Actually "settlement" could be used singular or plural: - PLURAL, "settlements" refers to all of the Merovian sites thought of separately. - SINGULAR, "settlement" refers to the region of Merovian occupation.
It looks like the Merovians are supposed to be French analogues, what with all the French names, and the shout-outs to the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties that ruled the Frankish people during the latter half of the first millennium.
In the comments to Other Tales: Balancing Scales I also pegged the gorgons as French analogues, and the presented facts that led me to that idea still stand. So maybe there was some cultural cross-pollination between the Merovians and the gorgons, or the population of gorgons that Cetea descends from, at least.
It would appear that the Merovians also cross-pollinated with the sidhe at some point - in particular, the La Belle family. Puddy goes on (and on) about her mixed ancestry, but this would suggest that the rest of her family share sidhe blood. Maybe that's how she does what she does: bends the universe around her without even thinking about it. (It may be just as well that she's not the intellectual type.) As for who or what named the town of Cerridwen and all those female descendents, we will have to wait for further reveals. Perhaps the town was in sidhe territory, served as a major contact point between sidhe and others, and was named after a powerful sidhe who allowed the town to be built there.
Oh, hang on... could “La Belle” be a reference to La Belle Dame Sans Merci? A “faerie's child”? Yes, that would appear to fit...
It's a stretch, but I'd also venture a guess that perhaps Puddy herself is full blooded, or maybe half blooded, sidhe and claiming the weird ancestry in order to explain whatever abilities she has as a sidhe. I've gotten the impression from Jamie's story that the fae aren't exactly thought of the same way the other races are. That might just be an elven thing, but as far as I know the only sidhe we've seen is the old man in the woods that keeps finding Jamie and the only information we've been given is that they're tricksy and dangerous. In Mack's story the fae haven't really come up much, despite all the racial overtones. That would lead me to believe that maybe the fae have mostly kept to themselves and one rogue fae decided she wanted to go to college but has to hide it a bit because perhaps the fae don't yet have all the rights some of the other races do due to their being so isolationist.
Which would work except that I'm fairly certain some of Puddy's cousins have been at the school longer than she has.
I agree in regards to the general concept though. I can't help but wonder if it isn't a case of a group of sidhe that basically decided to integrate with this rising humanity, just sort of appearing as a town off in the middle of nowhere at a time when small towns could easily be lost and found again without seeming unusual.
Also possible that Puddy isn't lying, and her heritage is what she claims. Nothing prevents the sidhe from pulling the same trick in non-human areas, as well as the stories of changelings...
Well, I was thinking it might be possible that Puddy's part of the family has stayed a bit more purely sidhe than the rest. So she could easily have almost entirely human cousins running around, as long as she doesn't have older siblings that came through then I think my idea is still somewhat possible... and even then, maybe her older siblings did come through and were a little more.. um.. subtle. That wouldn't exactly be difficult.
Interesting chapter! And Mackenzie continues to find clues in unexpected places.
So, for (perhaps rough) language equivalents, we have...
Pax = English Elvish = Greek Draconic = Latin Yokano = Japanese Chung = Chinese Kharoline = French Fae = Celtic languages-- "Cerridwen" is a Welsh name, but "sidhe" is an Irish word. I think I even remember a reference to a Bean Sidhe, which is the original Irish spelling of "banshee."
But are there any that have been introduced as cultural/linguistic analogues to real-world languages? Like the way "Elvish" words and names are all from real-world Greek, etc? None that I can think of, other than those on this list.
Fantasy has a long and fine tradition of borrowing from the real world, there is nothing to be gained from pointing to the figure behind the curtain, cut AE some slack and just enjoy the story :P
No no no! I wasn't criticizing! I was enjoying the thought that she's put into the world! This chapter added a page to the MUniverse atlas, which is why I decided to take stock with the language equivalents. (I have a degree in linguistics, so that aspect of the story is fascinating to me.)
Dwarvish has the same relationship to German that Elvish has to Greek, although some of the dwarven clan names have been translated into Pax so it's not always as obvious.
But most of the other non-human languages that have come up, I've just been inventing words and structurs as I go. That includes the subterranean version of Elvish, as well as the goblinoid languages. Basically, my decision to use a "substitute" or an invented language depends on how "alien" they are from a human point of view.
Ah, I should have spotted the Dwarvish... names like Karl and Krieg. Nice.
Basically, my decision to use a "substitute" or an invented language depends on how "alien" they are from a human point of view.
That's really interesting, and makes a lot of sense! I had noticed that subterranean Elvish doesn't seem to be related to Greek, but I guess I never thought about why. Very cool. :-)
*I never normally comment but here I thought i'd sustain Russian pride*
so, Khaz (Leda's home country) = Russian, or more generally, Slavic group of languages. note that Khazar is an actual tribe that existed on the now-Russian territory, but long went extinct.
Now whenever I see the word "faerie" I'm going to be pronouncing it with a Welsh accent. Thats okay though, I love Welsh accents, especially from women. Maybe I've been watching too much Torchwood.
