InsaneJournal

When I started writing this character some several years ago, his birth name was Andrel Soreldsen.

Names are what this "drabblecanon" is about. Namely, my character's names. And by the Gods there's a lot of them.

Some time ago, I was thinking on his "birth name" and doing research on Nordic naming traditions. I decided to scrap his last name "Soreldsen" because honestly, in Nordic culture, people don't really have surnames like we have here. I even kind of decided to scrap my secondary idea of him having Stormcrown as a surname, as much as I like how Ysmir Stormcrown sounds.

Having just a regular last name like "Avenicci" or "Septim" is more of an Imperial naming tradition.

Surnames do exist in Nordic culture, but typically they're clan names like Battle-Born, Black-Briar, Shatter-Shield, Grey-Mane, or Cruel-Sea. Or you have your given name and some sort of honorific, like Mjoll the Lioness, Vipir the Fleet, Aela the Huntress, Erik the Slayer, things like that.

In Nordic culture, names are typically given to you. Your name is always subject to change, though you could go your entire life just being known as "Vanrik".

A good example of how often names can change, is Talos.

Talos is most commonly known to be an apotheosized aspect of Emperor Tiber Septim, who was also known once as Hjalti Early-Beard and General Talos Stormcrown in his younger days before he became Emperor. After he united the Empire, he was "christened" with the Imperial name "Tiber Septim", and that's how the Septim bloodline began.

If you get a last name, it's probably nothing you were born with unless you were born into a clan. It was probably given to you. Falk Firebeard from Solitude was probably just "Falk" before he grew out his red beard, and then was given the last name "Firebeard". Your last name or honorific could be taken from something you do or did, or taken from a physical trait.

Kodlak Whitemane - Harbinger of the Companions. He might be entering his twilight years but he can and will still fight you. Has long, white hair. Therefore, Kodlak White-Mane.

Maven Black-Briar - The matriarch of the Black-Briar family. Maven is equal parts famous and infamous. Her family's mead and their business is rumored to be the best in Skyrim. You've heard the name "Briar" in other places, namely fairytales. Briar Rose is the name of the princess in some forms of the tale "Sleeping Beauty". While briars are an umbrella term for any plants that grow with thorns on the stems (such as roses or blackberries), a black rose is an omen of death, hatred, and despair. Those who have crossed Maven Black-Briar have never lived long afterwards.

Vipir the Fleet - An honorific with a funny story behind it. Vipir is in the Thieves' Guild. He and Vex were assigned a job in Windhelm and when things with the job went south, Vipir forgot his horse was waiting for him just outside the city and ran all the way back to Riften, arriving drenched in his own sweat, only to find Vex had gotten there hours before himself. Fleet is a noun for a collective of naval ships, but it is also an adjective for someone that is fast and nimble in movement. Hence, Vipir the Fleet. This honorific is more than likely a sarcastic one, given the social climate of the Thieves' Guild, but still has a tone of endearment in it, hence why Vipir still chooses to go by it, despite the embarrassing story.

If you go on my page, one of the first things I'm sure you notice is this section:

FULL NAME: Andrel (birth name) | Ysmir (birthright name)
ETYMOLOGY:

• Andrel — Masculine. Old Greek. ahn-drel. Means man, manly, brave, virility, or defender of men.
• Ysmir — Nordic in origin. Means the "Dragon of the North". Is a title formerly bestowed to Ysmir Wulfharth and Tiber Septim. In Dovahzul, "Dragon of the North" is the word Dovahsebrom.

DOVAHZUL ETYMOLOGY: The dragons of Akavir are a race of their very own and have their own language. Most of the dragons and the Greybeards typically call Ysmir by his draconic name - Dovahkiin, which can be translated and understood one of two ways.

— Dovah • kiin —
• Dovah - The singular form of "dov". Means "dragon" as an individual unit.
• Kiin - Means "born". As a whole, it literally means Dragonborn
— Dov • ah • kiin —
• Dov - The plural form of "dovah". Means the dragons as a collective group / society.
• Ah - Means "Hunter".
• Kiin - Again, this means "born".
• DRAGON HUNTER BORN — "Born Hunter of Dragonkind".

— Qahnaar • in —
• QAHNAAR - "To vanquish".
• IN - "Master".
• QAHNAARIN - "Vanquisher" or "Master of Vanquishing".

TITLES / LOYALTIES:

• Dovahkiin / Dragonborn ( by basically everybody, including the dragons )
• Ysmir; Dragon of the North (by the Greybeards)
• High King of Skyrim
• Thane of: Whiterun, Solitude, Windhelm, Falkreath
• Honorary Member of House Telvanni — Bestowed to him by Master Neloth of House Telvanni
• Nightingale of Nocturnal
• Harbinger (by the Companions)

Obviously I don't really need to explain all of these since some of them are already explained if not self-explanatory. So I'll spare you that redundancy.

