This post concerns Peregrine, my favorite character that I wrote. He's a hilarious, short, naive wizard apprentice who always is getting into trouble.
His name sort of came out of my head one day, and it immediately stuck. It sounded a bit familiar but I didn't dwell on it. It just seemed like the perfect name for him.
Earlier this evening, I was watching the Fellowship of the Ring. Anyway, you know the four hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry? Turns out Pippin is short for Peregrine. *groan* At first I felt like a copycat. Especially considering that the hobbit is awfully like the apprentice, personality-wise!
I'm unsure whether this is a problem or not. I wasn't intending to steal the name. Just like I would never name a wizard Gandalf or Dumbledore, I wouldn't have named this character Peregrine had I remembered this hobbit shared the name. Besides, if it is a problem, it's too late to change it now. Peregrine has been Peregrine in my mind for over six months now, and his name is a part of him.
Lord of the Rings is a classic. Maybe I should just consider it a tribute to the best fantasy novels in the whole world, like a subtle reference for those who catch it, and leave it at that. What do you think?
(By the way, I'm leaving on a week-long vacation in three days. Don't expect any blog posts during that time.)
~ Sophia-Rose
Hi! I'm Sophia-Rose, and welcome to my treehouse. This is my blog, where I show my graphics, artwork, and music, but is heavily focused on writing.
Well, it depends on your use of the story. If you're going to publish it, I say keep the name until you send it in. Just ctrl+f everything when you're ready. If it's just for casual purposes, then don't do anything about the name. My IRL buddies who were fashioned into characters (Lily, Grover, Brendan, Colin) were all ctrl+f'ed out at the end of the month.
ReplyDeleteAs I don't think LoL will ever get published, I'm inclined to keep the name. Even if I did send it in, I'd probably keep the name anyway. I forgot to mention that it has minor significance in the plot, and changing it would mess up the significance.
DeleteBesides, the hobbit in question is usually called Pippin anyway. Peregrine in my story has no nickname.