Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-30303386-20180109005221/@comment-26149161-20180109025154

Yeah, I intentionally avoided these names. I feel like it fits not at all with the style of the story for three reasons.

1: The Lord of the Rings uses mainly Anglo-Saxon-based words. In fact, it is relatively rare to see even a word of French or Latin origin compared to the mainly Germanic words Tolkien used. Using these foreign, primary-world (non-Tolkienian) names is stylistically jarring.

2: These names are very well-known in today's culture. "Sultan" and "Kh(ag)an" instantly evoke the Muslim and Mongol empires. That isn't something that a name should do in Lord of the Rings.

3: We need to remember that the Rhunic peoples are not Mongolians or Arabs. These names confuse people, and lead to some believing that "Saladin" or "Genghis" are acceptable RP names for characters on servers.

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lómë)