What I would like to address here, is what names certain people know him by, or what he's called in different social situations.

First I would like to address the difference between his given name and his birthright name.

He was born with the name Andrel and that is the name he went by up until the Greybeards recognized him as Ysmir, Dragon of the North.

Ysmir is a name that holds a lot of history and honor. It is not a name he just took from a history book for himself to make himself sound cool. Nobody that hadn't been recognized by the Greybeards would be presumptuous enough to take that name for themselves.

Ysmir is a name that he spilled his own blood for. It is a name only bestowed to those that are worthy of bearing the Stormcrown, and he has proven himself worthy in the eyes of the Greybeards.

IF HE'S IN SOLSTHEIM: Solstheim is an island just north of Skyrim, and is now part of Morrowind. The docking settlement of Raven Rock is largely Dunmer-populated and thus, not quite the same amount of stress is put into Nordic culture. That being said, given his efforts towards saving Solstheim from Miraak's influence, Councillor Lleril Morvayn still refers to him respectfully as "Dragonborn". He is also recognized as an honorary member of House Telvanni, bestowed to him by the Master Wizard, Neloth. Neloth isn't evil but he's also not the nicest guy in this world – you're either useful to him, or wasting his time. In Vvardenfell, Ysmir would be seen as nobility. His "more staunch" Dunmer friends don't really even call him by his name - they call him by the Dunmer word for "friend", which is sera. And let me just say this - the Dunmer aren't really known for their warm personalities. Most of them are distrusting of outsiders and will call you outlander at first. If they like you enough to call you sera, you'd best just leave it at that and not make a fuss of them not calling you by your name.

AMONG COMMONERS: Most people that live in the more civilized parts of Skyrim such as the main cities refer to him as "Dragonborn", even if they've never met him before. News travels fast in Skyrim and it's hard to ignore the call of the Greybeards.

AMONG CITY GUARDS: This depends on whether or not he's a Thane of that stronghold. Even if he is the Thane, most city guards know who he is and will still choose to call him "Dragonborn". If not Dragonborn, they refer to him as "my Thane".

AMONG HOUSECARLS / THE JARL'S COURT: Most Jarls will choose to call him Dragonborn. While on the social hierarchy they are higher than him, long-standing Jarls of any city will usually still acknowledge the presence of the Dragonborn with all due respect. Housecarls are below Thanes, as they are there to serve and protect their Thane. Ysmir allows them to call him "my Thane" in greeting, as a formality, but requests from that point onward that they simply call him by his name.

AMONG THE COMPANIONS: The Companions are like a second family to him. Though he was already a formidable fighter before he joined them, the Companions helped to refine his skills and took him in as their own. They call him many things. Harbinger. Shield-Brother. His birthright name, though they know him by his birth name. Dragonborn. Aela's got a few "mean" nicknames for him, including 'whelp'. But in the Companions, once a Shield-Brother, always a Shield-Brother.

AMONG THE DRAGONS: He is almost exclusively called Dovahkiin, because that is what he is. Dovahkiin is a true dragon's name because it's still made up of at least three rotmulaag. While Durnehviir still calls him Dovahkiin, Durnehviir also bestowed the honor-name Qahnaarin to him upon his first defeat from the Dragonborn. Even in the Soul Cairn, Durnehviir was still aware of the Dragonborn and Alduin's defeat.

AMONG THE GREYBEARDS: He is exclusively called either Dovahkiin or Dragonborn. Though the Greybeards are the ones that bestowed the name Ysmir to him, they still call him either Dovahkiin or Dragonborn. But it leans heavily towards Dovahkiin.

AMONG THE LEGION: Though Ysmir ranks as a Legate in the Imperial Legion, everybody calls him "Dragonborn" or "the Dragonborn". If he were just a random guy, he'd be referred to as Legate Andrel.

AMONG THE ORSIMER: While there's still a fair number of Orsimer living in the general population of Skyrim, there's still some strictly-Orc strongholds that exist out in the wilderness of Skyrim. You don't enter those strongholds unless you've proven yourself worthy, or another Orc has advocated for your entry on your behalf. The Orsimer are even more distrustful than their Dunmer cousins. Being allowed inside their strongholds means that you have been recognized as Bloodkin. The Orcs do refer to Ysmir by his name or Dragonborn, but he has gained their trust and become Bloodkin.

AMONG YOUR CHARACTER: If by chance you're in a storyline with me, there's a strong chance you'll come to call him Ysmir, but it's really up to you and what you think is most appropriate per our characters and connection. If you want to call him Ysmir, fine. If you want to call him Dovahkiin/Dragonborn, fine. If you want to call him "Ser" because you're in the Game of Thrones verse, fine. Do whatever you want or what you think is best.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.