Empire place names?

[WarbossKurgan]

Midden is still used in Scotland to mean a rubbish heap or tip.
I've read somewhere that Mordheim became Mortheim due to the unwanted meaning of Mordheim in French - but I can't find or remember what that meaning was.

I'm pretty sure that although most Latin and German names in Warhammer are made up they are researched at least a little and the meanings are usually intentional (if often a bit wrong!)

[Athelassan]

Have they actually stated that is where it came from? If not the name may simply be coincidence.

Yes. It was mentioned a couple of times in interviews (as was most of the stuff I referenced in my post above). I can't recall much else - it's possible there were more place names they mentioned too. Warpstone used to be (and still theoretically is for one more issue) good for that sort of thing.

[Arnizipal]

I've read somewhere that Mordheim became Mortheim due to the unwanted meaning of Mordheim in French - but I can't find or remember what that meaning was.

Mordheim doesn't sound French in the slightest

[Athelassan]

Maybe there was a typo and it was spelt merdheim in an early draft?

[Urgat]

Mordheim doesn't sound French in the slightest

I confirm that there's no such word in French, or anything close for that matter.

[Scalebug]

It was the german edition that got the name shifted to Mortheim, due to Mord meaning "murder" and german law having a multiple phonebook sized chapter on what you can and cannot have in entertainment aimed at children; in titles, imagery, content, etc...

[The bearded one]

Maybe there was a typo and it was spelt merdheim in an early draft?

hehe, oh you english

[TheDungen]

Well Stirland is the lands around the river Stir. my translation of stir comes from google translate, Stir translated from german to swedish becomes 'rör', with alternatively being 'rör om'. Which is the same as the english Stir. I know translate sucks at sentences but individual words is usually not wrong. Its pronounced with a soft S as opposed to the english Stir with a hard S.

and my guess for Drakwald was they had it as Darkwald but then relaised it wasnt very german so they made it drakwald.Its a play on the schwarzwald.

[WarbossKurgan]

It was the german edition that got the name shifted to Mortheim, due to Mord meaning "murder" and german law having a multiple phonebook sized chapter on what you can and cannot have in entertainment aimed at children; in titles, imagery, content, etc...

Ah - okay. German edition not French! It was my memory at fault. No wonder I couldn't find the story online!!

[mrtn]

The Bretonnian names are actually quite fun. They include Bordeleaux (Bordello), Quenelles (a dish from Lyon), Massif Orcal (Massif Central, but with orcs), Chimay (Belgian beer) and Rochefort (cheese). For what it's worth Couronne is also a billiard-like game I played as a kid.

[T10]

There is also the daemon Zahnarzt, a personal favourite of mine.

(Don't spoil it, guys!)

-T10

[Urgat]

They include Bordeleaux (Bordello)

Imho it's certainly more based on Bordeaux (a real city) mixed with a pun on "bord de l'eau" (riverside) then a word that doesn't exist in French and, upon googling, doesn't seem to mean anything in any other language either and is just a random last name (unless the one who made up the names was a big fan of the Bordello shoes )

[Athelassan]

It's a pun. Obviously the name is a play on Bordeaux but it's intentionally evocative of "bordello" (i.e. a brothel) - Bordelaux was then written as Bretonnia's "city of vice" in WFRP1 and subsequently. This was deliberate - the early WHF developers were very fond of puns.

Some of the Bretonnian names are great but some are a bit ho-hum. Lyonesse is obviously a pre-existing mythical place, and with Aquitaine and Carcassonne it's like they just stopped bothering. You could say the same about some of the Empire places of course, but the profile of the real towns the Empire places are named after tends to be lower.

[Arnizipal]

Imho it's certainly more based on Bordeaux (a real city) mixed with a pun on "bord de l'eau" (riverside) then a word that doesn't exist in French and, upon googling, doesn't seem to mean anything in any other language either and is just a random last name (unless the one who made up the names was a big fan of the Bordello shoes )

You must be the last innocent person on the internet
Wikipedia to the rescue!

[Craze_b0i]

Yeh alot of the Bretonnia names are just painfully obvious.

Moussilion I would guess is a hybrid of Montségur and Roussillon. The Bretonnian 'affair of the false grail' being based on a real life myth that the grail was hidden at Montségur.

[Urgat]

You must be the last innocent person on the internet
Wikipedia to the rescue!

Mmh, well, I thought it was that, as in French it's "bordel", that's why I googled it, but it didn't deliver, for once
Innocent, me

[stormblade]

There is also the daemon Zahnarzt, a personal favourite of mine.

(Don't spoil it, guys!)

-T10

Hehe, probably a khore daemon.

Yeh alot of the Bretonnia names are just painfully obvious.

Moussilion I would guess is a hybrid of Montségur and Roussillon. The Bretonnian 'affair of the false grail' being based on a real life myth that the grail was hidden at Montségur.

It always reminded me of the word masoleum, because you know, undead.