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Cade
2007-07-05, 05:42 PM
Hey, everyone. I'm playing in a new campaign tomorrow, and the character I'm making, who will be a Half-Orc Barbarian (Who I'm trying to not make a cliche), needs a name. My first choice would be the Orcish translation of 'Trash', or something that might be used by Orcs to denote inferiority. Usually, I'm not a big fan of names being gibberish syllables put together, but as long as the name means something, I'll be happy.

Thanks in advance...

Wooter
2007-07-05, 06:07 PM
Oooh! Charles! Name him Charles!

MeklorIlavator
2007-07-05, 06:11 PM
I can't really give any advice on the actual orcish translation, as wizards hasn't published an official language, so I would go with a language you think is similar to the orcish language in-game, and fing and online dictionary. For instance, according to the Englich-German dictionary, Kitsch, Schund, and Abfall all mean trash. You can, of course, use any language you like.

Stormcrow
2007-07-05, 06:22 PM
Generally I find they work best in the style of goblin names, your name is given to you by the shaman of your tribe to denote their view of you or your seer-seen place in the tribe. In your case... Crawls-With-Rats or similar.

He might introduce himself as Crawls though.

Stormcrow
2007-07-05, 06:26 PM
I can't really give any advice on the actual orcish translation, as wizards hasn't published an official language, so I would go with a language you think is similar to the orcish language in-game, and fing and online dictionary. For instance, according to the Englich-German dictionary, Kitsch, Schund, and Abfall all mean trash. You can, of course, use any language you like.

J.R.R. Tolkien published an Orcish language though, if one wanted to go tre-authentic on it. It's called Black Speech I believe. Google it.

Anxe
2007-07-05, 06:32 PM
I thought Black Speech was more like Abyssal than Orcish. Anyways, Meklor is right. Orcs are supposed to be Nazis by modern interpretation, so German would be the best language to steal a name from.

Solo
2007-07-05, 06:35 PM
Name him Thog.

Skyserpent
2007-07-05, 06:35 PM
I figured elves were the Nazis...

You know... blonde hair, blue eyes, superiority complex...

anyhoo, Half-Orcs are usually raised by humans and thus, might have more human names... at least where I play they do... Sometimes they even go biblical...

Dhavaer
2007-07-05, 06:40 PM
I figured elves were the Nazis...

You know... blonde hair, blue eyes, superiority complex...

Elves typically have black hair and green eyes, not blond and blue.

Anxe
2007-07-05, 06:47 PM
Americans = Elves
Russians = Dwarves
Swiss = Halflings
Nazis = Orcs
Western Europeans = Humans

Got it!?!

Quietus
2007-07-05, 06:56 PM
Taking a page from WoW (apparently, as I just randomly searched for a translator), the way they run pseudo-translations is just to pick from a list of pregenerated words. So, Trash..

Five-letter words Regas, Nogah, Kazum, Magan, No'bu, Golar, Throm, Zugas, Re'ka, No'ku, Ro'th

There's also the WotC random generator, at :
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article5.asp?x=dnd/dx20010202b,0',500,630)

Which gave me Thogretor.

Capt'n Ironbrow
2007-07-05, 07:06 PM
Americans = Elves
Russians = Dwarves
Swiss = Halflings
Nazis = Orcs
Western Europeans = Humans

Got it!?!

ey, I though Dwarven names are more like Scandinavian, but then in D&D they're sometimes a bit like communists isn't?

you could use games workshop's early orc naming conventions: misspellings of wellknown items and persons, like in you're example maybe Trazh, Trezz, Traz, Kraptrazz Rubbizzheep, Skrapheep Cha-lunge etc.

Anxe
2007-07-05, 07:09 PM
That's the country you could match with each race during WW2. Not really sure which one matches each language.

Cade
2007-07-05, 07:29 PM
Thanks, that's a lot better than anything I might've come up with. I think Abfall sounds the best, but you never know...

The_Werebear
2007-07-05, 08:21 PM
According to a black speech translator, Garbage is Dalgum.

http://www.lugburz.com/eng_g.html

goat
2007-07-05, 08:28 PM
Jennifer. They disliked him so much they gave him a Human woman's name.

