scm288 Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 I finished rereading Warbreaker last week, and it struck me this evening: named Shardblades have very Returned-style names. Maybe it's just a coincidence--maybe you can't read too much into it; after all, Brandon has confirmed that there has been hundreds if not thousands of years of cultural trade between Roshar and Nalthis; this could just be cultural happenstance in the same way that shash is a shared linguistic trait between the two worlds. But here are some names of the Returned: Lightsong, Blushweaver, Allmother, Peacegiver, Strifelover, and of course, Warbreaker. Here are some names of (named) Shardblades: Firestorm, Sunraiser, Oathbringer. I don't count Mayalaran because that's her spren name, in the same way that Sylphrena is the name of Kaladin's spren; not sure what to make of spren names. But really--where do Shardblade names come from? They seem to have a similar naming tradition as the Returned: two-part words, often involving a verb. Sunraiser and Oathbringer both fit that bill. Is there a connection? Or is it happenstance? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Invocation Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 It may just be because two-part names like that sound really cool. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 (edited) Swords having two-element names are extremely common in fiction (Stormbringer springs immediately to mind along with practically everything in ASoIaF) and also in mythology when you have named weapons like Quernbitr ('Stone-Biter'), Caledfwlch/Caladbolg ('Hard Cleft'), Blutgang ('Blood-taker'), Hauteclere ('High-Bright') and so on. It's just a natural way to make cool-sounding names for swords and other weapons and I wouldn't read anything into it. Edited August 22, 2020 by Weltall 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Am A Fish Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 13 hours ago, scm288 said: I finished rereading Warbreaker last week, and it struck me this evening: named Shardblades have very Returned-style names. Maybe it's just a coincidence--maybe you can't read too much into it; after all, Brandon has confirmed that there has been hundreds if not thousands of years of cultural trade between Roshar and Nalthis; this could just be cultural happenstance in the same way that shash is a shared linguistic trait between the two worlds. But here are some names of the Returned: Lightsong, Blushweaver, Allmother, Peacegiver, Strifelover, and of course, Warbreaker. Here are some names of (named) Shardblades: Firestorm, Sunraiser, Oathbringer. I don't count Mayalaran because that's her spren name, in the same way that Sylphrena is the name of Kaladin's spren; not sure what to make of spren names. But really--where do Shardblade names come from? They seem to have a similar naming tradition as the Returned: two-part words, often involving a verb. Sunraiser and Oathbringer both fit that bill. Is there a connection? Or is it happenstance? Cool find though! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scm288 Posted August 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Right, it's also easily attributable to the 'Rule of Cool,' which is also viable. Sanderson's penchant for having connections in places make me a little paranoid on that front, haha. Thanks for the input. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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