Skulls in the StarsHey let's do an #OldSchoolDungeonsAndDragons, since I haven't in a while! Treasury of Archaic Names (1979), by Bill Owen.
Judges Guild produced supplements for Dungeons and Dragons, and produced some of the most impressive non-TSR gaming products at the time. This particular product is exactly what it says: a collection of medieval type names for quick use!
This includes male and female names, nicknames, surnames, place names, and guidelines for making up your own names!
Perhaps my favorite part is the nicknames list: you can randomly choose a nickname to go will a name, e.g. Bungling Bill!
There is even a list of archaic nicknames, like "Quachehand," i.e "Shaky Hand," and "Zouch," i.e. "Slovenly Man."
The book also includes guidelines for generating your own style of names, with an example from the author that he used for generating zombie names. He imagined a class of semi-intelligent zombies who have simple, three-letter names.
The Treasury of Archaic Names is representative of a past era, when information on names was not readily available on the internet! Nevertheless, it is still great to have such information available even today, in one compact collection. /END
David W. Jones@drskyskull
One of my favorite old books in our collection is...a thesaurus. I think from 1920s or 1930s. So many fascinating words people have forgotten!
One of my favorite old books in our collection is...a thesaurus. I think from 1920s or 1930s. So many fascinating words people have forgotten!
simonbp@drskyskull "Grumbletonian" is a description of your average dynamicist.
b_parkes@drskyskull Skullsplitter Steve for me