Primarch Name Meanings

[TempestBlade]

I was inspired by Silver's comment in the Rules forum:


You can't trust the french.

You can't trust the ultramarines.

To sum it all up...


Did you know that the Ultramarines are french? (their Primarch's name is Roboute Guilliman) and that the Black Templars are German? (Helbrecht) with the maltese crosses and everything...kinda like the WW-I Iron cross. 0_o

-Silver

This got me to checking the meaning of the Primarch's names on a baby name site, that will tell you the origins of the name and its implications.

Unfortunately due to the unusual nature of some (come on Perturabo? no wonder the guy was constantly moping!) and the rather literal others (Lion?), I could only find two :(

Konrad (Curze of the Nightlords): Means "bold advisor"

Magnus (Red of the Thousand Sons): Means "great" and originally a name of royalty and a saint!

Still this does leave me room to ask if anyone else has found any literary connections with the home worlds of the original Space Marine Legions?

I know Dark Angels: Caliban (The Tempest) and Thousand Sons: Prospero (again, The Tempest), wondered if there were anymore?

[Arkaedin]

Well Conrad Curze was a charachter in Heart of Darkness, he was insane which is why he was chosen for Night Lords obviously :p

I'll write more later, but now I'm off to class- but there are some really cool things with Primarch names.

[Skarfang]

i remember seeing that the lion's name comes from a real dude called lionel johnson, an english poet who wrote a poem (believe it or not!) titled The Dark Angel

here's the wiki link for it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Johnson

[Gideon_Not_Ravenor]

Wow,

Corax= Bird name
Alpharius= well, alpha is the first, and I think that explains it! Omega is last, for those who do not know, and have read legion
Horus= Egyptian god (duh!)
Vulkan- Is another word for volacano, but I don't know what language.

[Silver]

Vulkan- Is another word for volacano, but I don't know what language.

German :o

...and Rogal means Imperial/Royal.

[TempestBlade]

Jagahatai Khan sounds particularly Mongol, which of course matches with the hit and run fighting style of the White Scars.

Sanguinius relates to sanguine I'm guessing, meaning bloody but also cheerful (which I must admit is the way he comes across in Horus Rising...)

I feel stupid suggesting it but is Angron simply related to Angry/Anger?

[Farskit]

Mortarion is an obvious reference to Death (Mortis in latin, I think, Mort in french)

Angron=Angry, do you really want more.
Perturabo means "perturbated" or something like that in Spanish, I think.

Lorgar and Fulgrim I do not know about.

Sanguinius is another transparent reference to Blood.
Jaghatai Khan: Jaghatai was one of the sons of Gengis Khan. Funnily enough the current Chapter Master of the White Scars is Temujin, which is Gengis Khan's real name.
Roboute Guilliman is another mystery.
Ferrus Manus is Iron Hand in latin... This one didn't go very far...
Leman Russ... No idea either.

[Silver]

Jagahatai Khan sounds particularly Mongol, which of course matches with the hit and run fighting style of the White Scars.

Jagathai Khan was an actual historic figure (pronounced same, spelled differently):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagatai_Khan



I feel stupid suggesting it but is Angron simply related to Angry/Anger?

Lol yes! :p

Fulgrim probably means very grim (fully grim?)

Perturabo = Disturbed (or so from Latin)

Derived from Latin: Ferrus = Iron; Manus = Hand

Makes sense, doesn't it? ;)
-Silver

[Arkaedin]

1) Lion El'Johnson- Skarfang covered it
3) Fulgrim- (IMO) Very close to the word "Fulcrum" which is the point at which a lever moves. Fulgrim was torn between the Emperor and Horus and acted as the Fulgrim where Horus plan and the Emperor's galaxy were the two ends of the lever.
4) Perturabo- Comes from "Perturb" which means To disturb greatly; make uneasy or anxious.
5) Jaghati Khan- They're modeled after Mongols and Khan was a title of superiority. Pretty simple.
6) Leman Russ- honestly, no clue, but Russ is an event of some sort when you graduate highschool in Norway and Sweeden and such.
7) Rogal Dorn- Rogal much like "regal" and Dorn is German for Thorn. A Royal Thorn (majesty and toughness basically)
8) Konrad Kurze- as I mentioned earlier, derived from the character Curze from Joseph CONRAD's Heart of Darkness
9) Sanguinus- easy, his name come from Sanguine which means bloody, optimistic and (the clincher) (in old physiology) having blood as the predominating humor and consequently being ruddy-faced, cheerful, etc.
10) Ferrus Manus- Seriously? His chapter is the Iron Hands. Ferrus=Iron Mannus= created word to fit with Ferrus meaning man.
12) Angron- come on, it sounds like "Angry". 'nuff said :cool:
13) Roboute Guilliman- good question. His name is distincly French when his chapter is distinctly Roman.
14) Mortation- Mort means death basically. Death Guard. Easy again.
15) Magnus- explained already, means Great, though it's worth noting that the Thousand Sons are called that because the first letter of Magnus' name mean Thousand in Latin.
16) Horus- explained by FH
17) Lorgar- My guess is it derives from the word "lore" which means, basically, the accumulation of traditions and teachings through history
18) Vulkan- FH already described
19) Corax- Corax is ancient greek word for crow. Crows are quite similar to Ravens. Corax is based off of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" (thus why his last word was "Nevermore" before he went into the warp)
20) Alpharius- as FH said, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.


