Having Fun With Epic Fantasy: My Love Affair with Long Names, Part 1

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Over the past few weeks I’ve been looking at the influence of names on both worldbuilding and character development in Fantasy literature. Those posts are here:

Use Of Names: Worldbuilding, Part 1 — The Wall Of Night Series

Use Of Names: Worldbuilding, Part 2 — Thornspell

Use Of Names: Character & Identity — When Names Have Deeper Meanings

Today I’m going to begin a slightly more irreverent look at the place long names have in Fantasy literature — which is something of a love-hate relationship for many readers of the genre.

As readers of The Wall of Night series may know, I have paid my dues to the long names of the Fantastic tradition, which in and of itself probably tells you that I am one of those who *heart* their contribution to the genre.

In terms of where my love affair with long names began, it is hard to pinpoint exactly how and when, although I suspect it could go as far back as early childhood and my delight in fairytale characters such as Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin. From fairytales I progressed to myths and legends where I suspect names such as Aphrodite and Penthesilea from the Greek, and Geirrendour, Sleipnir and Brisingamen in the Norse also played their part.

Then, of course, we come to my early teens and The Lord of the Rings, where long names abound and are part of the mythic glamour of the storytelling, particularly for backstory characters such Luthien Tinuviel, Earendil, and Gil-galad. However, they’re also important in the main story, with character names that include Glorfindel and Galadriel, as well as the Ent, Fangorn (Treebeard), whose name, like those of all his kind, grows to match his life and experience.

I was hooked by both The Lord of the Rings’ story and the richness of a world-building that included eytmology — but I believe I first felt the full delight of long names some years later when I encountered Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed. Long names abound in this tale, particularly — but not exclusively — for characters that hale from the land of Herun.

So readers encounter not only Master Ohm (Ghisteslwchlohm), but also Elrhiahodan, the Morgol (ruler) of Herun, and the wizard, If of the Unpronounceable Name. I think it was the humour of the “Unpronounceable Name” epithet that finally confirmed my place on the “lover of long names” side of the Fantasy ledger.