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[Radiant Citadel] A chart of parallel Earth cultures and motifs across the D&D Multiverse
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<blockquote data-quote="TwiceBorn2" data-source="post: 8721492" data-attributes="member: 7017725"><p>You are definitely better read on the subject of world cultures than I, so I will gladly defer to your analysis. That said, while I have no privileged insights into Gygax's naming of Ket, he also seems to have been very well read and intentional in his naming conventions. I don't think it's a stretch to think that if Gygax had been inspired by the Uyghurs, Chukchi and/or Koryaks, that he might also have known about the Ket of Siberia.</p><p></p><p>I agree that Siberian-influenced herders in "Greyhawk Ket" seems odd for the very reasons you have given... but not much stranger than the appearance of Russo-Slavic inspired peoples in the Hold of Stonefist (a.k.a. Stonehold) on a sub-continent that--Rhennee and Attloi notwithstanding--seems to have little to no traces of Slav-like cultures. Yes, the name "Vlekstaad" (capital of the Hold) sounds vaguely Slavic, as does the name of the Hold's "founder"--Vlek Col Vlekzed... but Vlekzed was himself exiled from the Rovers of the Barrens (Arapahi, i.e., "indigenous North Americans?"). His once-Rover followers have since intermarried with the Germanic/Norse Suloise barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula (and assorted riffraff from the Bandit Kingdoms), thereby producing a... quasi-Slavic culture and linguistic conventions? That's messy alright. But this is a fantasy setting, so sure, why not? </p><p></p><p>Perhaps Ket had once been home to indigenous ("Flan"?) herders that have long since been pushed by waves of pre-Cataclysm Oeridian migrants and subsequent waves of Baklunish conquerors into the Yatils... if not to outright extinction? I also find this entry in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for "ket" interesting:</p><h2>Definition of <em>ket</em></h2><p>(Entry 1 of 4)</p><p>1dialectal, British</p><p>a<strong>: </strong><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carrion" target="_blank">CARRION</a></p><p>b<strong>: </strong><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filth" target="_blank">FILTH</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubbish" target="_blank">RUBBISH</a></p><p>2dialectal, British <strong>: </strong>a good-for-nothing person</p><p></p><p>Source: <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ket#:~:text=Definition%20of%20ket,a%20good%2Dfor%2Dnothing%20person" target="_blank">www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ket#:~:text=Definition%20of%20ket,a%20good%2Dfor%2Dnothing%20person</a></p><p></p><p>I can definitely imagine the Suloise-Oeridian Knights of the Watch stationed in Bissel (akin to Knights Templars guarding the gateway between eastern "European" and western Baklunish "Arabic/Turkic" cultures) corrupting the original name of Ket, whatever it may have been in the tongue of its indigenous peoples or subsequent Baklunish settlers--perhaps "gat" or "khat" as you suggest--into something with more condescending and outright racist connotations. As I see it, the names associated with territories on the Darlene map and in various campaign books/folios are the names by which the dominant humans of the Flanaess--the Oeridians (Suloise-Oeridians in the Sheldomar Valley)--refer to those regions.</p><p></p><p>Again, I'm not challenging your interpretation and analysis. Just ruminating aloud on other possibilities. I used to find Gygax's vague descriptions of nations, cultures and peoples frustrating, but now I consider the wide scope for personal interpretation one of Greyhawk's many assets as a setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TwiceBorn2, post: 8721492, member: 7017725"] You are definitely better read on the subject of world cultures than I, so I will gladly defer to your analysis. That said, while I have no privileged insights into Gygax's naming of Ket, he also seems to have been very well read and intentional in his naming conventions. I don't think it's a stretch to think that if Gygax had been inspired by the Uyghurs, Chukchi and/or Koryaks, that he might also have known about the Ket of Siberia. I agree that Siberian-influenced herders in "Greyhawk Ket" seems odd for the very reasons you have given... but not much stranger than the appearance of Russo-Slavic inspired peoples in the Hold of Stonefist (a.k.a. Stonehold) on a sub-continent that--Rhennee and Attloi notwithstanding--seems to have little to no traces of Slav-like cultures. Yes, the name "Vlekstaad" (capital of the Hold) sounds vaguely Slavic, as does the name of the Hold's "founder"--Vlek Col Vlekzed... but Vlekzed was himself exiled from the Rovers of the Barrens (Arapahi, i.e., "indigenous North Americans?"). His once-Rover followers have since intermarried with the Germanic/Norse Suloise barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula (and assorted riffraff from the Bandit Kingdoms), thereby producing a... quasi-Slavic culture and linguistic conventions? That's messy alright. But this is a fantasy setting, so sure, why not? Perhaps Ket had once been home to indigenous ("Flan"?) herders that have long since been pushed by waves of pre-Cataclysm Oeridian migrants and subsequent waves of Baklunish conquerors into the Yatils... if not to outright extinction? I also find this entry in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for "ket" interesting: [HEADING=1]Definition of [I]ket[/I][/HEADING] (Entry 1 of 4) 1dialectal, British a[B]: [/B][URL='https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carrion']CARRION[/URL] b[B]: [/B][URL='https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filth']FILTH[/URL], [URL='https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubbish']RUBBISH[/URL] 2dialectal, British [B]: [/B]a good-for-nothing person Source: [URL="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ket#:~:text=Definition%20of%20ket,a%20good%2Dfor%2Dnothing%20person"]www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ket#:~:text=Definition%20of%20ket,a%20good%2Dfor%2Dnothing%20person[/URL] I can definitely imagine the Suloise-Oeridian Knights of the Watch stationed in Bissel (akin to Knights Templars guarding the gateway between eastern "European" and western Baklunish "Arabic/Turkic" cultures) corrupting the original name of Ket, whatever it may have been in the tongue of its indigenous peoples or subsequent Baklunish settlers--perhaps "gat" or "khat" as you suggest--into something with more condescending and outright racist connotations. As I see it, the names associated with territories on the Darlene map and in various campaign books/folios are the names by which the dominant humans of the Flanaess--the Oeridians (Suloise-Oeridians in the Sheldomar Valley)--refer to those regions. Again, I'm not challenging your interpretation and analysis. Just ruminating aloud on other possibilities. I used to find Gygax's vague descriptions of nations, cultures and peoples frustrating, but now I consider the wide scope for personal interpretation one of Greyhawk's many assets as a setting. [/QUOTE]
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