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Matt Horwood
asked
John Gwynne:
Hi John! I just need to let you know how much I love the faithful and the fallen series. I'm currently half way through valour and I can't stop reading it. Silly question really but how do you think of all these place names and character names? Are they based off of real places or people? They all work so well!
John Gwynne
Hi Matt, it's great to hear from you.
I'm so pleased that you're enjoying the series so far, and thank you for taking the time to let me know, I really appreciate that. All of the names - both people and places, are inspired by ancient languages. I'm nowhere near as clever as Tolkien, so I thought making up languages would be out of my grasp. Instead, I spent a lot of time reading ancient mythologies and studying ancient Europe - history, cultures and languages. All of the names come from or are inspired by a mythological or historical root. The Banished Lands is really my version of a mytho-historical ancient Europe, so the countries to the west - Ardan, Domhain, Benoth, Narvon and Cambren are Celtic in feel, further south and east Tenebral and the Three Islands are Greco-Roman, Forn Forest and the northern realms are more Norse and Germanic, and all of my names roughly correlate to this rationale. For example, Brenin is Welsh for 'King,' and Veradis is Latin for 'faithful/true.' Drassil comes from the Norse Yggdrasil, the world-tree of Norse mythology. All of the names come from ancient root languages - Latin, Gaelic, Welsh, Greek, Hebrew, Germanic and Slavic. My thinking was that it would give a more historical, grounded feel to the series, and I'm so pleased to hear that you think the names work well. :)
I hope that answers your question, and thank you for your kind words.
Best,
John
I'm so pleased that you're enjoying the series so far, and thank you for taking the time to let me know, I really appreciate that. All of the names - both people and places, are inspired by ancient languages. I'm nowhere near as clever as Tolkien, so I thought making up languages would be out of my grasp. Instead, I spent a lot of time reading ancient mythologies and studying ancient Europe - history, cultures and languages. All of the names come from or are inspired by a mythological or historical root. The Banished Lands is really my version of a mytho-historical ancient Europe, so the countries to the west - Ardan, Domhain, Benoth, Narvon and Cambren are Celtic in feel, further south and east Tenebral and the Three Islands are Greco-Roman, Forn Forest and the northern realms are more Norse and Germanic, and all of my names roughly correlate to this rationale. For example, Brenin is Welsh for 'King,' and Veradis is Latin for 'faithful/true.' Drassil comes from the Norse Yggdrasil, the world-tree of Norse mythology. All of the names come from ancient root languages - Latin, Gaelic, Welsh, Greek, Hebrew, Germanic and Slavic. My thinking was that it would give a more historical, grounded feel to the series, and I'm so pleased to hear that you think the names work well. :)
I hope that answers your question, and thank you for your kind words.
Best,
John
More Answered Questions
James Hunt
asked
John Gwynne:
Huge fan, I am so happy people like you can create such amazing books. I look forward to reading any an all of your future books. You have made a dedicated reader out of me from your first three books in the faithful and the fallen series. I hope Wrath will also be release as an audiobook? I have thoroughly enjoyed the first three so far!!
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