Naming Magical Items

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Earendil
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Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Naming Magical Items

Post by Earendil » Thu May 07, 2015 1:39 pm

I'm putting together a Magical Treasure Index for my campaign, and one thing I'm having real trouble with is coming up with names! In particular Sindarin names for a bow and a longsword.

I have a Numenorean bow (for the Mirkwood Elf in the group) which has the Sure Shot Quality, and I'll probably also give it Superior Fell. I decided to make it black (so it melts into the background in your own eyes when you're firing it, helping you ignore distractions). So I was thinking something like "black bow" (Cúmorn?) but I don't really like the sound of that. Maybe "shadow bow" (Cúduath? Is that better?) but that might seem to imply The Shadow, which is not what I'm going for! (Although the player has already rolled, and it is cursed. :twisted:)

I'm also designing a longsword of Elven make (Eregion, most likely) for our Barding, which will have Runes of Victory, and possibly Superior Keen.

Does anyone have any good ideas for names, either for these specific items, or just generally? I'd prefer to use Sindarin names for items of Elven and Numenorean make, though I might nick names from the Rivendell book for Dwarven items!
Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!

... but you can call me Mark.

Feanor
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Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Feanor » Thu May 07, 2015 8:58 pm

If you have access to the old MERP "Lords of Middle Earth" or silmarillion you have a serious of good names in Sindarin, for weapons and indeed items in general. Im using it right now to create items for my group in my coming adventure.

Majestic
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Location: Seattle, Washington

Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Majestic » Thu May 07, 2015 9:57 pm

Actually, Cúduath or 'Shadow Bow' is pretty darn cool, and if it is cursed... 8-)
Tale of Years for a second, lower-level group (in the same campaign).

Beran
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Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Beran » Sun May 10, 2015 12:08 pm

There are some good English-Elven dictionaries on line that I've used in the past.

Robin Smallburrow
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Robin Smallburrow » Mon May 11, 2015 9:03 am

The main website I use for elvish is Ardalambion

do a Google search for it as it is a fully comprehensive look at the languages of Middle-earth. For a fun one try

Robin S.

Earendil
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Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 3:47 pm
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Earendil » Tue May 12, 2015 3:36 pm

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

I do have the Silmarillion (but no MERP stuff) and I had found a Sindarin-English dictionary online, which was where I got "cú" from -- I knew I'd seen the Sindarin word for "bow" somewhere but couldn't remember it. But thanks for those websites, they'll definitely be useful.

Majestic: you think Cúduath works fine? I haven't come up with anything better, anyway, so I guess I'm using it! I might rephrase it as "bow of shadows", though: that just sounds cooler to me!

In general, though, how do the rest of you come up with names for weapons? And what names have you used? I'd love to steal ideas from -- I mean get inspiration from the creative brains of this forum! :D
Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!

... but you can call me Mark.

Majestic
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Location: Seattle, Washington

Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Majestic » Tue May 12, 2015 5:55 pm

Yeah, I like Cúduath (and Bow of Shadows, too)!

I plan on using some of these websites as tools when I next need to name something.
Tale of Years for a second, lower-level group (in the same campaign).

Wbweather
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Re: Naming Magical Items

Post by Wbweather » Tue May 12, 2015 6:05 pm

I got a PDF of the 1989 MERP publication, Treasures of Middle Earth. It has a wealth of ideas along with many Sindarin translations of names.

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