My favorite is the OG, naming magic in the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. Magic in Kingkiller Chronicles is close second. Magic of names in the Dresden Files is my top third.
Thank you for this! I really enjoyed how you structured the video + the various visual aids in the background, and how you started from history and folklore before moving on the fantasy. Awesome video!
Glenn Cook's Black Company series has an interesting take on names, where knowing a wizard's name gives you the ability to strip them of their power. Wizards, of course, go by nicknames in this world. There's a whole plotline in the second book about digging into the past of a sorceress born 400 years ago to figure out which of three sisters she really is, very cool.
@@JustInTimeWorlds I really recommend reading at least the Books of the North part of the series (first four), although the rest are pretty good too. It's my favourite series, and I seem to share much of your taste in fantasy (Dresden, Earthsea etc - I have yet to read the Kushiel series but it's on my list, maybe after Malazan...).
I think that one of the really good uses of Name magic was in Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli. Yubaba stole names from people to enslave them. And 'remember who you are' was a really strong theme there. Even the seal that Haku stole was a form of a name because seals were used as signatures. And I think the whole demonological magic was based on names. Not only to summon a demon, but you also need to put him into a magic circle, which has the name of this demon's Boss. So the demon can't cross this line bounded by the name; the demon then has power over him. I guess this is what King Solomon did when making demons build a temple for him, or when he went over his kingdom and imprisoned Jinns in hollow objects, sealing them by name magic.
I honestly have already made a magic system based on this type of magic without even realizing it. Mainly I got the idea from the SHAZAM spell heard from Captain Marvel and or Black Adam.
It is such an ancient legend and so pervasive, I think it’s extremely easy to subconsciously chose as the basis for a magic system. Multiple cultures believe in the power of names.
One idea I have is when the gods spoke the sheet reality so when you know the language of the Gods you can shape reality so if you know what's true name the ones that the gods gave them you can have power over them
I wonder if this is why middle names originated as a means to increase the amounts that someone would have to know about you in order to hold power over. It's probably why parents still yell out the full name of their children when reprimanding them.
@@JustInTimeWorlds it reminds me a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Molly Weasley is mad at Ron and she shouts his name in full: "Ronald Weasley, how dare you steal that car!"😁
Not exactly the same but there's a Chinese practice of hiding children from evil spirits by misnaming them. Can't remember the details but something like if a fortune teller says misfortune will strike the son, the parents will give the son a girl's name, even dress him in female clothes, to confuse evil spirits. Also reminds me of Edward de Bono's observation that when asked to invent something, modern children don't create mechanisms. Instead, they have a switch on their machine that automagically triggers the effect. Names in magic seem to be the switch, hiding how the spell works.
I think the "modern" time type of magic called the Exorcism is a name magis in its core. The rxorcist call the name of god or christ or saint or other holly person, and throu his name try to force demon to flrr. Kind ot brakeing the demons will. It come from the bible when christ exorcise some demons, and later when some sints discover that demon fear his name and it can be use to exorcism them. But I think it is still a tradition what christianity take from old testament, and old testamen bring from Egipt and they name magic. And all understanding of demons is taken from babylonian and oldest civilizations of this region.
Geez... Names magic originated from Greeks? It is a myth. Name magic originated in Ancient Egypt, where the name was one of the 5 souls of a person. The one associated with free will. So we have the Ba soul, the Ka soul, the Akh soul, the shadow, and the name. All of them together make a person. So, when you know someone's name, you have power over their soul and free will, and can command them. One of the examples was the origin of the power of the goddess Isis. She was the goddess of magic because she knew the true name of Amon and could command all his power. The myth says she took some of the Essence of Amon and turned it into a snake, which bit and poisoned Amon. And no one knew how to heal him because no one knew what poisoned him. Only Isis made an offer; she would cure him, but only if he told her his true name. Because the Essence of Amon poisoned Amon, and only with his true name could her healing magic work on him. Amon agreed, and this made Isis the most powerful goddess in Egypt. She created this whole intrigue to look like a wicked person, but she mostly used this whole power to help people and make childbirth easier
Which naming magic system is your favorite?
My favorite is the OG, naming magic in the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. Magic in Kingkiller Chronicles is close second. Magic of names in the Dresden Files is my top third.
Thank you for this! I really enjoyed how you structured the video + the various visual aids in the background, and how you started from history and folklore before moving on the fantasy. Awesome video!
