit of a long shot, as I am no expert of languages and other languages can be similar in the same way. But could it be that names of dragons originated from the same concept of using fragments to make names that was used in ancient egypt?  Apparently,the name Tutankhamon (the name of one of the pharohs) is originally : Tut (image) Ankh (life) and Amon (god of the air, creativity and fertility). When I read this it felt abit too similar to the way dragons are named. Any thoughts?

 

by Gurin Ucida
January 25, 2016

I know this is a bit of a long shot, as I am no expert of languages and other languages can be similar in the same way. But could it be that names of dragons originated from the same concept of using fragments to make names that was used in ancient egypt?  Apparently,the name Tutankhamon (the name of one of the pharohs) is originally : Tut (image) Ankh (life) and Amon (god of the air, creativity and fertility). When I read this it felt abit too similar to the way dragons are named. Any thoughts?

 


paarthurnax
Administrator
January 25, 2016

This concept also exists in Old English, one of the primary inspirations of the dragon language. We can't know for sure where Bethesda got the idea, but it's certainly possible they drew it from these real-world examples.

by paarthurnax
January 25, 2016

This concept also exists in Old English, one of the primary inspirations of the dragon language. We can't know for sure where Bethesda got the idea, but it's certainly possible they drew it from these real-world examples.


Frinmulaar
January 26, 2016

I cannot claim to know for certain, but my hunch is that constructing names from vocabulary words is the global default. It only appears strange to us because most English proper names are so old that their roots have been forgotten.

by Frinmulaar
January 26, 2016

I cannot claim to know for certain, but my hunch is that constructing names from vocabulary words is the global default. It only appears strange to us because most English proper names are so old that their roots have been forgotten.


DovahKiinZaan
January 26, 2016

Another naming custom that could be related is certain Native American tribes naming people after a significant event in their life.

by DovahKiinZaan
January 26, 2016

Another naming custom that could be related is certain Native American tribes naming people after a significant event in their life.


Orkar Isber
January 27, 2016

From a linguistic viewpoint it is extremely common, globally, to name people by actual words. Almost all cultures did it in one way or the other.

Either the parents gave their child a word as name, that they wanted the child to become, like valor, courage, strength or symbols for such like spear, bear, lion.

Or the child was given a name that described attributes that showed like blonde, tall, red (hair) black (skin) etc.

Some cultures developed nicknames that were given by peers at a later age to describe the person and some used names they aquired through certain feats.

Later on, when lastnames became common they either desribed a persons job (smith, farmer) or the ancestral line (Olafson, Gunnorsdottir)

So very common names of today actually have a real word meaning like David - lover, Peter - Stone, Barney - blonde, Bjorn - bear, Silvia - who lives in the forrest, Melanie - black one, Felix - Lucky one etc.

What is a bit unique for Dragon names is that they are composed of 3 words while most names only consist of one, sometimes 2. 3 Word names are quite rare but that also goes for ancient egypt - Tut Ankh Amun is one rare example, most egyptian names consist, like all over the world, of 1 or 2 words like cleopatra, ramses etc.

So egyptian is very unlikely to the the reason behind dragon names. Id actually suspect germanic inspiration as old english bases on the german dialect of saxon and for germanic people of old it was quite common to acutally have more than one name. One name you were given at birth, one name that stands for a feat you accomplished and one nickname describiong you. We see that in vikings like Sigurd Snake Eye or Eric Blood Axe or Harald Blue Tooth (keep in mind sigurd, eric, and harald also are words with meaning)

 

So we have vikings named: Victory Snake Eye, Ruler Blood Axe and Leader Blue Tooth. Sounds dragon enough for me

 

by Orkar Isber
January 27, 2016

From a linguistic viewpoint it is extremely common, globally, to name people by actual words. Almost all cultures did it in one way or the other.

Either the parents gave their child a word as name, that they wanted the child to become, like valor, courage, strength or symbols for such like spear, bear, lion.

Or the child was given a name that described attributes that showed like blonde, tall, red (hair) black (skin) etc.

Some cultures developed nicknames that were given by peers at a later age to describe the person and some used names they aquired through certain feats.

Later on, when lastnames became common they either desribed a persons job (smith, farmer) or the ancestral line (Olafson, Gunnorsdottir)

So very common names of today actually have a real word meaning like David - lover, Peter - Stone, Barney - blonde, Bjorn - bear, Silvia - who lives in the forrest, Melanie - black one, Felix - Lucky one etc.

What is a bit unique for Dragon names is that they are composed of 3 words while most names only consist of one, sometimes 2. 3 Word names are quite rare but that also goes for ancient egypt - Tut Ankh Amun is one rare example, most egyptian names consist, like all over the world, of 1 or 2 words like cleopatra, ramses etc.

So egyptian is very unlikely to the the reason behind dragon names. Id actually suspect germanic inspiration as old english bases on the german dialect of saxon and for germanic people of old it was quite common to acutally have more than one name. One name you were given at birth, one name that stands for a feat you accomplished and one nickname describiong you. We see that in vikings like Sigurd Snake Eye or Eric Blood Axe or Harald Blue Tooth (keep in mind sigurd, eric, and harald also are words with meaning)

 

So we have vikings named: Victory Snake Eye, Ruler Blood Axe and Leader Blue Tooth. Sounds dragon enough for me

 

This thread is more than 6 months old and is no longer open to new posts. If you have a topic you want to discuss, consider starting a new thread. Contact the administrator for assistance if you are the author of this thread.