Princess, Washerwoman, Warrior, Goatherd: How Real are Your Characters?
By Juliet Marillier | July 12, 2023 |
In traditional storytelling, especially in fairy tales, the main characters often don’t have names. Instead they are referred to only by their roles: the tailor, the shepherdess, the knight, the princess, the giant. When a character does get a name, often it’s an emblematic sort of name, like Snow White (named for her skin as white as snow) or Rapunzel (named for the herb her mother stole from the witch’s garden.) Then there’s Prince Charming, named thus (I guess) because his parents assumed he’d grow up to be much admired, and would learn pretty court manners in preparation for the prince job. Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk) has a real name; but you’ll find quite a few different stories with a Jack in them, and he’s usually making mischief and/or getting into trouble, so that one may be emblematic as well – what about the Jack in a card deck, also known as the Knave? Generally those stories are not big on character development. We may have a dramatic change of circumstances: the goatherd slays the dragon and gets to wed the princess (too bad it she’s not keen on the idea); the tailor is kind to the elves and is given magical assistance as a reward. But an individual human journey that draws us in deeply? Generally not. Maybe fairy tale characters don’t need names.
Legends are different, being almost always associated with a particular location, a notable event that took place (or may have taken place) there, and a person or being: Robin Hood, William Tell, King Arthur. Each of those has some historical basis, but in the cases of Arthur and Robin, the old story has morphed over the years into an elaborate piece of (mostly) fantasy. For Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, this is largely down to a twelfth century Welsh cleric and writer, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and to a lesser extent to Chrétien de Troyes, a French writer of the same general period. There are many more such examples. The stories are grand, heroic, stirring, and often deeply romantic, and they’ve been retold and rewritten over and over right to the present day. The retellings and reworkings tend to reflect the culture and values of their time; the storyteller shapes the tale to resonate with its audience. Generally the original character names, or recognisable versions of them, remain.
Today’s writers, and fantasy writers in particular, have produced some ground-breaking work when re-interpreting well-known, and often well-loved, traditional stories. A case in point is Juliet E McKenna’s The Cleaving, published recently by Angry Robot (UK). In this compelling novel, the heroic trappings of the Arthurian story are stripped away, and we are confronted with the gritty reality of the time and culture through the eyes of the women in the tale. It’s a challenging read at times, especially for anyone who loves the pageantry and romanticism of the Arthurian legend. It’s also deeply rewarding. These characters are not the idealised figures of legend, but real individuals struggling to take back control of their lives and their world. We recognise their names—Ygraine, Morgana, Nimue, Guinevere—and because the Arthurian tale is so familiar to us, it hits us with striking force when these characters don’t adhere to the old story, or when the author’s vision of that story is so different from the old tale of chivalry and honour. McKenna shows us how little choice women in their situations would actually have had. The interaction between the workers of magic, Merlin and Nimue, is a particularly strong element in this novel. In the legend, Merlin’s intervention governs some key aspects of Arthur’s rise to the throne, and the author’s take on this is fascinating.
I’ve written before about some brilliant feminist reworkings of myths that have been published in recent years. From Claire North, we have Ithaca and House of Odysseus, the first two novels in a planned trilogy, The Songs of Penelope. Genevieve Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart is a wonderful reworking of Norse mythology with an unforgettable central character. The illustration for this post honours that Norse connection – I couldn’t resist the ravens. Gornichec’s new title, to be published this month, is The Weaver and the Witch Queen, described as a blend of Viking age history and myth. These two authors use the framework of myth, but their characters are fully fleshed individuals, real people whose journeys feel entirely authentic as we share them. For a highly original fairy tale reworking try Alix E Harrow’s Fractured Fables series, or Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
Times change, and stories change with them. We don’t often listen to someone telling a story these days. Audiobooks are great, but they lack the spontaneity of the tale told by the fireside, which can change in every single telling. If we tell a story, we usually do so in writing, and the stories we absorb generally come to us as in published form, whether it’s as print, e-book or audio. The exception, I guess, might be telling stories to small children rather than reading them. Keep doing this, folks, it’s a great bonding experience! Also, it’s good brain training when you have to make things up as you go.
