I know it will be an unpopular opinion around these here parts, but I think J.R.R. Tolkien did a much better job.
With Joseph Smith, it's too easy that he's just straining his brain to come up with new names. Some are obviously ripped off from the Bible. Some are obvious examples of Joseph Smith playing around with names of people and places he knew around him.
There are a whole bunch of "Oli___" this and "Oli___" that and I'd bet that they're just riffs on Oliver.
Others just look like he took some random syllable and tried to milk it for as many variations as he could think of, like the following series:
Limhah Limher Limhi Land of Limnah...
I could easily add several with less than 10 minutes of thought. Here are just a few off the top of my head:
Limgash Limnihah Limgish on Onan Limtiklish Limburger Limpihah Limpendiken Limehahmagaritihah
HERE'S Joseph Smith's "AM" series of made-up names:
Amaleki Amalekites Amalickiah Amalickiahites Amaron Amgid Aminadab Aminadi Amlici Amlicites Ammah Ammaron Ammon Ammonihah, City of Ammonihah, Land of Ammonihahites Ammonites Ammoron Amnigaddah Amnihu Amnor [money] Amnor [spy] Amoron Amulek Amulon Amulon, Land of Amulonites
My favorite is "Amoron".
"Hi, I'm Amoron! Who are you? Are you Amoron too?"
Is anyone here impressed with Joseph Smith's made-up names? Most Mormons seem to be so impressed that they seem to think that no human could make up so many names without divine assistance.
What could you do with the "Am" prefix? Could you make up any names better than Joseph Smith done done it so good?
seem to provide an insight into what else was on his mind.
Some are a bit suggestive and lewd.
For example, at the conscious level he came up with Amalickiah --> coming from the subconscious "Imalickya all over". A possible window into the soul of a prophet?
Te An kum was the name of an indian village in Northwest Pennsyvlania in the 1700s. An interesting source of mormon names are Maps of the Northern Appalachian regions from the 1700s.
He also seemed to like adding -hah or -ah to other words
Amalickiah Ammah Amnigaddah (da vida?) Antionah Cumenihah Giddonah (two of them!) Gidgiddonah Gilgah Limhah Mahah Mathonihah Moronihah (2 of them as well) Mosiah Nephihah Nimrah Orihah Zedekiah Zerahemnah
Then there are things like Aha and Ahah Corihor and Korihor as well as Cohor Corianton, Coriantor, Coriantum (2), and Coriantumr (2) Esrom and Emron - was he the supplier of energy to the Nephites? Ethem and Ether Kish, Kumen, and Kishkumen Omer and Omner and Emer Cezoram and Seezoram and 3 Zorams and a Zeram as well as a Zeezrom Shiblom and Shiblon Shem, Shemnon, and Sherem Zerahemnah and Zarahemla. which are just variations on a theme
And the ones that are just weird Shiz (not to be confused with Shez)
for his failure to abide by the Lord's commandments concerning the small blue nodules of the manna of the new covenant, saying unto Limpendiken: "For did I not call upon you to partake of the blue nodules of manna, a gift I bestowed for your benefit, whereby thy loins and posterity would be blessed, and yet have you steadfastly refused. For the last time I call upon you to partake of that which I have given you with a promise that in your obedience your calling and erection shall be made certain, as you cling to the iron rod, and you will thenceforth be known by a new name, yea, even Ziffendiken."
I vaguely remember a series of books by Pat Bagley (any relation to Don Bagley?) my parents bought for us growing up, which were basically riffs on "Where's Waldo" with the central character a Nephite and in BoM settings. Anyone else remember those? It sticks in my mind that there was some play on the "-hah" ending, like his Lamanite pal or dog or something was named something-hah.
Edit: Looked it up; it was Norman the Nephite and his dog, Rover-hah. I wonder if he was deliberately making fun of JS.
Funny you should ask, I just finished re-reading The LOTR. Smith was MUCH better at names, JRR had better characterizations and plot, based—undoubtedly—by incorporating many myths. Frodo’s Boner.
valkyriequeen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My vote goes to Tolkien. He also made up languages > and maps in addition to names.
But of course! Tolkien was from my home city of Birmingham, England and the vast majority the features in his novels were based on Birmingham and its environs.
My aunt and uncle lived by the original twin towers.
to highlight the fact that generally outsiders (non-Mormons) are not impressed at all by the made-up names in the Book of Mormon.
For example, it appears that Joseph Smith was psychologically impacted by the names of two men in his real life, i.e. a guy named "Lemuel" to whom the Smith family had to pay rent and a guy named "Luman" a guy who dabbled in the occult and apparently had some influence on Joseph Smith. Many names in the Book of Mormon are apparently just variations derived from those names.
While the whole "am"+ "mor" series seem to be derived from Joseph Smith's fascination with williAM MORgan, the guy who was at the center of a huge political controversy in 1826 in Joseph Smith's area.
A few months ago, as a mental exercise, I tried thinking up names for stories I have yet to write. I had some ideas for gritty crime stories and wanted names no one was likely to have so I wouldn't need to worry about defaming anyone. I came up with over 150 names in a couple of hours. Some samples: