Starting a new series on this site, Worldbuilding Wednesday, a selection of randomly generated people, places, things, and concepts suitable for incorporating into fantasy — or any speculative — fiction, courtesy of my continued experimentation with Gammadyne’s excellent Random Word Generator. All are free for any writer to use; I have no claim on them. I’ll be posting on the ins and outs of using this generator in a later post.
Why post lists of names? Many writers do, in fact, have a problem coming up with good names. If there’s one thing I hate in fantasy writing, it’s names that rely on bland syllables (Galarna, Tokul, Katana) names that are too evocative of this world (George R. R. Martin, I’m looking at you, with Ned and Jon) and unpronounceable or badly hyphenated names (Pam-Ella, Dr’zit.) I’ve admired Jack Vance and Ursula K. LeGuin for creating unforgettable names, as well as British writers of fantasy like Tanith Lee and Storm Constantine. A good name can even create a character. Think about Lady Lazulvine of the Worm: do you see a villanous sorceress? Or perhaps an older practitioner of dark magic? And an inn called The Reckless Raven must surely host all kinds of unsavory characters.
This weeks’ selections are a mashup of Vanceian (again, that aforementioned Jack Vance), French, British English, Swedish, and German, in a pseudo-European polyglot.
Random Names
| Female names
Duchess Vyrgilla Lyrestone Joiwynn Leerdawn Jolette Deepspoon Jularva Wineshore Lady Lazulvine of the Worm Queen Lyrilene Ravenia Snipcup, AKA The Luscious Minstrel Lady Shylla The Mournful Ydivene Imeili Ulaytra Sanshudra Sodcold
Male Names Rolarch Witswallow Sir Ghilius, Knight of the Somber Glaive Sir Hyverys of The Boar Sir Jingill of The Lusty Eye Trinopher Podgrace Ferschin Vanerock Finnwen Damchick Jarad Liegerend Kalián Lovberry Fayport the Unctuous Mzarbar the Barbarian Sir Jafflo of the Pure Wyvern
Local Color (People, Places, Things) Ozder, the Angel Of Glory Orsinfield Keep Dallesong Palace Fort Forancy The Falkenmoss Kings Folio of Displacement Grand Duchy Of Svorotufte Hessenborn Canyon Brandraith Keep Lightcourt Inns: The Corpulent Stag, The Reckless Raven, The Blue Weasel, The Four Fingers Inn |
