ey Mr Greenwood. Would you bless me by naming my Red dragon Npc with a heart of gold? They have a hopeful optimistic outlook and have changed their nature through great effort and friendship. Sure. How about "Arautharandur"? ("Arauth" or just "Rauth" for short.)#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 14, 2021
Wow dude you are so cool, thank you so much!. Does it mean anything specific?
— BurpaMurpa (@BMurpa) January 14, 2021
It does. :}
ara = true
auth = self (archaic; in modern Draconic: “oth”)
arand = core, heart of
dur = reward, payment (“durah” is to bribe)
So, “Arautharandur” means “true to myself, and that’s my reward”
#Realmslore Given that, I would interpret it to mean: "Being true to oneself is it's own reward."— Lone Ranger (@Xer0Dynamite) January 14, 2021
Agreed, but then, you and I are humans.
Dragons are very self-centered (source: Gary Gygax), so any trait or feature of a name is always “my” first and foremost.
(Gary and I agreed on that at a long-ago Gencon panel, at a time when he WAS D&D, so: canon.) It is good game-mastering to make dragons selfish in the realms, but to know *why* they are selfish — that is a journey for a 20+ year story arc in D&D. We should talk more.— Lone Ranger (@Xer0Dynamite) January 15, 2021
Cool! Is there any reference (books, manuals…) somewhere for the meaning of each word and differences between archaic/modern draconic or other faerunian languages? No, but there are "lexicon" computer files for draconic, elvish, dwarvish, gnome, orc, and halfling that are being built (over the years) by George Krashos, Eric L. Boyd, me, and many contributors (like Erin Evans and Owen Stephens) who penned Realms novels or lore.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) January 15, 2021
