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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
| What Of What? On Naming This is a thing that you see a lot in fantasy or science fiction, though it does occur in demonic horror as well. It is when the name of someone or something is an “Of” name. This is something becoming increasingly common, thanks in no small part to Game Of Thrones, but it traces its lineage back to Norse sagas, so much so that the old Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV show even made fun of it in the early 1970s, in the little-known 'Njorl's Saga' sketch (the only link I found to it was not available outside Australia... sorry!). This when every single thing is “of” every single other thing! It appears in names, in titles and even in passing. So, first we have Name Of Place. This is normally used as a name in its own right. And it has real-life precedents, like Joan of Arc, Catherine of Aragon, etc. Some surnames started as this. Simon Beaumont means Simon Of The Beautiful Hill, for example. Next, we have Person of Place. This when a name isn’t used, but the occupation or something else about the person of a place is used. The Phantom Of The Opera is a classic example here, as is A Princess Of Mars. This leads to relationships, as made fun of so sharply in the Monty Python sketch. Arthur, King Of The Britons, or Elizabeth, Mother of Elizabeth (the Queen Mother for those of a certain vintage). Again, some surnames show this. Dermott O’Brien is Dermott, Son Of Brien; John McTavish is John, Son Of Tavish. There is object of place, like Sword Of Shannara, Colossus of Rhodes and the like. There is object of person, The Picture Of Dorian Gray being the most obvious example. Title of something is next; think Lord Of The Rings, Prince Of Pop, that sort of thing. And finally we have Thing Of Thing, like Attack Of The Clones. And then there are adjectives thrown in (The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and the use of articles {the, a, an) can also add to the complexity. It is something that is not going to go away, but it is becoming more and more difficult to take such naming conventions seriously. And it persists, especially in the titles of sequels (think The Rise Of Skywalker here). While it still works in parody pieces, elsewhere it is really starting to become cringy. So it might be something to be aware of when naming your characters or objects, or else you might make your readers roll their eyes. Or… The Readers Of Works will have the Rolling Of Eyes at the Strategy Of Possessive Naming in the Writing Of Speculative Fiction for the Amusement Of Media Users. |
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