Naming a novel's god: real mythology or made-up name
Epona, Pazuzu, Crom or an invented name: with no era or culture defined, naming a fictional god is a shot in the dark.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Naming a novel's god: between real mythology and the joke
How do you christen a god that doesn't yet exist? The question sounds like dinner-table chatter, but it sets the whole tone of a novel: a poorly chosen name can drag the reader into laughter on the most solemn page. In the four days the thread has been open, with 15 replies, the most repeated verdict is that without context —era, culture, genre— any suggestion is a shot in the dark. A Mayan deity is not the same as a Norse one, nor Minoan bronze the same as a Jewish entity, which complicates matters with its living religious weight.
The inexhaustible vein of historical pantheons
The quick route is to raid other mythologies. Epona, Celtic goddess of horses; Termagant, the Saracen idol of medieval ballads; Pazuzu, the Mesopotamian demon recycled by pavor cinema; Pachamama, the Andean mother earth; Crom and Toutatis, already consecrated by pop culture. Plenty of material, and mostly free of copyright claims.
Inventing: more original, easier to ruin
A self-made name gains in uniqueness and loses in plausibility. The most elaborate proposals involve building phonetics coherent with a specific civilization —even asking an AI to imitate Bronze Age sounds— and avoiding the cheap joke that ages badly within two news cycles. Someone has already claimed 10% of the novel's profits for lending their brainwave.
Total: fifteen replies and not a single god willing to work for free.
How do you christen a god that doesn't yet exist? The question sounds like dinner-table chatter, but it sets the whole tone of a novel: a poorly chosen name can drag the reader into laughter on the most solemn page. In the four days the thread has been open, with 15 replies, the most repeated verdict is that without context —era, culture, genre— any suggestion is a shot in the dark. A Mayan deity is not the same as a Norse one, nor Minoan bronze the same as a Jewish entity, which complicates matters with its living religious weight.
The inexhaustible vein of historical pantheons
The quick route is to raid other mythologies. Epona, Celtic goddess of horses; Termagant, the Saracen idol of medieval ballads; Pazuzu, the Mesopotamian demon recycled by pavor cinema; Pachamama, the Andean mother earth; Crom and Toutatis, already consecrated by pop culture. Plenty of material, and mostly free of copyright claims.
Inventing: more original, easier to ruin
A self-made name gains in uniqueness and loses in plausibility. The most elaborate proposals involve building phonetics coherent with a specific civilization —even asking an AI to imitate Bronze Age sounds— and avoiding the cheap joke that ages badly within two news cycles. Someone has already claimed 10% of the novel's profits for lending their brainwave.
Total: fifteen replies and not a single god willing to work for free.
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (24 replies).
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