Giving a character a name, for me, is the first step to creating a real individual on the page. For purposes of this post, I tried giving my current cast of characters names like those in old fairy tales: the Girl; the Goatherd (yes, there is one in my story); the Guard; the Adviser; the Ruler; the Bishop; the Commander. Sounds like the cast of an RPG or characters in a board game. These generic names may be accurate in describing each character’s role, except perhaps the Girl, so named because that’s what others call her in the story; her true role is complex. But that kind of name is inadequate for the three-dimenstional human beings I’m trying to create on the page, each of them with strengths and weaknesses, hopes and dreams, biases and hangups, fears and prejudices. Each of them with a personal journey to make. Instead I’d have to make some kind of list (note, it’s not in the same order as the roles listed above):
– A person with a perilous ability
– A person blind to the needs of others
– A person with a secret agenda
– A person who finds it impossible to tell a lie
– A person expert at twisting words to convey a particular message
– A person whose religious beliefs drive their every decision
– A person who believes the end justifies the means, however cruel those means may be
– A person who will do just about anything to salvage their reputation
The next step, of course, is getting inside the head of even the most misguided member of this lineup and understanding why they do what they do. Then crafting each journey. Does that character change along the way? Do they learn anything? Do they become wiser? And how does that come about? With those whose general outlook on life is similar to mine it’s not so difficult. With others it’s super-challenging. But worth it when the words flow and the true individual emerges like a butterfly from the chrysalis, a real person who has well and truly earned their name.
Writers, how well do you know your characters, both major and minor? How do you go about forming them? At what point in the writing process do they become real for you (so that you know subconsciously how they will react in any given situation?) Do their names play any part in the process of character development? Readers, feel free to recommend books that use traditional stories (fairy tale, myth, legend) from any culture AND have great characters.
Image credit:
Photo 23782673 © Andamanse | Dreamstime.com
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
My grandchildren are reading on their own now, but when they were smaller, we would sit on the floor and take turns making up stories. I was astonished by the twists and turns they could conjure up, and also by how many character names they would try out before one felt right. I realized that I do this, too. A name has to feel right as well as sound right. Jack connotes a ‘lad’ for me, a bad boy with charm. I chose Cassie for an MC because no one believes her wild stories. Louis Hadley-Grey is a the son of a wealthy dragon, but one with a gentle nature. Mrs. Burdie is a D’Anu spy who shape-shifts into a hawk. For me, names carry energy and color, especially the ones from myths and legends, which seem to have so been much more in touch with the nuances of our human nature. Thank you for this delightful post!
In my first three attempts at a novel, the main male character was always named Jack. I’ve thought about it, and I don’t know why.
I love those names, Susan! On the first page of my work in progress my central character talks about her own name: “a quiet name, like the whisper of a breeze through birch leaves” – a contrast to what most people call her, which is “Girl”. There are reasons for this. I have thought hard about naming this particular cast of characters.
Just want to point out that many of the names from the Greek myths have that fairytale quality you describe. Achilles is “The one who causes pain to his fighting force.” Hector is “defender.” (Gee, a bit on the nose?) Heracles is “Hera’s fame.” The name Kassandra (“excels among men”) seems to have gotten confused with Kessandra (“speaks solemnly among men”) when the verb *kens- dropped out of the language.
Most god names do not come from the Greek language, but the ones that are serm to be reasonably transparent. Zeus is “light of the bright sky.” Hestia is “hearth.” Persephone is the “lady of grain.” Hades is “the unseen.”
The same goes for place-names. Most are opaque, but Thermopylae is “the warm gates” and Marathon is “fennel place.”
Interesting, Linguist. Makes me wonder how many of my fellow writers look at the meanings of names before choosing them for characters. I look first at names that work for the time and culture of the story (while I write fantasy, I don’t set it in invented worlds, but in times and places close to real world history and geography.) Once I have a list of appropriate names, I choose what seems to suit a particular character. That part is more gut feeling than anything. But I certainly understand how personal names can arise from, or be built from, descriptions of a role or characteristic.
I enjoyed the YA trilogy Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, a blend of King Arthur’s round table at a southern U.S. university campus and Bree, a young Black woman, dealing with the unusual events surrounding her mother’s death.
For my story characters, I keep peeling deeper into their layers, which informs the story. I’m still a newbie at writing story so I’ve enjoyed the process of digging into the family of characters and the events they need to deal with.
Hi Juliet – I’ve long admired how Robin Hobb used names in her Realm of the Elderings series. To make characters named FitzChivalry, Prince Verity, Lady Patience, etc, feel like real, fleshed out characters (sort of forgetting their somewhat spoilery monikers) is a real feat.
My naming process is a bit varied, but I always try to root them in the cultures they represent. Vahldan went through a number of iterations, and was finally set in its current form due to a sign on a business… in Puerto Vallarta, of all places. Might seem like a bit of irony, but since the Goths ruled in what is now Spain for several centuries, perhaps not!
Thanks for the essay. Love hearing your process, and always anxious to read more of your storytelling. Hope the weather is being kind to you and the pooches!
Hi Vaughn, great to hear from you. Slow response from me as I’ve been travelling, and just got home tonight (July 13.) I take that same step as you, finding names that root characters in their time and culture (whether actually historical or quasi-historical.) After that I choose what sounds or looks or feels right for a particular character. I did have to invent some names for the Bridei Chronicles (set in the world of the Picts) because we know so few of their actual names. The Picts themselves left almost no written records. I had to reconstruct names by delving into the roots of the Pictish language, especially for the female characters. For the men I did at least have the Pictish king list, one of the few known documents. And there were a few actual historical characters in my series, including King Bridei himself.
