Is there a connection between Shardblades and the Returned?

[scm288]

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?

[+Invocation]

It may just be because two-part names like that sound really cool.

[Weltall]

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

[I Am A Fish he/him]

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!

[scm288]

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.