Some of those are only theories so feel free to discuss those, others are simply just true

EDIT- Farksit and SIlver, sorry for not mentioning you in here, i was typing this as you two posted, sorry :(

[Gideon_Not_Ravenor]

@ Silver, yes I agree, though I would say 'Full o' Grim' :D

@ Arkaedin, perfect post, everthing is dandy!

Any Roman dudes/dudettes who have any similar names to him? Possibly even any smurf characters? ;)

EDIT- Angron --'Angr'y' On'?

[Silver]

and Dorn is German for Thorne.

um.....WUT??!?

The german word for throne is Thron.:o

-Silver

[Commander Xillian]

Horus= Egyptian god (duh!)
Vulkan- Is another word for volacano, but I don't know what language.

Horus. God of Vengeance, slayer of Seth, and son of Osiris, god of the dead.

Vulcan. Roman god of fire, and armorer of the gods. Volcano.

Just wanted to clear that up, and tell you what Horus was the god of.

[Arkaedin]

um.....WUT??!?

The german word for throne is Thron.:o

-Silver


Dorn is German for Thorne. A Royal Thorn (majesty and toughness basically)

Yeah, like I said DORN means THORN. I orignially put an e there for some reason which is why it confused you, but that should've been cleared up by the end of the sentence. . .

[Gideon_Not_Ravenor]

What about Primarch Arkaedin? :)

[Arkaedin]

What about Primarch Arkaedin? :)

Ah yes, the fabled lost Primarch of the 2nd legion. His name literally means "better than everyone" so I'd suggest bowing before him and sending him lots of many in gratitude for his awesomeness.
Just a. . . humble. . .suggestion :p:D

[Trygon]

13) Roboute Guilliman- good question. His name is distincly French when his chapter is distinctly Roman.


Roboute Guilliman means French Sheep eater http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/Terrible_Trygon/Trygon/TRygonAstro122.jpg

[Potion]

Jhagatai Khan is a direct RIPOFF of Chagatai (The Khan), leader of the Unicorn Clan (i.e. mounted mongols) in the game Legend of the Five Rings. GW is hurting for creativity lol :)

[Farskit]

Err Potion, Jaghatai does not come from there. instead, as I pointed out, Jaghatai Khan is the second son of Gengis Khan. The L5R character is also a direct ripoff from this historic figure.

[Potion]

:( Had no idea, thank you for the updated info hehe

[TempestBlade]

:( Had no idea, thank you for the updated info hehe

Lol I think someone owes "GW's Creativity" a heart felt apology? ;)

[The Commodore]

Roboute Guilliman means French Sheep eater http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/Terrible_Trygon/Trygon/TRygonAstro122.jpg

And Trygon..., means "Try Hard"!! :D

[Silver]

Lol I think someone owes "GW's Creativity" a heart felt apology? ;)

Not really, because...ok...GW didn't rip that off from Legend of the Five Rings, but it did rip it off from history. ;)

[TempestBlade]

Not really, because...ok...GW didn't rip that off from Legend of the Five Rings, but it did rip it off from history. ;)

Lol I've no problem with GW paying homage to whatever they want, as we've seen from this thread it can stimulate all kinds of discussion :)

[Trygon]

Well most names are going to be based off something anyways.
Bearing in mind that the first named Inquisitor in Warhammer 40k was called 'Obiwan Sherlock'.

[TempestBlade]

Well most names are going to be based off something anyways.
Bearing in mind that the first named Inquisitor in Warhammer 40k was called 'Obiwan Sherlock'.

