Because you asked...

[muckefuck]

For welcomerain: Qahhār, from the root qahara "conquer, subdue", is an intenstive form meaning "conquering, vanquishing". With the definite article, it is one of the Ninety-Nine Most Beautiful Names of Allah. As such, pious Muslims would consider it unsuitable for a personal name except in the form `Abdu'l-Qahhār, "servant of the Subduer".

For bunj: The Norse dialect of Orkney is called "Norn" and very little of it survives. We have an etymological dictionary here, but, sadly, some rat bastard has checked it out. There are several sites covering Old Norse grammar, but this is the most useful and fun one that I've found. There are also many on Old Norse names, including this comprehensive but slightly suspect list of names for Odin. (That is to say, the translations--although more than adequate for your purposes--are a little loose for the hardcore historical linguist in me.)

In retrospect, the connexion seems so obvious: Odin One-Eye. Orcs. Why didn't we stumble upon this sooner?

Still brainstormin' about Chinese Kobolds. Maybe they should be Chukchi instead.

Comments

[welcomerain.livejournal.com]

So, that means Lew Alcindor became Generous Servant Of The Compeller. Lovely.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

You might prefer "Joseph Submission"?

[robling-t.livejournal.com]

Still brainstormin' about Chinese Kobolds. Maybe they should be Chukchi instead.

Yeah, but that would call up all sorts of unpleasant associations with "Chuck E Cheese's"... or at least to me it would. :)

What about German Kobalds?

[vokzal.livejournal.com]

Eh?

Re: What about German Kobalds?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

What about 'em?

Re: What about German Kobalds?

[vokzal.livejournal.com]

Oh, just wondering the etmology of Kobald. Just what are they supposed to be? Look like?

Re: What about German Kobalds?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

bunj gave a decent one-line description of a traditional German Kobold [sp!]. The etymology is obscure, but the leading theory is kobe "cove" + walt "rule", i.e. "domestic spirit presiding over the home"--a parallel to the Scottish brownie, the Scandinavian nisse, etc. The cave-dwelling version is similar to the English "knockers" or Welsh coblynau.

Re: What about German Kobalds?

[bunj.livejournal.com]

We're talking about D&D kobolds here. They're not little miners with long beards, they're little dragonmen with long spears. Like many D&D creatures, they have nothing to do with their namesakes. Besides, the true fun is finding a Chinese name that got 'corrupted' into 'kobold'. If that fails, a lesser quantity of fun can be had by thinking up some Chinese-sounding name and making muckefuck wince.

"Ready the glaive-guisarmes, the C'ho-Baos are coming!"