Does Hoid know about Earth (Our world)?

[Kaladonia]

In Brandon's reading from his new announced book "The Fires of December", Hoid who is the narrator talks about how the mother from this story named her child after the current month, December. He states, "it was a different word in their language naturally, but I shall use the translation and call the child December". 

So my question is, is there already a confirmed world in the Cosmere that uses the same months/calendar that we use in English/Earth, or is it possible that Hoid has actually world hopped to Earth, that Earth itself somehow exists in the Cosmere?

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

1 hour ago, Kaladonia said:

In Brandon's reading from his new announced book "The Fires of December", Hoid who is the narrator talks about how the mother from this story named her child after the current month, December. He states, "it was a different word in their language naturally, but I shall use the translation and call the child December". 

So my question is, is there already a confirmed world in the Cosmere that uses the same months/calendar that we use in English/Earth, or is it possible that Hoid has actually world hopped to Earth, that Earth itself somehow exists in the Cosmere?

Earth does not exist in the Cosmere, Brandon has confirmed that. (But if there were to be, many have suspicions that Rithmatist would be the book for Earth to be incorperated into the cosmere.)

Brandon has specifically stated that Earth does not apear in the cosmere.

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

11 hours ago, Kaladonia said:

In Brandon's reading from his new announced book "The Fires of December", Hoid who is the narrator talks about how the mother from this story named her child after the current month, December. He states, "it was a different word in their language naturally, but I shall use the translation and call the child December". 

So my question is, is there already a confirmed world in the Cosmere that uses the same months/calendar that we use in English/Earth, or is it possible that Hoid has actually world hopped to Earth, that Earth itself somehow exists in the Cosmere?

So Brandon was asked this in the convention today. I don't know if you were there (or maybe even the one to ask it ) [if so this answer is for em spectators], but it basically went along the lines of "does Hoid know about Brandon Sanderson". I think. Somehow the question came up.

And he also specifically said that the "december" translation was basically just meant to tell the reader that she was named after a "month" in general. One parallel to ours, but not the same. He went into how similar things were found throughout his books, and how "Grandpa Tolkein" did the same thing with Sam, whose name is not actually Sam, just a name that had a very similar cultural place. He also brought up the jokes that Hoid makes - obviously, Alethi alliteration will not be the same as english, but Sanderson uses english alliteration to get the point across.

Anyways, if you were there, cool! If not, oh well. Answer for you here ^^^

[Eternal Khol he/him]

On 12/5/2025 at 6:26 PM, Ookla the Ansible said:

he also specifically said that the "december" translation was basically just meant to tell the reader that she was named after a "month" in general. One parallel to ours, but not the same

Just wouldn't have the same ring to it if it ended up being The Fires of Jalorpalorp, or something like that

Edited December 17, 2025 by Eternal Khol

[PanicPug]

But Hoid is telling the story to an audience in the Cosmere so why not use the name of a (or better yet the last of their year's) month on their planet? It's just a bit immersion breaking as-is to me.

A friend suggested that maybe it's told on a world with only ten months so December (as in the Roman/Latin "tenth month") would at least make a little sense. So maybe there's a slight hope for that, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

2 hours ago, PanicPug said:

But Hoid is telling the story to an audience in the Cosmere so why not use the name of a (or better yet the last of their year's) month on their planet? It's just a bit immersion breaking as-is to me.

A friend suggested that maybe it's told on a world with only ten months so December (as in the Roman/Latin "tenth month") would at least make a little sense. So maybe there's a slight hope for that, but I'm not holding my breath.

Because Hoid is using that planets name for the month. It would just lose impact on the actual audience if he went with another name (similar to the Sam thing)

Ten months is a possibility, if it takes place on Roshar.

[PanicPug]

6 hours ago, Ookla the Ansible said:

Because Hoid is using that planets name for the month.

How do you mean? Does he tell the story on a planet that has a month called December? Or is he telling it to an audience on Earth and in a culture that uses the Gregorian calendar?

Because how I understand it it's neither. Instead he tells it on a planet that has its own name for the (last) month and that name is then, unlike most other names (without inherent meaning) in the Cosmere, translated to English so it makes sense for an audience familiar with the Gregorian calendar. And that kinda dampens the immersion thing for me personally.

I mean fantastical names are one of the staples of fantasy and the Cosmere (point in case) itself. So many planets in that fictional universe have well developed geography (with fantastical names), flora and fauna (with fantastical names), casts of characters (with fantastical names) and time and date systems (with fantastical names) that it feels weird to suddenly not have a fantastical name here. And that's probably the point, but then why not straight up call her "Month" instead

I don't know, it still kinda feels less immersive to me compared to what I'm used from the Cosmere. Maybe I'll come around when finally reading the whole story, but so far I'm still struggling with it (and I don't like that because the preview chapters already hooked me)

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, PanicPug said:

How do you mean? Does he tell the story on a planet that has a month called December? Or is he telling it to an audience on Earth and in a culture that uses the Gregorian calendar?

Because how I understand it it's neither. Instead he tells it on a planet that has its own name for the (last) month and that name is then, unlike most other names (without inherent meaning) in the Cosmere, translated to English so it makes sense for an audience familiar with the Gregorian calendar. And that kinda dampens the immersion thing for me personally.