Roderick_BR
2007-07-05, 08:38 PM
Give him a unpronounceable name, as if you were cleaning your throat.
That'll throw people off a lot.
"my name is garaarch"
"When you are done, finish telling me your name"
"That my name"
"What name?"
"garaarch"

Aximili
2007-07-05, 09:33 PM
I thought Black Speech was more like Abyssal than Orcish. Anyways, Meklor is right. Orcs are supposed to be Nazis by modern interpretation, so German would be the best language to steal a name from.
Nazis?
You're comparing the chaotic individually-centered orcs, with the strict, disciplined and community-enhancing nazism?
(by all means, I am not defending it)

ClericofPhwarrr
2007-07-05, 10:07 PM
Give him a unpronounceable name, as if you were cleaning your throat.
That'll throw people off a lot.
"my name is garaarch"
"When you are done, finish telling me your name"
"That my name"
"What name?"
"garaarch"

That would be such a mean thing to do to your group, especially if you didn't respond to anything BUT your name.

I love it. :smalltongue:

TheThan
2007-07-05, 10:12 PM
names of orc barbarians I've DMed
-Okk Smash'emstuff
-Gorshak the grim
- Bob the half-orc paladin (wielded a waterclock...seriously I'm not making this up)

MeklorIlavator
2007-07-05, 10:16 PM
Nazis?
You're comparing the chaotic individually-centered orcs, with the strict, disciplined and community-enhancing nazism?
(by all means, I am not defending it)

Actually, I used German because it is guttural, similar to what orcish is supposed to sound like. Also, any one who speaks it seams angry, which would fit the Orcs. I think that the best interpretation of the Nazis in DnD are the Hobgoblins. All you have to do is imagine them goose-stepping and in Wehrmacht uniforms, and it just clicks.

And, if you really look at it, Middle earth represents something like the Middle East. Stick_Ninja(I believe) originally told me this, and I have forgotten most of his argument, though I do remember that the elves were Western Europeans, man was the natives, but I forgot who the orcs were.

the_tick_rules
2007-07-05, 10:34 PM
Human McOrcton.

TheLogman
2007-07-05, 10:39 PM
Cronk
Thrusk
Krunk

Have long vowel sounds, and lotsa k's.

Aximili
2007-07-05, 10:41 PM
Actually, I used German because it is guttural, similar to what orcish is supposed to sound like. Also, any one who speaks it seams angry, which would fit the Orcs. I think that the best interpretation of the Nazis in DnD are the Hobgoblins. All you have to do is imagine them goose-stepping and in Wehrmacht uniforms, and it just clicks.
Well, in that case, I do see your point.

TheLogman
2007-07-05, 10:45 PM
Whoa, I can totally see Hobgobbo Nazis, but I don't see the Goblins, Orcs, ect. as Germans, but they definitely have the same language. At least in my imagination.

Diggorian
2007-07-05, 11:12 PM
Orcish in D&D uses the Dwarven alphabet. You could take Dwarven names, from online generators or in Races of Stone, and rearrange them: Gimli into Ghemil.

Inyssius Tor
2007-07-05, 11:23 PM
That's actually how Tolkien's orcs (and Sauron) got most of their vocabulary (from Elvish, though, because Tolkien's Dwarven was as secret as D&D's Druidic). Entirely plausible.

EDIT: again from Tolkien, there's pushdug, or "dung-filth."

Diggorian
2007-07-05, 11:52 PM
Could also try this (http://www.orcs.ca/orcsmain/resourcename.html?Style=0).

Xuincherguixe
2007-07-05, 11:59 PM
I saw a thing that said the various races were never intended as portraying specific nationalities. The Orcs for instance were supposed to draw from elements of both the Axis and Allies.

Also, the Orcs in Lord of the rings spoke different languages. When the various groups got together, they didn't know how to communicate and so had to resort to speaking (filthy) common.


But I'm not an expert on this stuff.

MeklorIlavator
2007-07-06, 12:04 AM
Was he really representing WW2 in all this? To Tolkien, WW1 would have proved a much greater impact( he fought in the trenches, had most of his friends die).

Xuincherguixe
2007-07-06, 12:08 AM
Was he really representing WW2 in all this? To Tolkien, WW1 would have proved a much greater impact( he fought in the trenches, had most of his friends die).

I've heard a lot of different, often conflicting accounts. It sounds like both world wars had some influence.

Zim
2007-07-06, 10:52 AM
Games Workshop has a suppliment or two with the breakdown of the space Ork naming practices, which I'm sure you could find.