Glenn Cook's Black Company series has an interesting take on names, where knowing a wizard's name gives you the ability to strip them of their power. Wizards, of course, go by nicknames in this world. There's a whole plotline in the second book about digging into the past of a sorceress born 400 years ago to figure out which of three sisters she really is, very cool.
I’ve only read the first book. I really must pick up book 2 sometime.
@@JustInTimeWorlds I really recommend reading at least the Books of the North part of the series (first four), although the rest are pretty good too. It's my favourite series, and I seem to share much of your taste in fantasy (Dresden, Earthsea etc - I have yet to read the Kushiel series but it's on my list, maybe after Malazan...).
What a great introduction. Thank you so much for that inspirative video.
You are very welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I think that one of the really good uses of Name magic was in Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli. Yubaba stole names from people to enslave them. And 'remember who you are' was a really strong theme there. Even the seal that Haku stole was a form of a name because seals were used as signatures. And I think the whole demonological magic was based on names. Not only to summon a demon, but you also need to put him into a magic circle, which has the name of this demon's Boss. So the demon can't cross this line bounded by the name; the demon then has power over him.
I guess this is what King Solomon did when making demons build a temple for him, or when he went over his kingdom and imprisoned Jinns in hollow objects, sealing them by name magic.
I honestly have already made a magic system based on this type of magic without even realizing it. Mainly I got the idea from the SHAZAM spell heard from Captain Marvel and or Black Adam.
It is such an ancient legend and so pervasive, I think it’s extremely easy to subconsciously chose as the basis for a magic system. Multiple cultures believe in the power of names.
One idea I have is when the gods spoke the sheet reality so when you know the language of the Gods you can shape reality so if you know what's true name the ones that the gods gave them you can have power over them
That's exactly what Jacqueline Carey did in Kushiel's Avatar.
I wonder if this is why middle names originated as a means to increase the amounts that someone would have to know about you in order to hold power over. It's probably why parents still yell out the full name of their children when reprimanding them.
Heh, that's an interesting theory and definitely all your names is always a sign of trouble.
@@JustInTimeWorlds it reminds me a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Molly Weasley is mad at Ron and she shouts his name in full: "Ronald Weasley, how dare you steal that car!"😁
Not exactly the same but there's a Chinese practice of hiding children from evil spirits by misnaming them. Can't remember the details but something like if a fortune teller says misfortune will strike the son, the parents will give the son a girl's name, even dress him in female clothes, to confuse evil spirits. Also reminds me of Edward de Bono's observation that when asked to invent something, modern children don't create mechanisms. Instead, they have a switch on their machine that automagically triggers the effect. Names in magic seem to be the switch, hiding how the spell works.
That's a very cool way to look at it. Also, that's such a cute mechanic, hiding from the spirits. I'm going to do some research into that one :D
If simply knowing one's name gave you power over them they'd probably use symbols to be addressed and identification
Symbols are a cute idea for that. Especially for science fantasy.
I think the "modern" time type of magic called the Exorcism is a name magis in its core. The rxorcist call the name of god or christ or saint or other holly person, and throu his name try to force demon to flrr. Kind ot brakeing the demons will. It come from the bible when christ exorcise some demons, and later when some sints discover that demon fear his name and it can be use to exorcism them. But I think it is still a tradition what christianity take from old testament, and old testamen bring from Egipt and they name magic. And all understanding of demons is taken from babylonian and oldest civilizations of this region.
Geez... Names magic originated from Greeks? It is a myth. Name magic originated in Ancient Egypt, where the name was one of the 5 souls of a person. The one associated with free will. So we have the Ba soul, the Ka soul, the Akh soul, the shadow, and the name. All of them together make a person. So, when you know someone's name, you have power over their soul and free will, and can command them.
One of the examples was the origin of the power of the goddess Isis. She was the goddess of magic because she knew the true name of Amon and could command all his power. The myth says she took some of the Essence of Amon and turned it into a snake, which bit and poisoned Amon. And no one knew how to heal him because no one knew what poisoned him. Only Isis made an offer; she would cure him, but only if he told her his true name. Because the Essence of Amon poisoned Amon, and only with his true name could her healing magic work on him. Amon agreed, and this made Isis the most powerful goddess in Egypt. She created this whole intrigue to look like a wicked person, but she mostly used this whole power to help people and make childbirth easier