Weather at home has been unusually cold by Perth standards, but I was just in FInland on a short but wonderful visit, enjoying forest walks on the very long northern summer days. Got home today – the furry people are happy to see me, though they have been very well looked after in my absence.
A fascinating topic. Retellings of fairy tales and myths tend to do exactly what you say, Juliet: Take simple characters and make them real. By “simple” I mean characters who are singular and represent some human quality, virtue or failing. Their representative names (“The Doubter”) are justified.
A retelling works against that reduction and makes such characters complex, or at least shows them in a new light; for instance, a feminist one. Your post celebrates that story intention and yet the qualities you look for in characters—“a person blind to the needs of others”, say—seems to argue for elevating in characters a singular quality, making them in part more representative versus more real?
I think your post touches on a tension in modern fiction. There is a desire to tear down traditional stories, to say “see, that’s wrong”. The way fairy tales and myths once told it needs revision. There’s more to a familiar story than we’ve allowed. On the other hand, the “simple” characters of fairy tale and myth have a durable power precisely because they distill something about human nature.
So, which is better? Characters who are not realistic in that they are heightened, singular and representative? Or characters who are real, complex and cannot be neatly boxed, especially when that box serves to contain and oppress? Go for Prince Charming or Prince Complicated?
There’s power in both directions. Our modern outlook is revisionist and yet we look backward—maybe even yearn—for the reductive power of the tales of old. Retellings give us old stories in a new light, and yet there’s no reason for the new light without the old story. I sometimes think that we modern readers and writers want it both ways, and I especially feel that tension in retellings.
Great insight as usual, Donald – thank you! I definitely didn’t intend to elevate one particular characteristic of those characters, so my list there was misleading. I try to make every character as three-dimensional and nuanced as I can. With the current cast I am enjoying delving into their complexity. What makes them tick? Are they capable of learning and changing, and how do they do it? Prince Complicated is more intriguing than Prince Charming any day!
For me a story begins with a character in a pickle. But it won’t go anywhere until he or she starts speaking, telling me how they got here, their hopes and dreams and fear. Bit by bit, they reveal themselves to me. They are very much flesh, blood and bone. The name is very important–sometimes it comes in a flash, sometimes it takes longer to discover.
Those ravens are magnificent! One of my favorite authors is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni–she has a wide range of stories and poems–and I really enjoy how she incorporates Indian folktales into her contemp. fiction. Conch Bearer is one of the best modern folktale/fantasy. Another favorite is Kathi Appelt and her book, The Underneath, is a true American folk tale. Beautifully written. And then there’s Kate diCamillo–I read everything she writes. Thank you for a beautiful post.
Thank you, Vijaya, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I’ll look up those recommendations. I do love Kate diCamillo, especially The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a favourite with the whole family. She’s particularly good with names.
Reposted this on my FB page. THANKS, Juliet. Even your beautiful name echoes. My comment: I think we often have instilled these famous tales so deeply in our subconscious (because after all there are only so many plots) that we find them in our stories, maybe in a modern disguise, but they are definitely there. THANKS, Juliet.
Hi Elizabeth. Your comment is spot on about our carrying the old tales in our subconscious, so it’s not only in the overt re-tellings that they pop up, but in all sorts of other writing. The oral storytelling tradition is all about helping us come to terms with real life challenges, the things that haunt us, inspire us, awake our curiosity and so on. Real life problems presented in the trappings of magic and wonder. I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
This one rang all sorts of bells, Juliet. I recognized those ravens right away. I’m hip deep in prep for a modern adventure that involves magical hoodoos from far in the past of Southern Asia and Celtic Britain. I’m trying very hard to make my characters behave like real modern people, but there’s all this weird stuff going on. It’s not me, it’s my muse: I have always liked stories that used history, myth or legend as the matrix for the plot: For Britain alone, you have Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “Mists of Avalon,” Anya Seton’s “Mistletoe and Sword,” Twain’s “Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” and Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code,” and I’m not even including the Science Fiction guys, like Roger Zelazny (“Lord of Light”) and Christopher Stasheff (“The Warlock in Spite of Himself.”)
All of these have great characters, but perhaps lacking a bit in the “three dimensional” or “personal journey” departments. Good fun, though.
Your work in progress sounds fascinating, Michael (and challenging to research and write!) A lot of the examples you give are novels I really enjoyed when younger (the Mary Stewart in particular.) I wonder what I would think of them now? World building is a significant part of fantasy writing, and many authors do it brilliantly. But for me as a reader and as a writer, the key to engagement with a story is a set of characters I care about, characters who become real on the page. If there’s great world building as well, it’s a double win. A recent example: The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.
