Veronica Borri
asked
John Gwynne:
Hi John, I recently came across your work, and fell for it pretty hard - it kept me up way past my bedtime, which is always a good sign. It seems the language of the giants has a lot in common with the Irish language - I felt like I was getting sneak peaks behind the scenes, and it made me wish I could remember more of it from my school days! Do you have any Irish connections? Thank you!! Roni
John Gwynne
Hi Roni,
Great to hear from you.
I'm so pleased that you're enjoying the series so far - enough to nudge the books into your allowed sleep time - and thank-you for taking the time to let me know. I really appreciate that.
As for your question, yes, I have been dipping into some gaelic for the giants language. With the whole series I've referenced history and mythology to try and give a sense of depth and weight to the story, and I've tried to do the same with language. I think my translations are pretty bad early on in the series, but for books three and four I've turned to a good friend of mine who happens to be Irish, and he has helped me a lot so I'm sure the 'Giantish' will be a lot more legible :)
The whole western part of the Banished Lands is celtic-inspired, so there is Irish in there, but also a mix of Welsh and Scottish - many of the names, both people and places - are celtic. For example, Brenin means 'King' in Welsh.
Thanks again for the question. I hope that helps.
Best,
John
Great to hear from you.
I'm so pleased that you're enjoying the series so far - enough to nudge the books into your allowed sleep time - and thank-you for taking the time to let me know. I really appreciate that.
As for your question, yes, I have been dipping into some gaelic for the giants language. With the whole series I've referenced history and mythology to try and give a sense of depth and weight to the story, and I've tried to do the same with language. I think my translations are pretty bad early on in the series, but for books three and four I've turned to a good friend of mine who happens to be Irish, and he has helped me a lot so I'm sure the 'Giantish' will be a lot more legible :)
The whole western part of the Banished Lands is celtic-inspired, so there is Irish in there, but also a mix of Welsh and Scottish - many of the names, both people and places - are celtic. For example, Brenin means 'King' in Welsh.
Thanks again for the question. I hope that helps.
Best,
John
More Answered Questions
Dimitrios
asked
John Gwynne:
Hello John, I'd like to ask you some questions about your writing process. 1.Do you first create the plot and then everything else? 2.Do you use any special software for designing or just plain text? 3.How much time and detail do you give to planning? 4.Do you figure out the plot of the whole series before writing each book? 5.Do you try to use different vocabulary for each character? Regards, Dimitrios
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!
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