Bradaís Pledge trilogy has several terms that I based on Irish Gaelic. Based, mind you, so it’s not 100% accurate since I wanted to play with words and meanings. I would look up a Gaelic word, then maybe tweak it a little in order for the word to fit with my world.
Below you will find a list of those words and their meaning and how I came up with them in some cases. When I don’t give an explanation it means it was a pretty straightforward (ahem, boring) reason why I chose it!
- Aine — she’s a dryad from Tír D’aois, and Ryanne eventually named her fae power after her since she was able to shapeshift that power into Tír D’aois creatures, something that eventually will come handy.
- Bradaís — Immortal creatures created by Anord with black magic. Mean “pirates”.
- brocach — filthy. Thus “pirate brocach” means filthy pirate. Lovely fae, ain’t them?
- Cáilín – Child fae.
- Dannan-dubh — A race from Tír D’aois, made up of words like “giant” and “dark”. They’re highly resistant and have a long life span. Homkar belongs to this race: I was inspired by one of the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean so I always thought of that pirate when I wrote Homkar.
- Dragonwood — A special wood that comes from the Valley of the Dragons in Tír D’aois. There is a scene about this that I’ll share eventually.
- Daigh — Guards of the fae. The word comes from “flame”, something I picture when I think of their hair.
- Dorcha — Bradaís dark energy, the one they use to kill.
- Eadrom Caomhnóir— Guardians of the Hawthorne (book 2)
- Erlking — Resides over half the creatures in Tír D’aois. He’s the dark equivalent of the fae.
- Feihnum — A chord Ryanne listens to (more in Book 2).
- Mo tiarna — My lord.
- Nádhúrtha — Human-like beings that reside in Tír na Donna (the human realm). They are the fae equivalent, somehow (more in book 2)
- Pooka — A shapeshifter. Traditionally a pooka is seen as a dark, sleek horse with a long wild flowing mane and luminescent golden eyes.They have the power of human speech and when inclined make great sport of those they talk to as they like to embellish the truth.
- Préachta — Titus’s energy that is unfamiliar for him. He is constantly baffled when that energy takes him.
- Scáil Dragún. Titus’s ship. Is there a scene about how Titus obtains his ship? Oh why yes there is (to be shared eventually). This is inspired by “shadow” and “dragon”.
- Tír D’aois — The fae’s realm. Means Old Country. I had an Irish critique partner back in the day who helped me come up with a proper name for the fae’s kingdom and I loved this one. Pronounced Tir doisch.
- Tír na Donna — Human’s realm.
- Tír na Vraoichta — Darkness realm. Pronounced “vroishta”.
- Taigh — Where the fae dwell. Means “home”. Pronounced taigg.
Am I missing a term? Let me know!
