How to Name Your Dragon (and his Viking rider)

Subject: How to Name Your Dragon (and his Viking rider)
Author: Neshomeh
Posted on: 2014-07-15 17:13:00 UTC

Hi, guys. I'm seeking the help of the Board brain collective to potentially re-name one of my agents, currently known as Gall Bonecrusher, and her Monstrous Nightmare dragon, currently known as Snerri.

Since How to Train Your Dragon 2 came out (and was completely awesome), I've delved deeper into the franchise, and it's become more and more apparent to me that their names are stupid—not "Gall," that's fine, but the rest just doesn't work. I suspected as much from the start, if I'm being honest, but I sorta figured I could skate by on the basis that she's a badfic character and came up with those names all by herself. The problem is, I myself am no longer satisfied with that excuse, and it's bugging me enough that I'm having trouble continuing to write them. I'd like to come up with some new names that I don't hate and get them more canon-compliant.

The first problem: Gall's surname. I'm looking for basically a normal Nordic surname, because they have those. Ones that are already taken are Hofferson, Ingerman, Jorgenson, and Thorston. I'd like to stick to the suffixes evident in the franchise if possible, so names ending in -son, -man, or -(s)ton are preferred. I'm also hoping for something sorta crunchy-sounding, with Ses and Ks and other things you might have to spit to pronounce properly. Anything starting with L is right out. I have a few possibilities in mind (topping the list right now are Knutson and Skogman; I briefly considered Saknussemm for the lulz, but I'm pretty sure Jules Verne made that one up), but I want to see if you guys can come up with something good that I missed before I make a decision. {= )

The second problem: The dragon's name. The dragons in the franchise all have names constructed of regular (English) words, such as Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Torch, Thornado, etc. I thought about simply transferring "Bonecrusher" over to the dragon, but since there's one in the new film called Skullcrusher, thaaaat's off the table. I'm hoping for something kinda punny but also badass, like "Thornado." To give you an idea of the direction I'm going, here are a couple names I came up with but rejected for various reasons:

* Pyrefly - too girly, too similar to Stormfly. Also an actual thing in Final Fantasy X, if I remember right, though this isn't necessarily a negative point.

* Razerwing - kinda... I dunno, generic? And he'd end up getting called Razer for short, which is kinda dumb. Plus, I think "razorwings" may also already be a thing somewhere. Again, not necessarily a negative, but just goes to show that my brain is incapable of an original thought in this matter. {= P

This is for a large blue dragon who can light himself on fire for an awesome intimidation factor. Plays on words to do with fire, explosions, general destruction, blueness, things that are blue, etc., would be sweet.

There's only so much that one brain can come up with by itself. Haaaalp?

~Neshomeh

Reply Return to messages

How to Name Your Dragon (and his Viking rider) by Neshomeh on 2014-07-15 17:13:00 UTC

Okay, I think I got this. by Neshomeh on 2014-07-17 17:05:00 UTC Reply

I think I'm gonna go with "Gall Knutson," because it's just a funny, quirky surname. I don't even know how to pronounce it. Nut-son? Noot-son? Kanut-son? Kanoot-son? {X D Doesn't matter, I like it any which way.

To answer the question of patronymics, they don't strictly follow the rules in the franchise, so yeah, it's -son. To give a couple examples, Snotlout Jorgenson's father is called Spitelout Jorgenson (voiced by David Tennant!), and Astrid is Astrid Hofferson, not -dotter.

As for the dragon, first let me thank you guys for your great suggestions. You all had some really good ideas and helped get my brain working in new and different directions. Plus, I learned about some cool things, like blue jets and red sprites, which led me to something called black-body radiation, which just sounds awesome, doesn't it?

I also dug up some cool new words in my own search for good punbait:

* Brontide: a low rumbling sound, as of distant thunder or minor seismic activity.
* Ingle: a fire in a hearth. Also "inglenook," a fireplace.
* Scarfskin: the outermost layer of skin; the epidermis.

