[Dragaera] Lady Teldra GW - What's in a name? (Was Re: Nightslayer)

[Scott Schultz]

All I can say is that Verra has some brass balls, uh, metaphorically 
speaking, to be messing about with all of these Great Weapons. If she ever 
loses the loyalty of even a couple of the wielders, she's in for some 
serious trouble.

All of this recent speculation about the Great Weapons has got me wondering 
something.

Of what import is the name of the weapon? Each has its Serioli name, and 
each is known in the Dragaeran language by a rough translation. The current 
wielders of those weapons all use the Dragaeran names when discussing them. 
All but one, that is.

Vlad, ever the odd man out, insists that his weapon is Lady Teldra. Sure, he 
knows intellectually that it's the legendary weapon known to the rest of the 
world as Godslayer. Emotionally, though, it is Lady Teldra and that's how he 
thinks of it and refers to it.

I'm not sure there's an answer that isn't pure speculation, but it makes me 
wonder just what impact that emotional connection has on the weapon. The 
other great weapons have personalities, apparently, but the wielders of them 
refer to that aspect of their weapons only obliquely or not at all. Vlad, by 
contrast, is attempting to openly personify his weapon, to the point of 
correcting people who refer to it as Godslayer.

We have two clues that names are important (beyond the usual magical Name 
lore that exists in fantasy literature). When Vlad first acquires the 
magical gold chain, Sethra asks him "Have you named it?" and Vlad's response 
is along the lines of "Is that something I should do? Okay, how about 
Spellbreaker, since that's what it does?" We're never given any indication 
that Naming it Spellbreaker had any particular effect on the chain, except 
that the Serioli in _Dragon_ asks Vlad "What have you named it?" as if he 
accepts as a matter of course that such an artifact should have a name.

Of course, the Serioli understands that the chain is proto-sentient and has 
at least a partial personality. That may be all it means to him for it to 
have a name.

In short, there's not enough information. I suppose what I'm getting at is 
pararectal idea I had that the name chosen by the wielder of the weapon may 
have an impact on the weapon itself, depending on how that name resonates 
between them. If that's the case, then it will be interesting to see just 
how Godslayer handles becoming Lady Teldra, and what impact that has on its 
destiny.