Mage names

Zixinus · Winner Number of posts: 70 Registration date: 2008-11-21

So, I'm a little confused what kind of language is used for naming the various character types? Well, I've fired up my old latin dictionary and found no meaning whatsoever. Then I noticed that the word "xeno" in "xenomancer", which is greek for stranger.

So, I tried google and found this handy little thing:

http://www.babylon.com/define/105/

Mancer = ?

Helio = (greek) sun, referring to Helios the god of Sun

Quote:

n. (Greek Mythology) god of the sun who drove his golden chariot across the sky every day

Eomancer

Eos:

Quote:

n. ancient Greek goddess of the dawn (Mythology)

Nycto = ? (my guess is "night")

Exo = "out", "outside".

Oh, and "astro" = "star", "heavly body",

Einar · Subject: Re: Mage names Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:01 pm

The suffix "-mancer" is derived from the Greek "manteia", meaning divination. It's essentially "one who divines the future". Adding a prefix like "geo-" or "astro-" means "one who divines the future through the earth".

Yeah, ancient "magic" was pretty crappy. All you get is a bunch of guys looking at dirt and saying "hay its gonna rain".

Zixinus · Winner Number of posts: 70 Registration date: 2008-11-21

Quote:

The suffix "-mancer" is derived from the Greek "manteia", meaning divination. It's essentially "one who divines the future". Adding a prefix like "geo-" or "astro-" means "one who divines the future through the earth".

Ah. What about the others?

Quote:

Yeah, ancient "magic" was pretty crappy. All you get is a bunch of guys looking at dirt and saying "hay its gonna rain".

What's sad is that there are still people that believe this sort of crap.

What most people don't like to think about is that "magic" = "con" (as in trick). Most ancient magic was a running con (or at least some of it, some of it was superstition).

What was really hilarious was the Oracle of Delphi, just to note a popular example. Basically, the Oracle was in Delphi because there were gases in there, that drove anyone nuts. What was the prophecy was that they thrown some poor chick in, had her sprout nonsense and the priests interpreted the massage to anything they thought was the right answer.

So, yeah, people relied on a stoned chick to make big decisions.

Glisten Images · Subject: Re: Mage names Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:39 pm

Zixinus wrote:

What's sad is that there are still people that believe this sort of crap.

While you have the right to your opinion, please do not belittle anyone's belief systems in this forum. queen

_________________
"There is no greater obstacle to the enjoyment of great works of art than our unwillingness to discard habits and prejudices." - E. H. Gombrich

Zixinus · Winner Number of posts: 70 Registration date: 2008-11-21

Glisten Images wrote:

Zixinus wrote:

What's sad is that there are still people that believe this sort of crap.

While you have the right to your opinion, please do not belittle anyone's belief systems in this forum. queen

Strange that you are talking about religions, I was referring to scams.

Glisten Images · Subject: Re: Mage names Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:46 am

You were referring to divination, which is not a scam unless lied about by people who don't have a clue what they are doing. Many paths, religions, faiths, whatever you want to call them, include forms of divination as part of their practice. Therefore, referring to it as "believing in that crap" is offensive.

queen

_________________
"There is no greater obstacle to the enjoyment of great works of art than our unwillingness to discard habits and prejudices." - E. H. Gombrich

Nahjor · Subject: Re: Mage names Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:20 pm

To nudge the thread back onto solid ground... Smile

I freely admit a level of ignorance, when it comes to putting together scraps of ancient languages. In the modern era, the "-mancer" suffix has come to be associated with any sort of mage, not just a diviner, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon of that particular conceit. I think the only greek-derived title that you haven't got listed there is "hylomancer", intending to translate something along the lines of "matter mage".

Einar · Subject: Re: Mage names Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:47 am

Hur hur hur, woodmancer </beavisandbutthead>
(the Greek hylē (from which hylo- is based) can mean "matter" or "wood", depending)

Why yes, I do enjoy multilingual sophomoric puns.

Nahjor · Subject: Re: Mage names Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:20 am

I have never been prouder of a forumite. Very Happy

Zixinus · Winner Number of posts: 70 Registration date: 2008-11-21

Yeah, knowing anchient greek words can be pretty impressive.

What I'm curious about what does "Nycto" mean?

Einar · Subject: Re: Mage names Wed Dec 17, 2008 12:18 am

Oh I don't actually know ancient Greek, I just know modern Google.

Anyway, nycto- means night. Nyctophobia, for instance, is a fear of the night.

Seriously, you can get most of these within the top five Google results, and if not add "prefix" to it.

Zixinus · Winner Number of posts: 70 Registration date: 2008-11-21

Quote:

Oh I don't actually know ancient Greek, I just know modern Google.

I tried that too, but appearently not with the right keywords.

Well, you did good work either way. Razz