bugmaniacbob Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 So I was bored today and decided to find out why Kamui is now called Corrin/Karin/Korra rather than any of the eminently sensible names already dreamed up by countless authors of fanfiction... anyway, I think I've got a few reasonable theories, some more so than others, and I didn't see it being discussed anywhere, so... I thought I'd join up and start a discussion on it and see what other people thought. Um, hi, by the way. I had never heard anybody called "Corrin" before, but apparently it is derived from a French name, "Corin", which is in itself derived from the early Roman god Quirinus. This is an interesting name on 3 levels: 1. In terms of phonetics, compare "Quirinus" to "Qilin". Corrin is a Qilin - or a Quirin. Of course this being a Chinese beastie, phonetically speaking it should probably be pronounced "Chilin" - though according to Wikipedia it can be romanised through Japanese as "Kirin". Which is still pretty close. 2. In terms of mythology, while Quirinus was originally a Sabine god of war (thank you again, Wikipedia) he is most commonly used as a cult name for Janus - the two-faced god. You can probably see where this is going. Two faces, hence two branching paths. Represents the beginning and end of conflict, hence the war and peace themes in FE14. He's also the god of transitions, which could be interpreted several ways (from one side to the other? Your guess is as good as mine). Of course, he's also the god of doors. Make of that what you will. 3. In terms of literal meaning, Quirinus means "he who wields the spear". Which is irritating, because Corrin doesn't use a spear. Maybe it's a figurative spear? Does the choice of Yatogami vs. Ganglari (I'm presuming this is a thing, but I don't know much about the story so... meh) act as a symbol of the choice? Yeah this is stretching a bit, but still... Other meanings? Well, um... for the girls, there's always "Corinna". I believe this literally means "maiden", and is the main heroine (quote unquote) of Ovid's, um, erotic poetry anthology titled "Amores". Also from "Corrina's going a-maying" by Robert Herrick, which is rather more... outdoors. I'm tempted to dismiss this line entirely, but from the way the skinship thing is looking right now, Corrina doesn't actually seem that out of place. Finally, there's the old Norse Kori, from which Corey, Corrie, Korie etc. are derived, but I've no idea what the meaning of this is so... ah well. ----- Initially I thought that "Quirinus" was the likeliest choice given the whole Roman theme of Nohr combined with the localisation team's tinkering to find a way to make the name gender-neutral while simultaneously agreeable to the decadent Western capitalists, but then again, if Corrin is originally from Hoshido (and Garon didn't change his name after kidnapping him, for... some reason) then... I guess it should be in keeping with the Japanese theme-naming? Kamui aside, I couldn't find any popular Japanese names that sounded a heck of a lot like Corrin or Quirinus or even Kamui. However, based on a basic knowledge of the etymologies of Japanese Pokemon names, I know that "Kairyu" (i.e. Dragonite) means "Sea Dragon" (amongst a bazillion other things, obviously). Obviously Kairyu and Corrin are not cognate by any means, but it's still possible that this was an influence. Possible, but not likely. ----- I still think that "Corrin" is supposed to be a bastardisation of "Quirinus" for the purpose of an American audience, so I personally will be calling my first avatar "Quirinus"... or something along those lines. Would be interesting to see how the name is localised in other European countries with a stronger Latin influence on their languages, particularly French/Spanish/Italian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapier Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I confess that I'm from a country whose language has heavy Latin influences (we speak portuguese), yet I had never heard that name before. Maybe countries closer to France have fans who know. The second hypothesis seems accurate. I'll have to play the game to see it for myself, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onestep Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 The second hypothesis is good. You might want to add it to the Fire Emblem wiki. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamanoir Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) I confess that I'm from a country whose language has heavy Latin influences (we speak portuguese), yet I had never heard that name before. Maybe countries closer to France have fans who know. The second hypothesis seems accurate. I'll have to play the game to see it for myself, though. I never heard of Qurinus or Corin (Colin, however...) either. I've heard of Janus though... Interresting find anyway. Edited June 25, 2015 by Tamanoir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.