I am often a bit behind because I never seem to wake up early enough to see the start of the ELOTR course, and normally have to leave for work before the live course is through. But I do watch. Last week there were some questions about the Finnish language and culture.
I'm not a Finn, but I live here and have been studying the language and culture for a bit. A quick pronunciation guide:
a= as in Father
ä= as in cat (back of throat a)
u= as in full
y= French U, but shorter. Not a sound used often in English (back of throat u)
J= English Y sound
o=as in top
ö=vowel sound as in fur
Lke Chaucer´s English, if you want a longer sound, double the vowel.
So that chieftains name, Yrjala, would be close to UR-yala.
Also, the emphasis is always, always, on the first syllable of a word. HELsinki vice HelSINki.
I'm not that familiar with Sami culture, which may be what the Lossoth are based on. I did note the presence of the knife, which is a very traditional Finnish item from the Ostrobothnian region. There, it is called a puukko.
I toyed with the thought that the banners and contested regions may be linked to areas in Finland that were ceded to Russia after the Second World War, but haven't been able to look at that idea too closely. The idea came to me because Finland lost its arctic coast to the Soviet Union, and that little patch of coast (where the sea monster/ship is located) is contested.
I'm not a Finn, but I live here and have been studying the language and culture for a bit. A quick pronunciation guide:
a= as in Father
ä= as in cat (back of throat a)
u= as in full
y= French U, but shorter. Not a sound used often in English (back of throat u)
J= English Y sound
o=as in top
ö=vowel sound as in fur
Lke Chaucer´s English, if you want a longer sound, double the vowel.
So that chieftains name, Yrjala, would be close to UR-yala.
Also, the emphasis is always, always, on the first syllable of a word. HELsinki vice HelSINki.
I'm not that familiar with Sami culture, which may be what the Lossoth are based on. I did note the presence of the knife, which is a very traditional Finnish item from the Ostrobothnian region. There, it is called a puukko.
I toyed with the thought that the banners and contested regions may be linked to areas in Finland that were ceded to Russia after the Second World War, but haven't been able to look at that idea too closely. The idea came to me because Finland lost its arctic coast to the Soviet Union, and that little patch of coast (where the sea monster/ship is located) is contested.