Very very similar names for characters

This is related to the thread about plagiarism and references, but it's more specific, focusing on names.

Apparently, there was a cartoon called Visionaries: Knights of The Magical Light in the 1980s, about two groups of magic knights.List of characters. The one woman in the main group, the spectral Knights, who could use healing magic, was called Galadria, basically Galadriel with a at the end instead of e and l.

Here what's the average person, familiar with Tolkien, would think of a character named "Galadria". "Hmmm, has a name very, very similar to Tolkien character, and also has healing magic and blonde hair."

Now, I have a dwarf character in the thing I'm drafting right now, the same guy I mentioned in the plagiarism thread, who is not only named Thorin, but a distant relative of the newly-elected dwarf king, so everyone he meets in this world that hears this fact keeps on saying, "When are you going to be king?" or "Why aren't you king?"

So the situation is pretty much the same. "Hmm, very similar name to a Tolkien character, connected to a dwarven king..." Am I allowed to say that this character's father's name is Draupnir Oakshield?

edited 26th Jan '13 11:23:54 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Thorin and Oakenshield both stem from Norse mythology, so they did not come from Tolkien. The King thing might be a bit too close though. I think you'd be better off replacing the name, and finding a substitute, and maybe use Thorin elsewhere. Having the same name would bring thoughts of them being the same character, and not his own self, especially if they are both dwarrow with the same name, and kingly relations.

I know that about the mythology. That project I'm drafting (going to be first in a planned series) is inspired by Norse mythology, combined with your classic Tolkienesque fantasy. But Tolkien's Thorin Oakenshield isn't just "a relative" of the king; he IS the king (okay, he's been in exile for years, but he's still the king, no matter what the Great Goblin says, since his father, the previous king, died in the dungeons at Dol Guldur). Being a relative of the king doesn't necessarily mean said character is eligible to be king.. even in a hereditary monarchy. So even the king's cousin might be a commoner, your average Joe (or Dwalin, used in Norse myth as a generic name for a dwarf). .

edited 28th Jan '13 3:23:33 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

bump. Speaking of mythology, I have absolutely no freaking idea how to work in all of that stuff about dwarves from Voluspa.

edited 28th Jan '13 7:32:53 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien