A Geography Of Haarth: A Few More Final Reflections
Although I titled last week’s A Geography Of Haarth post the final roundup I realized that I had a few more final reflections to share, mostly of a number-crunching nature.
As noted the series that has explored the full range of locales and places (so far) from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each entry has been accompanied by a quote from the books in which the place appears, whether The Heir Of Night or The Gathering Of The Lost (or both.)
The series followed an alphabetical approach, starting with “A” (Academy Island) and working through to the final locale of Wymark under “W.”ย The further reflections include noting that:
- The majority of Haarth place names occur under “T”, with 11 locales ranging from Telimbras to the Towers of Morning; and
- The bulk of place names also occur at the beginning and end of the alphabet, with 7 underย “A” and 8 under “B” respectively, and the same again under “S” and “T” (as well as the 11 under “T”);
- But (again so far) there are no entries at all under “Q”, “U”,ย “X”, “Y” and “Z”
In terms of where in Haarth the locales fall, so far the Wall Of Night story has canvassed the following number of places in each of the following regions:
Aralorn: 2
Emer: 26
Gray Lands/Jaransor: 6
Ishnapur: 3
(Diverse) Other: 10
River: 23
Supernatural Realms: 2
Wall of Night: 15
And there you have it: that’s what nigh on 2 years of Fantasy geography and worldbuilding fun will get you. ๐
.
But (again so far) there are no entries at all under โQโ, โUโ, โXโ, โYโ and โZโ
Well, time for some place names with those letters? ๐
I’m only joking. Toponomy can be a deadly serious business. This does show how moving the focus to the River area in the second book has exploded your geographical needs, name wise
Jest away, Sir! ๐
You are right, though: the Wall itself is a far more monolithic (ha-ha ๐ ) setting than the Southern Realms.
More seriously re placenames, as with all my names they have to be “right” otherwise things gang awry, so can’t just opt for the currently unused letters of the alphabet, willy-nilly.
Quite, yes. Names need to make sense with other names, with perhaps a frisson of real world mixed-origins.