Hussain Aljamri asked Michael J. Sullivan:

Just out of curiosity... Where does the name 'Aquila' come from? I'm curious because it's an actual word in my language (Arabic). Another question: is there a link between Dahlgren in Riyria and Dahl Rhen in legends?

Michael J. Sullivan Hey Hussain, thanks for asking. Names of things, people, and places in my world come into being in a number of ways. I have a huge list that I'm constantly adding to and then when I'm writing about something new, I "pluck" from it. Some are related to the real world in some way. For instance, keenig (which was a derivation of "king" used by the Dhreg) is obviously from our world.

Many of my words (like Riyria) came from me stringing letters together in a way I found pleasing. I liked the "two groups of three, each starting with Ri.

Sometimes I use the "sound" that comes from my head and try to get letters that match. Gilarabryn falls into that category. Although the use of a y rather than an "i" is an indication it is of the "old speech" rather than a strictly human word.

In the case of Aquila, I ran across it when reading about astronomy and a constellation referred to as an eagle. I liked it (both from a sound and a spelling perspective so it went on my list and when I had to make a governmental body for the Fhrey it "caught my eye." No subtext about the "eagle" went into that decision. If anything, it sounded kinda Roman, and in some ways, the Aquila is like the senate in that time period.

As for Dahlgren, you are absolutely RIGHT! It's one of the Easter eggs between the two books. For those that don't read Riyria, it doesn't matter that the two are related, but for those that read both, they get a little extra prize in their Cracker Jack.

What does Aquila mean in Arabic?

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