(Plains of the Paynims) paynim: (noun) "heathen; pagan" I always assumed this was a reference to nomads or something Arabic adjacent. What I failed to understand all these years is that paynim is a real-world derogatory name (albeit an archaic term). From the meta-perspective of the World of Greyhawk Guide's author, yes, the men of the plains would be heathens or pagans compared to the Flanaess' cultures. This term of course fits in on a pulpy map that also lists barbarians, nomads, and savages. I can now only assume the peoples of the Baklunish West would have a different name for this region!
(town of Shiboleth) shibboleth: (noun) "a word or saying used by adherents of a party, sect, or belief and usually regarded by others as empty of real meaning; a truism or platitude; a custom or usage regarded as distinguishing one group from others." I got to admit I've never seen this word used in general conversation only in writing, maybe it's one of these antiquated Gygaxian words. What is interesting though, is that the town of Shiboleth (one "b" less) is in Gran March, a (religious) militant state. So that choice of word is on the mark!
(Spindrift Isles) spindrift: (noun) "sea spray; fine wind-borne snow or sand" This is a word I didn't know the definition of until I wrote this article and is what started me down this dictionary rabbit hole in the first place! Now I have never spent time on the sea, the desert or in the arctic, so it's new to me, but maybe this is a commonly used term? In any case, kudos to Gygax for naming an island chain with such an appropriately descriptor. It is amusing to me though, that he could have just as easily called the Bright Desert the Spindrift Desert and this entry would be unchanged!
(Gamboge Forest) gamboge (noun) "a strong yellow; an orange to brown gum resin from southeast Asian trees of the Saint-John's wort family that is used as a yellow pigment and cathartic."
(Celadon Forest) celadon (noun) "a grayish-yellow green; a ceramic glaze originated in China that is greenish in color."
A two-for-one on this entry. I covered both these words in a previous article on Colorful Places of Greyhawk. Gygax uses A LOT of colors in his naming schemes. These two rare words however eluded my consciousness for many years before I started blogging. Celadon makes sense for a forest descriptor, whereas gamboge perhaps is referring to the forest's changing leaves during the autumn season.
(town of Knurl) knurl (noun) "a small protuberance or knob; one of a series of small ridges on a metal surface to aid in gripping." Coincidence or clever Gygaxian naming for this town? I don't know much lore about Knurl, but maybe the town is built on a hill? It is kinda at the tip of the Blemu Hills I think.
(Suss Forest) suss (verb) "to inspect or investigate so as to gain more knowledge." This one I knew about, but it's still weird to my ears, like yes, we do need to investigate this evil woodland more. No, what I think is actually happening in this case is Gygax used a root of the word of susurrus "a whispering or rustling sound." Now that sounds like a cooler reason to name an evil forest.
(Gnarley Forest) gnarly (adjective) "twisted with or as if with gnarls or knots; distasteful or distressing, gross." Everyone's favorite forest (an added "e" for variation) is an aptly described place that gives you an immediate mental image of being old, dense and twisted. If you grew up in the 80's however the latter definition certainly made this forest into a running joke. Good times.
(Welkwood) welk (verb) "to lose freshness or greenness, dry up; to become less." This one I'm not totally sure about but again, Gygax is known for using obsolete words in Greyhawk. Welk can be a synonym for fade, wilt or wane. This definition doesn't evoke the image of a lush sylvan forest though, unless it is already in decline from ancient times. Another thought with the benefit of hindsight, I'd speculate that the "Suss and Welk" forest names should be swapped. One other possibility, Gygax was a fan of Lawrence Welk? Shrug!
(Nutherwood) nuther (conjunction, pronoun or adjective) "not either; not the one or the other of two or more." This one is a stretch so bear with me. According to the internet, (which is always right) nuther is a dialectal variant of the word neither. So, taken in context of the Flanaess on the opposite side of the river is the ghostly Phostwood and the locals are calling this side "Neitherwood" meaning this is also not a place you should enter. My other suspicion is that "nuther" is a play on "nether" implying this woodland is some kind of otherworldly place of the dead. Now that seems more fitting for a fantasy setting!
(Jetsom Isle) jetsam (noun) "the part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is cast overboard to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore."
I have another two for one entry. You know I gotta mention these two words because they're part of the Hold of the Sea Princes. Not kidding, I went many, many years before I knew the definition of flotsam and jetsam. Jetsam kinda sounds like jettison, which has to share the same root meaning. Also, I guess Gygax used a variation of the spelling, "flotsom and jetsom" cause fantasy world, right? Whatever the spelling or meaning, these islands are perfectly named for their location, a high seas haven for buccaneers.
(Griff Mountains) griff (noun) "a deep narrow glen or ravine; news or reliable information." I'm uncertain about this one as well. I see this word is a dialectal variant, or a slang English word. It's most likely just the shortened version of the mythical creature griffon (griffin) of course. This is D&D after all. Still, calling a mountain range griff because of its numerous glens and ravines doesn't seem all that implausible.
9 comments:
Shibboleth is Hebrew. It's meaning ("flood" or "ear of corn"?) is not important. It factors in the Book od Judges after a battle between Gileadites, a Hebrew tribe from the east side of the Jordan river, and Ephraimites, who dwell on the west side. If it became necessary to yell which side a man had been on, Gilead suggested you ask the mannin question to say 'Shibboleth'. The 'sh' sound is more foreign-influenced, hence eastern. Ephraimites from the west would say "sibboleth", with an s-. So the reference is to words or phrases that, by differing pronunciation or usage, identify one as belonging to some distinct group.
Charles: Awesome information, sir. I knew there was a back story to that word and you did not disappoint!
I just got up and have a Greyhawkery article waiting. Life is good.
Paynim as a term was used in Arthurian Romances exclusively to refer to Muslims (usually Arabs or Moors), so your initial belief is quite correct.
Regarding Quag Keep, I've often wondered if the inspiration was Swamp Castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was released in 1975...
"Shibboleth: I got to admit I've never seen this word used in general conversation only in writing, maybe it's one of these antiquated Gygaxian words."
It's still in common use around my parts (always with the "sh" pronunciation) and surprisingly applicable to modern life. Even the debate about how to pronounce "gif" is an example of a shibboleth, and it's extremely common for place names to be shibboleths that reveal who's a long-time resident of an area and who isn't. One of our local towns is Coxsackie, which is definitively not pronounced the way its spelled, and even Schenectady leaves a lot of people struggling.
The British Isles are saturated with shibboleths, which is the subject of this excellent song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOd3lwluQIw
Re: Knurl, earlier forms of the word (knarre, knaur plus the diminuitive -le) include twisted rock or crag (implying the town may indeed be on a stony elevation) as well as a knot in piece of wood (suggesting some sort of lumber industry or perhaps the early buildings in the settlement were so full of knotty wood that the place got named for that peculiarity).
Or the town founder might have been a short, stocky fellow, perhaps with a twisted spine. Knurl was a descriptive label for someone fitting that description in some places, perhaps used synonymously with gnurl - maybe as a milder version of hunchback?
If you look at the expanded random encounter tables in the gold box edition, you'll notice that Gygax had added a special entry in the Suss Forest for the sussurus from the Fiend Folio (and ultimately from the White Dwarf adventure Lichway), making them considerably more commonly appearing in that region.
I always found the Plains of the Paynims to be a problematic name, due to the derogatory usage as well as the fact that it's a term specifically for Muslims, which don't exist in Greyhawk. On my maps, I changed the name to the Baklunish Plains. I also changed the names of the geographical regions of the Wolf Nomads and Tiger Nomads. I changed them to the Wegwiur Khanate and Chakyik Khanate, which is more akin to what they would be called by the local Wegwiur and Chakyik people. Those names are also my ode to the real-world Uyghur Khanate, Kipchak Khanate, and Chagatai Khanate, which I suspect were Gary Gygax's inspirations for his similar names.
A quick follow-up on “welk”: in addition to its linguistic meaning, it was a monster from TSR’s _Empire of the Petal Throne_ (1975 by Phil Barker). In EPT, the monster is spelled “whelk.”
Rob Kuntz also leveraged the whelk in his _Bottle City_ level from Castle Greyhawk (designed in 1974, prior to the publication of EPT): Ngóro (the Whelk) appears in that level’s infamous picture gallery, alongside the Kurukú (the Small Giggler), and the Biridlú (the Mantle).
Allan.
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