Hey, sorry in advance if this has already been asked or discussed but I searched both this site and TIL for some information and couldn't come up with anything. If the computer I have now could still run Daggerfall I would probably just go and check for myself but it can't and it has been ages since I have played it. It appears to be obvious to me that the majority of Breton names (sorry to those of you that hate when people make real life - ES comparisons) are French, English, and on rare occasion Germanic in origin. I can't think of any examples of Germanic names but I do remember having come accross a couple, and some of the settlements in High Rock carry obvious Germanic influence in their names as well.

My question is this: Do these names have anything to do with the regions of High Rock the people carrying them are from? Or are the names just randomly strewn across the entire province with no real link to family name. Thanks in advance.

English is Germanic. Germanic!=German.

I havent played DF, but I think the random name geenrator does not take region, only race, into account.

Yea, the generator puts random prefixes and suffixes together.

The generator is a bit random, yes. But, being French, I've noticed that many Bretonic names are actual French names (i.e. Marie, Antoinette, etc.)

No Breton names are actually names from the real Breton race, that has to be the inspiration for the Breton people in the game, so it probably follows that, unlike the real culture which is already different as far as the names are concerned, the names are not regional. They might be, though, as you do have Breton regional clans and holidays.

Yeah, that's more what I was concerned with as opposed to the generator itself, even though I realize that the generator makes for in-game content which in turn makes it canon I believe. I was just wondering for a fanfic in the making. I didn't want the name and city of origin of an important Breton character to conflict lore-wise. Thanks for the info about regional holidays though that at least leads me to believe that they are in fact regional, now the problem is that there is likely no information as to what that link is in any in-game documents or dialogue. Thanks for the help though.

"Real Bretons" are French. You know that, right?

If the game developers took even more ideas from the real-life Bretons, then the names would be regional. If they didn't, which they may not have done as they haven't used real-life Breton names and have instead used French ones, then they might not be. Sorry I don't have more to say.

But Celtic. Don't get him started. :whisper:

Yeah, I made that conection too Celestina, being from France also, but it is true that the Bretons retained much more of their Celtic background than the rest of us. That said, I do see major traces of that aspect of our past across the entire nation. And about the German/Germanic thing, my mistake. I'll keep that in mind next time, point taken. Really French has germanic roots also. Back to the topic though, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that it would be safe for me lore-wise to have the character be from any major city regardless of his family name then? Until future lore proves me wrong of course . Thanks all.

No problem.

Apparently the real Bretons are expatraites from Cornwall and Wales, who fled after the Saxon conquest of England. But I really don't know that part of Celtic history well, just the culture, so I'd just like to say that the truest damn thing I've heard all day is



:foodndrink:

Depends on who you ask. The French government does not recognize Breton as a nationality, nor Breton as an official language (it is the only surviving Celtic language to be denied recognition). Nonetheless, there are a few hundred thousand people who describe themselves as Breton and speak Breton, there is a Breton flag, a Breton national anthem, a Breton chivalric order, a distinctly Breton flavor of Roman Catholicism, Breton nationalist political parties (of limited support and no real power), and most of the other trappings of a staunchly (but peacefully) held nationality.

Back on topic, I'd expect a distinct regionalism within High Rock, as it had been for most of its history a divided and quarrelsome province. This should be especially true of the Reachmen, who might show coincidental commonalities with real-world geographically isolated peoples such as Highlanders or Overmountain men.

Only the legal ones. But I'm gonna shut up now, even if this is kinda still similar to the Bretons in the game...

All from the PGE. You decide, because it seems a little contradictory.

Because "nation" is inseparable from "state" in the French political culture. As for the Breton language, it has the status of a regional language.

Flags, anthems and coats of arms, all regions have them. Chivalric orders are quite out-fashioned. Religion has in the French la?c system no legal relevance as far as national identity goes. And Breton political parties have all the power that their supporters and voters confer to them.

If you play Daggerfall, you will find High Rock to be an incredibly varied environment - tundras, grasslands, forests, mountain ranges (there's also deserts, but those generally fall into Hammerfall territory).

I'm not sure about the names. The Bretons of Arena and Daggerfall generally had more "English" names such as Perywick or Yeomsly, whilst the Morrowind and Oblivion ones are more "French" (Leoraine, Beauchamp).

I decided the PGE is unworthy.

In this case, it did its best with the subject matter.

Then we see the merit of "its best". :celebrate:

I think the "unimaginative and unvaried" comment is a subtle wisecrack about Daggerfall's gigantic world size and limited art assets. Yeah, duh, of course elements are going to be repeated a lot of time!

Nontheless Dogsbody has a point. I mean, the general annoyance of "Plastic Celts" aside , Breton language and, where existed, national sense (which really is the base definition for nation, no matter what states like Turkey or France say) were historical unregogncied or even supressed by France, and only the EU minority policies changed that.

Whenever I make a Breton character I give them welsh, or welsh sounding names, but then Wales rocks

I either give them really generic but awesome names (my Spellsword in TES: Arena is named "Lazarus") or English names. That's a good idea however, Welsh names. I think I'll try that next time!

Do English names really work in TES? Egbert, Theold, etc.?



That makes perfect sense - the Bretons are largely emmigrants from Wales and Cornwall that fled the Saxons after they conquered England.