The Name of the Wind, Inspiration for Skyrim?

[Jernau]

Well, as I was reading a Christmas present of name, it is a fantasy novel, published in 2007 and while reading it I couldn't help but notice a few interesting similarities. Fristly, I had a little chucklle to myself when this book published in 2007 had an "arrow to the knee" section. It goes a little like this;

''Took an arrow in the knee on my way through the Eld three summers ago, it gives out every now and then.' He grimaced and said wisfully, 'It's what made me give up the good life on the road.''

First time I read this I just thought it was juat a funny coincidence but after having read more of the book the central mehcanism for magic in the world is the idea of naming things (hence the title) and the ability to speak and use these names is incredibly difficult. Even the description of the uses of the some of these names is remarkably similar to the idea of shouting in Skyrim. For example the first example (calling the wind) is remarkably similar to the Fus Roh Dah shout in Skyrim.

I know this all sounds a little bit tin foil hat, but I thought I may have just found where they got a little bit of their inspiration from.

P.S: Even if this is all wrong, the book is still worth a read!

 

[MrAnderson11]

I thought the same exact thing! Also the mention of drougr, standing stones, grey folk, and a magic college.

 

[DustyDrB]

There are a few parallels. But naming and shouting are quite different. Naming is something anyone can do, but is extremely difficult and there only a few who can teach how it is done (and the one Kvothe knows is a bit...cryptic). People do seem to have different aptitudes for it, but there's nothing like a "Dragonborn".

Magic and sympathy are even more different due to sympathy relying on a strict set of rules.

But I'm glad to see someone else is reading the book. I loved it and the sequel. The wait for the final book is gonna be hard.

 

[Scrustle]

It could have lead some inspiration, but the idea of names and words being the key to magic has been around for ages. Like in several Studio Ghibli films the key to harnessing the forces of nature comes from knowing their "true names". And that arrow in the knee thing sounds like it's just a coincidence to me.

 

[Garrin]

Hi I'm new here but I immediately joined when I saw this thread I also noticed the arrow to the knee reference but also made a few assumptions about the calling the wind part. In skyrim there is a quest called jorgen wind caller and runs almost parallel to the aracaris Ben calling the wind to scare off the mayor. Also Ben is quite fond of alchemy and in the following chapter where he teaches young Keith's about alchemy he teaches him about poisons and herbs and philtres. That's all I have for now but as I read on I'll update my findings more and more.

 

[Garrin]

Hi I'm new here but I immediately joined when I saw this thread I also noticed the arrow to the knee reference but also made a few assumptions about the calling the wind part. In skyrim there is a quest called jorgen wind caller and runs almost parallel to the aracaris Ben calling the wind to scare off the mayor. Also Ben is quite fond of alchemy and in the following chapter where he teaches young Keith's about alchemy he teaches him about poisons and herbs and philtres. That's all I have for now but as I read on I'll update my findings more and more.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I thought the same exact thing! Also the mention of drougr, standing stones, grey folk, and a magic college.

Hmm... they're probably just both based on the same source material (Norse Mythology)
Also, magic words are nothing new, though I think Skyrim is the first to equate a dragon's breath attack to magic words.
And they had no way of knowing that the "arrow to the knee" meme would become a thing...
Still, it is possible. I wouldn't doubt that one of the creators read the book and took some inspiration from it.
Makes me want to look through the game's credits to see if they gave it a shout out.

 

[DoPo]

central mehcanism for magic in the world is the idea of naming things (hence the title) and the ability to speak and use these names is incredibly difficult.

Erm, you might want to turn in your fantasy geek badge. Naming has been around for quite a while. True names of things and so on. Neither Skyrim, nor The Name of the Wind originated it. Just for a quick example, A Wizard of Earthsea had the same and that was out in the early 70s, if I'm not mistaking ()actually, Wikipedia tells me it's late 60s - 1968 to be precise). Besides, Skyrim is using more of a words of power angle rather than true names (which The Name of the Wind seems to have).

 

[WoW Killer]

Naming is something anyone can do, but is extremely difficult and there only a few who can teach how it is done

That's not really any different from shouts then. The Greybeards aren't special in any way other than having studied shouts their entire lives. Ulric uses shouts, as do the old heroes in Sovngarde. Presumably anybody can go to the Greybeards to learn, provided they have the discipline for it (and they must have done this to preserve their numbers given that the order is as old as it is).

Hmmm, the arrow in the knee thing does sound kind of convincing. Maybe this was one inspiration. Among many of course. There's a more gratuitous inspiration in Highlander. I've not heard of these books before, but I'll have to give them a look now

 

[Jack Rascal]

The book was published in 2007, but that's not when he wrote it.

The all knowing and ever so reliable Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Wind] has this to say:

Rothfuss spent 7 years writing The Name of the Wind, drawing on his interests and hobbies, and the education he pursued over 9 years in college. A short story excerpted from the novel The Wise Man's Fear (sequel to The Name of the Wind), "The Road to Levinshire", won the Writers of the Future contest in 2002, leading to the book's publication.

So the sequel to The Name of The Wind already existed in 2002. I'm sure Rothfuss wouldn't have had too much information on Skyrim then. Especially as the plans for Skyrim started in 2006.

But I absolutely love the books! I hate that I have to wait for the third instalment...