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

[Howard Brazee]

Scott Schultz wrote:
> 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.
>
>   

I'm not sure gods have as much freedom as one would think.   Their 
natures bind them.

> 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.
>   

The first question is - did anybody else know the person who was 
incorporated into making his weapon?

> 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.
>
>   

If nothing else, the name affects how the wielder uses his weapon.    
But this particular weapon might need a particular personality when it 
achieves its destination.

> 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.
>
>
>   
Maybe Godslayer always was, and always will be Lady Teldra.