But ultimately, I think the dragon's name is Fellrazer. Yeah, I'm back on the "raze" thing... I didn't mean to cling to that, it just works. I like this because it sounds like something Gall would come up with, and it also sounds like one whole word rather than two randomly stuck together. Plus, it has three layers of meaning, which is more than I ever hoped for:

1. Sounds like "hellraiser"
2. Fell = fierce/dangerous, razer = one who razes ("deadly fire-starter")
3. Fell = the skin or hide of an animal (yes, really; scroll down to fell⁴!), razer = '' ("sets himself on fire")

"Fell" sealed the deal for me. {= )

I'm not totally closing the book on this just yet, though, because I'd hate to commit and change everything only to come up with something cooler today or tomorrow, so if you still have ideas, please share them! I'd love to hear it if anyone thinks they've come up with something even better. {= D

~Neshomeh

More fells by Cyba Zero on 2014-07-23 10:16:00 UTC Reply

Fell is also a term for many of the hills in the Lake District, UK - so, hill destroyer.

Also, fell is of course the past tense of fall, but that doesn't have much use in this context.
*Hands over the pun award* by Sevenswans on 2014-07-19 00:02:00 UTC Reply

... Maybe the movie is using them as grand-patronymics? Like, they're named after the grandfather? Though, I have to say, they're probably using them like last names because it's easier for the American audience to understand.

Throwing puns at you by Sevenswans on 2014-07-16 17:48:00 UTC Reply
- Bonflier (Bonfire, but... yeah, *is bricked.*) Of course, it could easily be assumed to be french.
  
  - Flarewing? Seems a bit generic though... Flareback?
  
  - Blazefang?
  
  - There's that blue colored lightning - they're flash arcs or something, and then there are Blue Jets, ball lightning, and Red Sprites. So... I'm digging deep for puns here, but maybe having something to do with one of those weather things. Sprite sounds kind of not-viking though.
  
  - Bluestrike? Skystrike?
  
  *Resists making a Charmander joke.*
Naming things. by PoorCynic on 2014-07-15 19:44:00 UTC Reply

Regarding Gall, I was going to briefly touch upon what zdimensia said regarding the use of 'datter' and 'dotter' for female patronymics in Scandanavian surnames. Then I remembered that the film doesn't actually follow that rule, so never mind that. Here's some random names I made up off the top of my head.

-- Kasserickson
-- Stekvorikstom
-- Kroggsson
-- Bahdfikson (being the offspring of a badfic and all)

Now, as for the dragon.

-- Cobalt/Kobalt (from the potentially dangerous chemical element that is also used to make blue dyes)
-- Woadfire (from the plant used to make blue dyes -- and possibly blue warpaint/tattoos for the Picts, depending on which sources you believe -- and, well, fire)
-- Dynaflight (from dynamite and flight)
-- Ferrocious (from ferrocerium, the material used to make sparks in lighters, and the word 'ferocious')

PC
I still think Tom is a good dragon name (nm) by Phobos on 2014-07-15 19:32:00 UTC Reply

So helpful. {; P (nm) by Neshomeh on 2014-07-15 20:07:00 UTC Reply

How about Denethor? (nm) by Phobos on 2014-07-15 20:11:00 UTC Reply

Flaming Denethor seconded as a dragon name (nm) by Sevenswans on 2014-07-16 17:49:00 UTC Reply

A Monstrous Nightmare, right? by Huinesoron on 2014-07-15 19:31:00 UTC Reply

I'm seeing a lot of spikes in that design, so how about something like Pyrospine? Infereck has also suggested itself (Inferno + wreck), but is a bit too oblique. Ehm... Flamithorn? Ooh, or Wrathfire, that's a cool name.

Of course, you wanted a pun... well, there's always Firethorn. Or Catastrophire (possibly with an F)?