Great Chapter. The old 386mm Balls are pretty old though, I wouldn't surf the Ethernet* with any thing older than a Hexium Ball... Heck I'm post this using Dual Ball 2 thaumatology. Packing multiple Balls in the space of one, what'll those theeks think of next?
* I find it amusing that Ethernet is a very real very standard network technology. Pretty much all Local Area Networks are Ethernet, and if you have an ADSL modem, you could well be connected to it via Ethernet (if you have more than one computer connected by cables it is almost certainly Ethernet, otherwise it could be USB).
Hmmm... Didn't Mack's mum run off to the woods after Mack was born, or somesuch? I seem to remember something to that effect, but haven't had a chance to re-read in ages. What if there's another connection there?
What happened to all the frequent posters from long ago? I remember there being heated discussions after almost every chapter. Admittedly I stopped reading the story some 6 months ago and have just recently came back to it and have caught up. But aside from Lunaroki I don't recognize many of the names here. Perhaps ppl had to change there handles? I know I did, used to be Creasy Bear but I couldn't use it on LJ for some reason or other...and clue me in because I'm slow like that, but when did the postings for the stories change to LJ from when it was right after the story on that same page?
live journal comments are a pain in the ass. specifically, they (A) take two pages loads to comment instead of 1 and (b) are "threaded" which i suppose in theory makes it easier to see who replies to whom, but in practice just makes it fucking annoying to see if there are any new posts. it's like, i really don't feel like going on a treasure hunt to follow the discussion. so usually i don't.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
June 5 2009, 05:37:34 UTC 2 years ago
Sidhe magic?
Does that explain Puddy's undetectable buffing?Hmmmnn...
June 5 2009, 05:56:36 UTC 2 years ago
typo
but the way I was gliding from crisis to crisis while t was hard to keep even one of them in perspective.Something is amiss near that lonely t.
June 5 2009, 15:32:42 UTC 2 years ago
Re: typo
A couple more:That "the" should be "they".
Pretty sure "settlement" should be pluralized.
June 5 2009, 19:15:34 UTC 2 years ago
Re: typo
Actually "settlement" could be used singular or plural:- PLURAL, "settlements" refers to all of the Merovian sites thought of separately.
- SINGULAR, "settlement" refers to the region of Merovian occupation.
June 5 2009, 06:08:02 UTC 2 years ago
June 5 2009, 08:46:05 UTC 2 years ago
Aha! More world info.
It looks like the Merovians are supposed to be French analogues, what with all the French names, and the shout-outs to the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties that ruled the Frankish people during the latter half of the first millennium.In the comments to Other Tales: Balancing Scales I also pegged the gorgons as French analogues, and the presented facts that led me to that idea still stand. So maybe there was some cultural cross-pollination between the Merovians and the gorgons, or the population of gorgons that Cetea descends from, at least.
It would appear that the Merovians also cross-pollinated with the sidhe at some point - in particular, the La Belle family. Puddy goes on (and on) about her mixed ancestry, but this would suggest that the rest of her family share sidhe blood. Maybe that's how she does what she does: bends the universe around her without even thinking about it. (It may be just as well that she's not the intellectual type.) As for who or what named the town of Cerridwen and all those female descendents, we will have to wait for further reveals. Perhaps the town was in sidhe territory, served as a major contact point between sidhe and others, and was named after a powerful sidhe who allowed the town to be built there.
Oh, hang on... could “La Belle” be a reference to La Belle Dame Sans Merci? A “faerie's child”? Yes, that would appear to fit...
June 5 2009, 12:59:18 UTC 2 years ago
Re: Aha! More world info.
It's a stretch, but I'd also venture a guess that perhaps Puddy herself is full blooded, or maybe half blooded, sidhe and claiming the weird ancestry in order to explain whatever abilities she has as a sidhe. I've gotten the impression from Jamie's story that the fae aren't exactly thought of the same way the other races are. That might just be an elven thing, but as far as I know the only sidhe we've seen is the old man in the woods that keeps finding Jamie and the only information we've been given is that they're tricksy and dangerous. In Mack's story the fae haven't really come up much, despite all the racial overtones. That would lead me to believe that maybe the fae have mostly kept to themselves and one rogue fae decided she wanted to go to college but has to hide it a bit because perhaps the fae don't yet have all the rights some of the other races do due to their being so isolationist.This could get interesting.
June 5 2009, 13:45:41 UTC 2 years ago
Re: Aha! More world info.
Which would work except that I'm fairly certain some of Puddy's cousins have been at the school longer than she has.I agree in regards to the general concept though. I can't help but wonder if it isn't a case of a group of sidhe that basically decided to integrate with this rising humanity, just sort of appearing as a town off in the middle of nowhere at a time when small towns could easily be lost and found again without seeming unusual.
Also possible that Puddy isn't lying, and her heritage is what she claims. Nothing prevents the sidhe from pulling the same trick in non-human areas, as well as the stories of changelings...
June 5 2009, 13:52:02 UTC 2 years ago
Re: Aha! More world info.