Personally, I don't think it's an orcish name without "grim" in it. Gazgrim, Grimtooth, Gulgrimgor, Bobgrim, Grimsusan etc...:smallbiggrin:

JEntropy
2007-07-06, 11:48 AM
Hey, everyone. I'm playing in a new campaign tomorrow, and the character I'm making, who will be a Half-Orc Barbarian (Who I'm trying to not make a cliche), needs a name. My first choice would be the Orcish translation of 'Trash', or something that might be used by Orcs to denote inferiority. Usually, I'm not a big fan of names being gibberish syllables put together, but as long as the name means something, I'll be happy.

Thanks in advance...

If the orcs really want him to be inferior, don't name him at all. Even domesticated animals have names, so that pretty much places him in the realm of worthless/unimportant.

However, your character needs a name, and if he has left the orcs for more civilized lands, give him a name reflective of the new culture he has entered. If human, something like Brutus would fit (albeit a little kitschy).

Zim
2007-07-06, 01:15 PM
Or, better yet Brutus-Grim or Grim-brutus. :smallbiggrin:

Draz74
2007-07-06, 01:21 PM
According to a black speech translator, Garbage is Dalgum.

http://www.lugburz.com/eng_g.html

Quoted for emphasis. I think this is the most official answer you've got. :smallcool:

RTGoodman
2007-07-06, 01:40 PM
My standard method for making an Orc name:

1. Start with a "hard" letter (K is always a good choice).
2. Add another letter that sounds good after the first one.
3. Pick a vowel.
4. Tag on a double consonant.

This gives you names like Krugg (half-orc barbarian and my first D&D 3.5 character), Krell (a more civilized sounding name, possibly for a half-orc raised among humans), or Grakk (another harsh-sounding orc name).

magicwalker
2007-07-06, 02:28 PM
Koratcghuk

The c is not silent and is pronounced "SEE"

So it's

CO-RAT-SEE-GU-HUK

or

CO-RAT-SEE-GUK

Inyssius Tor
2007-07-06, 02:35 PM
Quoted for emphasis. I think this is the most official answer you've got. :smallcool:

It may sound official, but it really isn't. It apparently isn't from anything written by Tolkien, and it doesn't appear to be corrupted from Quenya, which means that it was probably made up by Swedish LARPers or something (it's about as official as anything you could come up with yourself, in other words).

Rasumichin
2007-07-06, 08:07 PM
Was he really representing WW2 in all this? To Tolkien, WW1 would have proved a much greater impact( he fought in the trenches, had most of his friends die).

LOTR is certainly not a WWII parabole (there's to many differences between the two to justify this), but a lot of readings have emphasized parallels between the books and the historical events.
The aliance of the two towers, for example, has been compared to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Rhohans' reluctance to engage in the war has been likened to Neville Chamberlain's apeasement policy towards Hitler and so on.


Jackson might have bought into this when making the movies, or at least used the Third Reich for visual inspiration.
Just take a look at the scene in The Two Towers where Saruman is holding the speech to his army from his tower's balcony.
All those troops with their black uniforms arranged in neat, square-shaped, gargantuan formations.
Completely takes over Nazi propaganda iconography.
When i saw it for the first time, i just sat there in the cinema and thought, "oh my god, that's Goebbels at the Sportpalastrede" (the speech where he rallied for total war).
Frightening.


As for WW I, i can't really pinpoint any direct parallels.
The personal trauma might have prevented Tolkien from writing about this. Even though there's a lot of people who spend the rest of their lives talking about their experiences at war, some just lock that up inside of them completely.
Can't say for sure how this was in Tolkien's case.

Oh, and please excuse the off-topic.

Flawless
2007-07-07, 11:05 PM
I can't really give any advice on the actual orcish translation, as wizards hasn't published an official language, so I would go with a language you think is similar to the orcish language in-game, and fing and online dictionary. For instance, according to the Englich-German dictionary, Kitsch, Schund, and Abfall all mean trash. You can, of course, use any language you like.

Kitsch is a great idea. Just have him collect and wear all sorts of brightly coloured outfits that really hurt the eye.

bosssmiley
2007-07-08, 06:19 AM
Jennifer. They disliked him so much they gave him a Human woman's name.

"A Half-Orc named Sue" :smallbiggrin:

I'd call him Drekk myself.

TheAlmightyOne
2007-07-08, 07:49 AM
We have a half-orc in our group. He cant pronounce his name and just grunted at us when we asked so we named him Omr.

