Have you noticed...

[YeOldeWolf]

Originally Posted by sayn

You seem to forget Margravine Liselle and her uncle, Margravine...something. Also King of the Murgos, Taur Urgas, and King of the Nadraks, Drosta lek Thun. Almost forgot, the Gar in Belgarath, Polgara, and Garion is just coincidence. If anything it would be the Bel or Pol that comes close to being a surname because you only see those prefixes in their family.

Actually I remember reading Eddings say somewhere that the "Pol" in Polgara was the female equivalent of "Bel" for males. Not withstanding the fact that her sister was named Beldaran. However, we must remember that Polgara was a sorceress and Beldaran was a normal human. I believe therefore, that the "Bel" (meaning "beloved") meant she was the beloved of Belgarath and not Aldur. There were consistencies that flowed through the names of Belgarath's decendants most notably Daran and Geran. Both Geran and Garion are clearly derivative of "Garath" which was the old Wolf's name before he became the beloved of Aldur.

As for the use of last names. Margravine was the female equivalent of Margrave and these words were titles of nobility. Actually there were plenty of other titles of nobility but they were only used to acknowledge the lineage of certain persons when necessary. Certainly our own human nobility titles were what led to surnames for all. For instance, Princess Diana was of the House of Spencer, a very common name amongst commoners of British ancestry. Even Durnik was called "Goodman" as a title of honor for a commoner. Certainly they would have their share of Smiths and Carpenters and Coopers and Shipwrights and Wainwrights etc.

But the truth of the matter is that Eddings really did not use surnames to any real extent in any of the Belgarion related books. I believe that this was done to make us, the readers, feel comfortable around our heroes, like we could have a cup of tea with Polgara or break some bread and quaff some Ale with Barak. This is put to good use in soap operas where mob bosses and District Attorneys are always referred to by their first names even by people who are supposedly their enemies. This is to make the viewer feel a kind of friendship for the bad guy or whatever. It's a common technique.

In any event I think Eddings did it on purpose and to good effect. I'm quite sure that if I ever got the chance to meet Garion I would feel I already knew him and would say "Hey Gar, how's it hangin?" Of course this would be before he became King Belgarion.

[Talysia]

Originally Posted by YeOldeWolf

Actually I remember reading Eddings say somewhere that the "Pol" in Polgara was the female equivalent of "Bel" for males. Not withstanding the fact that her sister was named Beldaran. However, we must remember that Polgara was a sorceress and Beldaran was a normal human. I believe therefore, that the "Bel" (meaning "beloved") meant she was the beloved of Belgarath and not Aldur. There were consistencies that flowed through the names of Belgarath's decendants most notably Daran and Geran. Both Geran and Garion are clearly derivative of "Garath" which was the old Wolf's name before he became the beloved of Aldur.

When I read the books, that's what I thought, too. Looking back at it, I'm finding little bits and pieces of information that I hadn't noticed before.

[YeOldeWolf]

Originally Posted by Talysia

When I read the books, that's what I thought, too. Looking back at it, I'm finding little bits and pieces of information that I hadn't noticed before.

I would love for you to elaborate, Talysia!