This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Kizor: Guess what page I found when I came here to create what I would've titled "Atmospheric Renaming"? Thanks. Now lessee...
Ununnilium: Oooooh, nice. Now to add more TMBG to the Title Bin...
(random passer-by): hmm. The example from the Conan books seems inappropriate. Howard's Hyborean Age was one of the first attempts at a coherent and consistent All Myths Are True setting, with the twist that some of our myths are very, very dim memories of very real things, and not always especially accurate on the details. For instance, there is just a wee bit of Cosmic Horror in the background (Howard and Lovecraft corresponded quite a bit, and also wrote for the same publications).
And in the far north of the vaguely Pangaea-ish Hyborean Continent, there are indeed lands called Asgard and Vanaheim—with real Aesir and Vanir living in them, "real" in this instance meaning two tribes of brutal and warlike proto-Norse barbarians, who were remembered by their own descendans ten thousand years later as gods.
Ununnilium: I'd say they fit here, but we should add that Conan was one of the Trope Makers here.
Discussion in the main page:
- "Anbaric power" is likely not a respelling of "amber", but a Classically derived word meaning "without pressure", as contrasted against steam or compressed-air power.
- Unlikely, given that they flat-out admit it's "amber." From the early pages of The Subtle Knife:
Lyra: "Those lights, they're anbaric."
Will: "We call them electric."
Lyra: "Electric...that's like electrum. That's a kind of stone, a jewel, made out of gum from trees. There's insects in it, sometimes."
Will: "You mean amber."
Both: "Anbar..."
- Unlikely, given that they flat-out admit it's "amber." From the early pages of The Subtle Knife:
- "Anbaric power" is likely not a respelling of "amber", but a Classically derived word meaning "without pressure", as contrasted against steam or compressed-air power.
Doktor von Eurotrash: Besides, while I like the "without pressure" translation theory, it would be "abaric", not "anbaric".
Jordan: I don't think the Discworld example counts; those seem more like Fantasy Counterpart Culture. I think you could make an argument that Ephebe fits this trope for Athens, since it's an actual Greek word, and perhaps references the young men who did compulsory military service to defend the city-state (and/or a common sexual preference there). Lancre might also fit as my understanding is that Lancre is an abbreviation for Lancaster.
Ununnilium: Agreed, and it's already in Fantasy Counterpart Culture. Cutting:
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld plays with this all the time, including Djelibeybi (Egypt), FourEcks (Australia), Tsort (Troy), and so forth.
- At least in my copy of The Last Continent, at the beginning of the book (I'm Australian and I baught it at my local bookstore) there's an apology by Pratchette who said that the book wasn't actually about Australia but was more about a country that was "A Bit... Australian". As far as I can tell, Rincewind spends most of his time wandering around the Northern Territory and the suddenly comes across Sydney. For some reason, a city that's actually located on teh Far West Coast is in the middle of the desert. And I know what you're saying, "And yet, the Wizards and the giant weird koalas didn't bother you."(Incidentally, the name Fourecks comnes from a brand of beer they make in Queensland, XXXX, pronounced "Four-Ex")
Leaving in the Nation example, though.
Ununnilium: Cutting down the page quote, getting to the meat of it.
Also:
- Specifically, New York City is where it is in the real world, while Gotham City is on the coast in New Jersey. (And Metropolis is in Delaware.)
Oh, God. Basically, this came from an RPG sourcebook in the '80s; in the comics, the location has never been specified (in the last few decades, anyway).