One question: are you planning on having the name-change be an in-universe thing? We have enough precedent for that - Morgan got a heap of memories dumped on her after the Time War was invented (and at various points since), and I believe Printworthy suffered a similar shift when his identity was assigned to a canon character. Of course, you could just have them change their names, too, I suppose.

hS

Yep. by Neshomeh on 2014-07-15 20:06:00 UTC Reply

And no, I'm just gonna retcon it, since I wasn't 100% thrilled with my choices to begin with. I was just at the point where I needed something, and those were the best ideas I could come up with, and I didn't want to spend any more time on it. Bleh.

Fortunately, it won't be that much work, just a lot of find and replace. The trickiest thing will be excising one line where Gall explains the meaning of the "Snerri" to Derik, but I'm pretty sure that's the only content change involved. Oh, and I'll have to see about getting it changed on July's AHAIRQL site, but that shouldn't be a big deal, either.

I like they way you're thinking with Pyrospine, Firethorn, and Wrathfire. *g*

Thanks!

~Neshomeh

How about Flamescare? by Seychelles on 2014-07-16 00:37:00 UTC Reply

I'm really liking names that end in "scare"

Hmm... by Seychelles on 2014-07-15 19:22:00 UTC Reply

Thinking along the lines of Daggerflight, Moonscare, or if your a fan of cutesy names, Booboo.
Dragon name by zdimensia on 2014-07-15 18:46:00 UTC Reply

Yeah, all I got right now is Sparksnap or Blazewing. Maybe Sharpblazer? Sparktooth? Crunchflame? BurnCrackle?

Gah, this is harder than I thought. I wish I remember the names of my old dragons. They were vague rippoffs of Ivory Lyre and Pit Dragons.
Sucky list of surnames. by zdimensia on 2014-07-15 17:50:00 UTC Reply

One note, would she have a "son of" name, or would her surname be DOTTER? Looking at this list, it seems they didn't use many hard consonants.

AGNARSSON Icelandic (Sounds like anger)
Means "son of Agnar". The given name Agnar means "sharp".

ENGSTRÖM Swedish (Pun name but hard to type.)
Derived from Swedish äng "meadow", ström "stream".

GERHARDSSON Swedish (Pun name)
Means "son of GERHARD".

GUSTAFSSON Swedish (Alright, no more pun names unless they are good.)
Means "son of GUSTAF".

HAAKONSSON Norwegian
Means "son of HÅKON".

KJELLSSON Swedish
Means "son of KJELL".

KNUTSSON Swedish
Means "son of KNUT".

KRISTIANSEN Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of KRISTIAN".

MAGNUSSON Swedish (There's Markus, Martin, Matthais, and Mikael after that.)
Literally means "son of MAGNUS".

NORDSKOV Danish
Means "north woods".

NØRUP Danish
Derived from the name of at least two different Danish villages.
NORUP Danish
Variant of NØRUP.

RAGNVALDSSON Swedish
Means "son of RAGNVALD".

RASK Danish
Means "healthy", "energetic", "speedy" in Danish.

RASMUSSEN Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of RASMUS".

SKJEGGESTAD Norwegian
Means "Skjegge's place" or "the bearded one's place" from the Norwegian skjegge "beard" and stad "town, place".

SKOVGAARD Danish
Means "dweller in a farm near the woods" from the Danish skov "wood" and gård "farm".

TENNFJORD Norwegian
Originally denoted a person from Tennfjord, Norway.

THORIRSSON Icelandic
Means "son of ÞÓRIR".

VICTORSSON Swedish
Swedish form of VICTORSON

VILHJALMSSON Norwegian, Icelandic
Means "son of VILHJÁLMUR".

That would depend ... by EileenAlphabet on 2014-07-17 12:00:00 UTC Reply

... on whether it's a family name or not. The naming convention in Nordic countries used to go something like 'Mikkel, son of Magnus' and his son would then be 'Magnus, son of Mikkel' (first-born son was typically named after the paternal grandfather, second son after the maternal). They still do it that way in Iceland.
Gall's surname would only be Magnusdottir, if they followed that convention rather than using family names.

Oh, and I would vote for Magnusson or Mikkelson. I think those have a nice sound to them.