Could have been worse, could have been Sherlock Kenobi ;)

[Marticus]

its not so bad that gw use names from history, as its meant to be the future of earth i have no probls wth it :)

[The Commodore]

Could have been worse, could have been Sherlock Kenobi ;)

Don't know mate, I think that Sherlock Kenobi, is a lot better than Obiwan Sherlock. :D

[TempestBlade]

Not forgetting Qui Gon Watson? (before someone leaps in, light saber drawn, I know Qui Gon Jin was Obi Wans master, and Watson is definitely not Homes', so please don't feel the need to re-educate this heathen ;))

[Gideon_Not_Ravenor]

But qui gon was rubbish anyway, so he is the Intellectual equal of Doctor Watson. :)

Lets be honest, qui gon could have been a better character, and Dr Watson was just perfect for the Sherlock Holmes Short Stories.

BUT END OF!!

BACK ON TOPIC LADS AND LADIES!!

[Lepp]

8) Konrad Kurze- as I mentioned earlier, derived from the character Conrad Curze from Heart of Darkness


Mr. Spillman would slap you, ark. Kurtz is the character in the book, which was written by Joseph Conrad. We never learn Kurtz's first name. This is as clever as GW gets...

[Arkaedin]

Mr. Spillman would slap you, ark. Kurtz is the character in the book, which was written by Joseph Conrad. We never learn Kurtz's first name. This is as clever as GW gets...

Yeah. . . >_<

The point was put across though (and I typed it up in a chem lecture- as I do most things on this site nowadays- so give me a break!)

[Kishvier]

Most of the primiarchs names are from the bible, as well as half of the other major characters in the fluff like abaddon!

[Brother_Chaplian Raimo]

"Most" is going a bit far- the Primiarchs are all over the place...

Robute Guilliman is a bastardization of the name of a French monk who, at some point in history, wrote a set of guidelines on monkliness. No points for putting two and two together.

Most of the other ones have already been covered...

[scribe]

Not sure about Guilliman, but the Ultrmarines chapter has been very Romanised which is one of the reasons I am so interested in them. I spent a few years studying the history of the Roman Empire and I am still no expert, let me add. But you need look no further than their strict adhesion to the codex and the fact they all bear Roman numerals as a part of their heraldry. Also, have a look at their wargear (swords, helmets, the emblem of a golden eagle, the wreaths they wear on their armour).

Look at a few quotes from space marine lords and primarchs. Marneus Calgar has a quote that says something along the lines of: "discipline and order are everything on the battlefield and the army that lives by that credo will always triumph." Yada yada. The Roman military was based around very similar principles to the Ultramarine doctrines. You know the stuff... the tight formations, always regrouping after falling back and so on. This applies to all space marines because all space marine chapters are quite Roman, the Ultrmarines are just the biggest drama queens about it all :).

The Ultramarines seem to really highlight this Roman nature apparent in the whole Imperium, really. I mean, you're best example of the Imperium being quite Roman is the guy called the immortal God Emperor. The Roman Emperors were revered as being on a par with Jesus once Christianity became the major Roman religion.

A lot of guys go on about the Ultramarines being just a starter army but they're a very interesting case in point if you know a little bit of human history. Let's not forget, the Romans ruled the entire world as they knew it at one point, controlling the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean so that's one easy explanation for the Germanic, French, etc... names.

Another example of "real world aspects" is the striking resemblance the Tallarn desert raiders bear to the Arabic/Mongol type desert war bands.

Just my bit of rambling for you guys to decipher and to interpret for yourselves.

[Brother_Chaplian Raimo]

Not sure about Guilliman,

Don't worry- I am.;)

Sure, the Ultramarines are the Romanesque-gimmik of the Astartes, but that doesn't mean that their Primiarch has to be. The Codex aspect is the big thing.

Your stereotyping almost makes me cringe. For the record, I've always got a Lawerence-of-Arabia-white-guys-in-the-desert vibe from the Tallarn.

[scribe]

Don't worry- I am.;)

Sure, the Ultramarines are the Romanesque-gimmik of the Astartes, but that doesn't mean that their Primiarch has to be. The Codex aspect is the big thing.

Your stereotyping almost makes me cringe. For the record, I've always got a Lawerence-of-Arabia-white-guys-in-the-desert vibe from the Tallarn.


Yes, most of it is just a mesh of historical figures and races* from different sources.

If you want more stereotyping, the tyranids are the aliens from the alien film, or the aliens from the alien film are the tyranids. ;)