I write hyper-realistic mainstream fiction, told from the pov of the characters, with no narrators or authorial intrusions, from ‘right behind the eyeballs’ of my main characters.
I create my characters originally by assigning them the characteristics I need them to represent – for the story. This is a useful feature of plotting with Dramatica, in that plot and characters BEGIN intertwined with theme.
And then I learn what I have done, how each of the ASSIGNED characteristics becomes a necessary part of that character, how it ‘must have’ developed, how it affects them and why they ended up being important for the story.
Picking the characteristics is obviously based on my original thoughts about who a character might be, but the human tendency to try to make sense of patterns (even when there IS NO PATTERN) is well known, and works very well when refining them. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of another writer doing this quite the same way.
My characters gave me their names from the get-go. One of them, Silver John, has three names. I didn’t know this when I first started writing him. I tried to change another character’s name. What a disaster that turned out to be. I finally caved and gave her back her name.
Alicia, that sounds like a super-scientific approach to character. I’d be interested to know if anyone else approaches their writing in a similar way. Perhaps using first person or immersive third person with characters taking chapters or sections in turn, and knowing the theme(s) from the start, would achieve the same sort of result? Asking with interest as I have in the past done just that!
This is a really great topic and so fascinating. It’s wonderful to see these stories come to life with deeper characters and psychology that flesh out the original stories and make them so much more meaningful and “juicy!” A couple of my favorite retellings are “Fire and Hemlock” by Diana Wynne Jones, “Beauty” by Sheri S. Tepper, pretty much all of Rosemary Sutcliffe’s works (not retellings, per se, but historical novels set in ancient to medieval Britain, all with complicated and compelling characters). More recently I’ve loved Madeline Miller’s “Circe,” Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy, and Vaishnavi Patel’s “Kaikeyi.”
My own work is most definitely influenced by fairy tales, myths and legends. Like many modern retellings, I’m trying to make my characters rich, complex, and imperfect. The world i’m setting them in is familiar but different and their hero’s quest is less about defeating the villain and winning the kingdom, but finding themselves and understanding their true potential. These are lofty goals and I’m not sure if I’m succeeding, but trying is fun :)
I also loved Rosemary Sutcliffe’s historical novels when I was younger, and more recently, was really impressed by ”Circe” – Madeline Miller’s novel truly brought the mythology to life as well as providing an imaginative new take on the story we know. Claire North’s ”Ithaca” is also a wonderful read with compelling characters.
I love this Juliet! I also LOVE those birds!!! #birdfan :)
Hi Juliet, welcome back safely and thank you for such a thought-provoking subject.
As a reader, would I be interested in characters with titles rather than names? Simply no. I feel that The Girl, The Bastard etc would immediately distance me from the narrative.
In my mind there’s a difference between name-calling and name-giving. Names (not titles) are bestowed by parents, guardians etc, thus there’s an immediate backstory, one of intimacy and meaning that invites a reader into the character’s life. Titles are generic and mean very little.
And that’s the point, isn’t it? Writers want the readers to be intimately involved with their characters’ journey. Bit hard when the narrative reads like a stage-script.
In respect of audiobooks, my experience has shown me that good narrators are effectively the bards of old. Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles (King Arthur) is read brilliantly by Jonathan Keeble. Keeble has become one of my favourite narrators because he has such dramatic gravitas and can elevate books to the almost-sublime. I am immediately and most intimately invested in all of the characters – male and female. It’s a real skill for a narrator to turn written word into spoken word successfully. Just my opinion…
Hi Prue and thanks for the insightful comments. Re audiobooks, I understand the power of a good narrator and what magic that person’s voice can evoke. My point was more that once the book is recorded, it’s set down in a particular way (those words, that narrator, that interpretation) and is not the same as a story told live. The audiobook is akin to a published print book or ebook, with the bonus of the narrator who provides added depth. A story passed on orally (perhaps alongside print, ebook and audio versions) is likely not only to change with every telling, but also to change markedly over the years, in keeping with the world of the listeners.
I certainly wasn’t trying to denigrate the value of audiobooks.
I wouldn’t use titles instead of names, unless I was trying to write something in the style of a traditional fairytale. I suspect my post needed a final paragraph in which I deduce that great characters can’t be classified (a) by giving them only fairytale-style titles as names or (b) by trying to sum up their character in a single line of description! That’s what happens when a person has to put a post up early because they will be away from internet access on the day it’s due to go live. Usually I’m tweaking my post right up until the last minute.
So excited to get a glimpse into your new series Juliet! thank you!
and those Ravens look a lot like Janus facing the Past and the Future!