Well, I was thinking it might be possible that Puddy's part of the family has stayed a bit more purely sidhe than the rest. So she could easily have almost entirely human cousins running around, as long as she doesn't have older siblings that came through then I think my idea is still somewhat possible... and even then, maybe her older siblings did come through and were a little more.. um.. subtle. That wouldn't exactly be difficult.2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
June 5 2009, 12:27:59 UTC 2 years ago
language equivalents
Interesting chapter! And Mackenzie continues to find clues in unexpected places.So, for (perhaps rough) language equivalents, we have...
Pax = English
Elvish = Greek
Draconic = Latin
Yokano = Japanese
Chung = Chinese
Kharoline = French
Fae = Celtic languages-- "Cerridwen" is a Welsh name, but "sidhe" is an Irish word. I think I even remember a reference to a Bean Sidhe, which is the original Irish spelling of "banshee."
Are there any I'm missing?
June 5 2009, 14:54:24 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
Well, all the other nonhuman races' languages.June 5 2009, 15:05:39 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
But are there any that have been introduced as cultural/linguistic analogues to real-world languages? Like the way "Elvish" words and names are all from real-world Greek, etc? None that I can think of, other than those on this list.June 5 2009, 15:17:31 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
Fantasy has a long and fine tradition of borrowing from the real world, there is nothing to be gained from pointing to the figure behind the curtain, cut AE some slack and just enjoy the story :PJune 5 2009, 15:26:07 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
No no no! I wasn't criticizing! I was enjoying the thought that she's put into the world! This chapter added a page to the MUniverse atlas, which is why I decided to take stock with the language equivalents. (I have a degree in linguistics, so that aspect of the story is fascinating to me.)June 5 2009, 15:32:13 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
Dwarvish has the same relationship to German that Elvish has to Greek, although some of the dwarven clan names have been translated into Pax so it's not always as obvious.But most of the other non-human languages that have come up, I've just been inventing words and structurs as I go. That includes the subterranean version of Elvish, as well as the goblinoid languages. Basically, my decision to use a "substitute" or an invented language depends on how "alien" they are from a human point of view.
June 5 2009, 16:06:58 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
Ah, I should have spotted the Dwarvish... names like Karl and Krieg. Nice.Basically, my decision to use a "substitute" or an invented language depends on how "alien" they are from a human point of view.
That's really interesting, and makes a lot of sense! I had noticed that subterranean Elvish doesn't seem to be related to Greek, but I guess I never thought about why. Very cool. :-)
June 5 2009, 19:05:29 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
*I never normally comment but here I thought i'd sustain Russian pride*so, Khaz (Leda's home country) = Russian, or more generally, Slavic group of languages. note that Khazar is an actual tribe that existed on the now-Russian territory, but long went extinct.
June 5 2009, 19:21:34 UTC 2 years ago
Re: language equivalents
Giants (at least Storm Giants) seem to be Norse.June 5 2009, 15:14:54 UTC 2 years ago
June 5 2009, 17:13:02 UTC 2 years ago
386mm? I think should upgrade your Crystal Ball.
Great Chapter. The old 386mm Balls are pretty old though, I wouldn't surf the Ethernet* with any thing older than a Hexium Ball... Heck I'm post this using Dual Ball 2 thaumatology. Packing multiple Balls in the space of one, what'll those theeks think of next?* I find it amusing that Ethernet is a very real very standard network technology. Pretty much all Local Area Networks are Ethernet, and if you have an ADSL modem, you could well be connected to it via Ethernet (if you have more than one computer connected by cables it is almost certainly Ethernet, otherwise it could be USB).
June 6 2009, 03:51:27 UTC 2 years ago
Veil costume will look hot but
May leave her quite cold
Cunning Linguistics:
The place names mean "The Crater"
"Fair View" and "The Trees"
If Cerridwen is
Indeed Fae that might explain
Puddy's pots of gold
June 6 2009, 14:09:52 UTC 2 years ago
June 8 2009, 08:39:33 UTC 2 years ago
Been awhile...
What happened to all the frequent posters from long ago? I remember there being heated discussions after almost every chapter. Admittedly I stopped reading the story some 6 months ago and have just recently came back to it and have caught up. But aside from Lunaroki I don't recognize many of the names here. Perhaps ppl had to change there handles? I know I did, used to be Creasy Bear but I couldn't use it on LJ for some reason or other...and clue me in because I'm slow like that, but when did the postings for the stories change to LJ from when it was right after the story on that same page?June 9 2009, 13:17:34 UTC 2 years ago
Re: Been awhile...
live journal comments are a pain in the ass. specifically, they (A) take two pages loads to comment instead of 1 and (b) are "threaded" which i suppose in theory makes it easier to see who replies to whom, but in practice just makes it fucking annoying to see if there are any new posts. it's like, i really don't feel like going on a treasure hunt to follow the discussion. so usually i don't.June 10 2009, 00:02:51 UTC 2 years ago
Re: Been awhile...
Makes sense. I understand the whole treasure hunt thing. It is annoying. Thanks anelfgirl.