GolemsVoice
2007-07-08, 08:05 AM
If you want to go for a german name, name him Dreck. That sounds similar to the famous and well-known name Drek/Drekk, and it also means filth. Or maybe go with Abschaum, which would translate as scum.

PlatinumJester
2007-07-08, 08:11 AM
http://www.tilansia.com/langconvert.php?language=ThievesCant&lid=13

type in your name in english and translate to orcish

Matthew
2007-07-09, 08:58 PM
LOTR is certainly not a WWII parabole (there's to many differences between the two to justify this), but a lot of readings have emphasized parallels between the books and the historical events.
The aliance of the two towers, for example, has been compared to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Rhohans' reluctance to engage in the war has been likened to Neville Chamberlain's apeasement policy towards Hitler and so on.


Jackson might have bought into this when making the movies, or at least used the Third Reich for visual inspiration.
Just take a look at the scene in The Two Towers where Saruman is holding the speech to his army from his tower's balcony.
All those troops with their black uniforms arranged in neat, square-shaped, gargantuan formations.
Completely takes over Nazi propaganda iconography.
When i saw it for the first time, i just sat there in the cinema and thought, "oh my god, that's Goebbels at the Sportpalastrede" (the speech where he rallied for total war).
Frightening.


As for WW I, i can't really pinpoint any direct parallels.
The personal trauma might have prevented Tolkien from writing about this. Even though there's a lot of people who spend the rest of their lives talking about their experiences at war, some just lock that up inside of them completely.
Can't say for sure how this was in Tolkien's case.

Oh, and please excuse the off-topic.
Indeed, Tolkien explicitly refutes such interpretations of The Lord of the Rings in his introduction. His intent was clearly not to represent any such thing by way of allegory. What we, as an audience, do with his text, though, is quite another matter - death of the author and all that.

Personally, I find nothing particularly Nazi-ish about Hobgoblins, anymore than I find them 'Prussian', 'Roman like' or 'Spartan like'. A martially focused society isn't equivalent to Nazi Germany. It does, understandably, have some parallels.

Xan
2007-07-09, 10:12 PM
Personally, I find nothing particularly Nazi-ish about Hobgoblins, anymore than I find them 'Prussian', 'Roman like' or 'Spartan like'. A martially focused society isn't equivalent to Nazi Germany. It does, understandably, have some parallels.

I don't know, it might be just me, but I could see Hobgoblins really getting into racial cleansing if they really thought about the concept.

Matthew
2007-07-09, 10:14 PM
Maybe so, but I think that could be said for a great many D&D Races. As I recall, Beholders are the racially motivated beasties of D&D.

Xan
2007-07-09, 10:31 PM
Maybe so, but I think that could be said for a great many D&D Races. As I recall, Beholders are the racially motivated beasties of D&D.
Them, and if I remember correctly mind flayers considered themselves the only creatures worth anything. They were pretty Nazi-ish too. Considering that Nazis and Mind flayers both performed medical-ish experimentation on their slaves and captives.

Matthew
2007-07-10, 05:34 PM
Yeah, Illithids are pretty creepy. Don't they serve Aboleth's or something, though? Not sure about their Racial Purity fluff.

Inyssius Tor
2007-07-10, 09:36 PM
Illithids intend to rule and enslave the universe, but that's the extent of their racism. They view everyone with suspicion and wariness, including each other.

They serve the giant Elder Brains, who feed upon the minds of their young and grow by accumulating dead Illithid brains.

They enslaved the Gith, though, who are crazy xenophobic.

... come to think of it, there aren't really any non-xenophobic Evil D&D races (wait, no, Fiendish creatures will have sex with anything, including oozes). Goblins, hobs, orcs, yuan-ti, beholders, kuo-toa...

Tiki Snakes
2007-07-12, 04:34 PM
Half Orcs, afaik, are generally assumed to have grown up in human lands, right? In as much as DnD is very much not Pro-Orc and the idea of a Human raping a poor Orc girl really doesn't feel very Raw. (I like the idea, but RAW esque it ain't.)

So, go with a normal human name, then miss-spell it terribly. If you're doing this online, you could even use half a dozen different variations of the name, misspelled interchangably.

(In this spirit, btw, I'm going to play a half orc with Autism at some point, called Boghat, or Bogurt, or Bohgard. Ie, a Half-Orc called Bogart, as in Humphrey. It works for me. :D )