Thoughts on strange words

Names and foreign words are a difficult subject in fantasy. There are two rules with each having their own supporters: Different and standard. With names the argument are old and clear, so I will start with that. My purpose of writing is however to consider words.

Tolkien did not use standard names for the characters in his stories. He was a linguist, so understood that different cultures will have their own names. This is not a hard argument to support, as most racial/cultural groups in our world have their own set of names. Reading most fiction however has the authors using standard names for their characters. Their argument is that they are writing to a certain audience, and want that audience to connect to the characters, so use names that are familiar with familiar meanings to help achieve that connection.

I agree with Tolkien. I find most fantasy to have serious flaws preventing me from accepting the alternate reality as real. Part of the lack of suspension of belief are the names. With characters going around being called George, Larry, and Steve, I look for other signs of our reality behind the facade of this fantasy world. When the author bothers to develop unique names, he also usually bothers to create other unique aspects to his world that help make the scenes he is describing to exist at a deeper level. That is what I want from my fantasy.

Sometimes words have to be created as well. I find this troubling as language is a problem from the beginning that has to be ignored. To assume that these people from a completely different background are speaking English is silly. One has to allow that the author is performing a pure translation, one that keeps the exact meaning and associations of meanings. When actual words from the language of that world come up in a story, the reader is then given some power of challenging the narration. It is one thing for someone to say, "I don't believe," as the author can then ask, "Why?" and work to fix it. It is entirely something else when a reader says, "You are doing it wrong," as then the author has lost control of his ideas. I thus usually go beyond the phrase, "Don't ask and don't tell," to simply, "Don't tell."

Most words from the fantasy world do not need to be presented. The book "Eragon" and following texts are prime examples of this. The author goes to great lengths to explain the words of magic, their grammar, and even syntax. It is as if the author is saying, "If you go to my fantasy world, you can work magic." Avoiding the vision of a multitude of "Eragon" fans rushing through a portal into the world of "Eragon" to magically right wrongs, kill monsters, and punish wrong-doers, the real concern should be of that multitude arriving on the world of "Eragon" and doing the job better because they know more than the author (or the characters in his story). The author thus has empowered his readers with the ability to supplant his place in the creative process.

Now, there are times that words do need to be presented. These are not to be considered as exceptions to the rule, but simply as doses of reality where the author admits that his 'perfect translation' ran into trouble and he needs to explain something in a different fashion. I find such moments to actually aid the believability of a fantasy story, as nothing in our world is perfect, so the author should have incidents where "Anything that could go wrong will go wrong." An occasional word should not disturb the suspension of belief or empower the reader, so can be placed safely.

Now, one might ask why do I even bother writing on this topic. Well, the answer is that it bothered me as I worked on a story. The scene is below.

~~~~~~ From: "Life is Normal" ~~~~~~

Oggelly returned, "It's a birdie. Can't you see the feathers? The game is called badminton."

Sylvia explained, "It is a net game. You hit it back and forth with mats having a point scored by someone missing the birdie or it going out of bounds."

Chadorsell found it strange that he knew of the game. Oggelly would often come up with all sorts of ideas that he would claim came from some other part of the world. In this case the only thing strange with the game was the name, so Chadorsell threw back the birdie while saying what he had heard the game called. The voice of Sylvia rang out upon hearing it.

"That is it! Oggelly, I told you that the game was not unusual. I said that I heard it mentioned when King Voudair came up to a social at Fastiozain."

~~~~~ A coming story from Roby Ward (TerishD) ~~~~~

I considered coming up with some syllables to present as what Chadorsell called the game, but then wrote 'around' such a statement. I reasoned that none of the characters were speaking English, and that while Chadorsell might say something different, the syllables translated would still come across as 'badminton.' Just as 'uno,' 'eine,' and 'adin,' all are spelled and pronounced very different, each translates into English as 'one.' I thus decided not to present a transliteration of what Chadorsell said.

There are those that just want to know. I am occasionally bothered by those that are interested in some other aspect of my world or story than what I present. While I am interested in those comments, and usually attempt to explain what is desired, I maintain my place as the one who knows best. I looked at the passage, and what was the Elvish word for badminton had no importance. What was important was showing my characters simply speaking on a 'normal' topic without concern for what tragedy, horrors, or wondrous events I might have planned. I felt that the passage accomplished that purpose, so dropped any concern for what the spoken syllables were. Other authors might choose differently, but I will allow them to have control over their own worlds and stories.

I agree that names given to fantasy characters should be at a minimum, not common names. Having James flying through the sky on a Dragon named Tony would peeve me off as a reader. Although, old fashioned names that don't have much usage in today's world work. In contrast, Alyssa may not be uncommon, but to me doesn't sound bland and modern. It can easily fit into a fantasy world for me, maybe because I personally think its an attractive, yet strong name with a mystical pronunciation. I made some of my characters names just altering near modern names. One character for instance: Adraine, I derived from the name Adrian. For antagonists, sometimes I delve into names of mythical creatures, always a good selection.

Very interesting point you made in reference to your badminton piece. Having the game of badminton in a fantasy may earth you so to speak, but how else could you name it without it being a completely different game altogether?

I haven't added anything like that in my story but have plans to semi-invent a game for the 2nd instalment (touch wood I get so far) which may involve racing giant sand worms/bugs as I already know the location in which the sequel will take place...but this doesn't really scream originality which doesn't matter at present because its simply an idea I'm flirting with as I write the current story

Overall there's a satisfaction in the creation of your world and the words you use to describe it. Words are windows that allow vision of your story, make them shine and the story will show itself to the reader in ways the writer might not have thought possible.