I mean fantastical names are one of the staples of fantasy and the Cosmere (point in case) itself. So many planets in that fictional universe have well developed geography (with fantastical names), flora and fauna (with fantastical names), casts of characters (with fantastical names) and time and date systems (with fantastical names) that it feels weird to suddenly not have a fantastical name here. And that's probably the point, but then why not straight up call her "Month" instead

I don't know, it still kinda feels less immersive to me compared to what I'm used from the Cosmere. Maybe I'll come around when finally reading the whole story, but so far I'm still struggling with it (and I don't like that because the preview chapters already hooked me)

WoBs:

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Questioner

So in Words of Radiance you've got a character called Wit, who has a conversation with Kaladin in which he uses the phrase "bunny rabbit" which obviously doesn't exist in the language that Kaladin speaks. So my question is where and when did the language that he used come from?

Brandon Sanderson

So Hoid, or Wit, is actually try-- using magical means to communicate and so when he says a word it just transliterates it or just doesn't translate it into anything in that language. So you'll notice him slipping up on a number of occasions-- he is the only one who uses certain words in the course of-- That's not the only one in The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, because he's just speaking normally and allowing his other means to translate for him. And that's a sign, a symbol, of that happening.

Manchester signing (Aug. 6, 2014)

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dougpgc

Is there Shard based magic that's used for translation? Hoid is very smart, but it seems like it would be a pain to learn all these other world's languages -- and he's very eloquent in all of them. Will you tell us any details you can about this? pretty please : )

Brandon Sanderson

There are several ways to do this. Hoid is not learning all of the languages without aid. No details, I'm afraid. Except that if you watch, you will see him slip and use words that have no meaning (or the wrong meaning) in some of the languages he's speaking. Those translate oddly, or don't translate at all.

/r/books AMA 2015 (July 20, 2015)

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Argent

Recently, at DragonCon, you talked briefly about detecting worldhoppers by examining their speech, and you mentioned Hoid using "coin" on Roshar, where there are no coins. Which overlapped with a question I had been meaning to ask - why would the people around him hear "coin" instead of "sphere"? Is this magical translation (something to do with Connection) malfunctioning for some reason? Or is the use of such out-of-context words solely for the benefit of the Cosmere-aware reader?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this has to do with magical translation. It's a quirk of trying to say something in the language, and the magic mixing up your intent. Someone who actually learns the local language wouldn't make this mistake.

<edited for length and relevance>

Torrieltar

*in response to Brandon's original answer* Is that how translated puns work, then? Based on your intent?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that has something to do with it. Though being aware that you're using the magic, and how it works, helps. For example, Hoid (very experienced with this sort of thing) can manipulate the magic and get a feel for what will work and what won't. It's a strange thing, because in most cases, you're actually SPEAKING the language, not speaking your own and having it translated. The magic pretends you were born and grew up in that place.

So you can speak in puns, and riddles, and so forth. However, there's latency from where you actually grew up that causes a kind of "blip" when you try to force through something that just doesn't translate. If you just let the magic do its thing, you'll naturally use idioms from the world you're in. But if you lock on to one from your past, it causes a kind of disharmony in the magic--reminding your spirit web that you don't actually speak the language. It will spit out a transliteration or verbatim phrase in this case.

You will rarely see Hoid having the trouble that Vasher does in using the language and magic, as Vasher doesn't really care. But you will still see even the most expert slip up now and then.

There's an extra layer on this that I don't focus too much on, in that the books themselves are in translation--so when Hoid's using a pun, he's filtering his intent to pun through the magic, into Alethi, creating a local pun that works in the language--then that is in turn translated to one that works in our language.

Stormlight Three Update #4 (Sept. 10, 2016)

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Wantsometrufflesmate

Nale’s nuts sounds like something a world hopper would say...... I mean there aren’t any nut producing plants on Roshar so how would. (Someone’s) nuts be a saying?

Brandon Sanderson

In these cases, you should assume one of two things.

1. It's a linguistic holdover. I like using a lot of these in Stormlight. Human languages still have a lot of terms in them that reference the world they used to live on. (See Hoid's discussion of the word "hound" in one of the books.)

2. We're doing our best to translate into English a phrase that doesn't really work in our language.

Basically, whichever is easier for your suspension of disbelief. With this, I'd say it's likely they said "Nale's Rockbuds" but it's just awkward in English, so when the book was changed from Alethi to English, the translator (me) picked something that conveyed the same meaning.

Rhythm of War Preview Q&As (Aug. 20, 2020)

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Trex6

In the preview chapters you mention fay as self aware invested beings along with seons and spirits. Will these beings appear in an upcoming project already announced (example: Secret Project Four, Kingmaker, etc.) or instead in one of the secret stories you’re still keeping close to your chest? Or have you not decided where to put them yet?

Brandon Sanderson

It is one of those, definitely. It is not in Secret Project Four.

Like all things in the Cosmere, you should assume in this case that I am picking a word in English that best represents the concept. For instance, when I say the word "fay," I am not saying specifically creatures straight out of our mythology from Scottish and Irish lore. Anymore than if I call something an "ottoman," I am not implying the Ottoman Empire existed in the Cosmere. And if I use something that has a Latin root, I am not implying Latin exists. These are just best practice translations. I picked that word very carefully when I wrote this to kind of indicate to you that there is a place where they might just call them "fay." But that is not Hoid referencing our world. Most of you knew that already, but I just want to reiterate that concept for people.

It is not Secret Project Four but it is one of those other things you mentioned.

Secret Project #3 Reveal and Livestream (March 22, 2022)

 

Hope that helps