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Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:
Cpt. Uriel Ventris, of the Ultramarines 4th company.
Uriel is the 4th Archangel of Heaven in some religious teachings.

That's one I actually didn't know!

vorpal swords
now thats just plain Obvious!

http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

broodstar wrote:Land raider Crusader is a reference to one of the WW2 tanks named... wait for it....The Crusader.

1938 Nuffield Mechanisation and Aero A-16 Crusader

No it isnt.


Abaddon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaddon

Short: Angel of the Abyss.

I live in Dark angel town lol!!!!

Something about someone called the same name as the poet or the poet was born or something along that line.

So we have a Dark angel banner to bring to games day lol

Arjac the Space Wolf uses a hammer that he throws and comes back to him. Thor anyone?

The Eldar are named after Tolkien's elves. In the Silmarillion, the elves are named the Eldar, which apparently translates from the elven language as "Star People"

Yeah, I'd forgotten about that part.

These are obvious, but since I haven't seen anyone else post them:

Logan Grimnar = Odin
Arjac Rockfist = Thor
Lukas the Trickster = Loki
Ulrik the Slayer = Ullr
Heimdall = Heimdall (didn't even spell if differently)
Ragnar Blackmane = Baldr
Njall Stormcaller = Njorer

The 'Land' Raider and 'Land' Speeder being named after the techno-archaeologist Arkhan Land was also a nod to Edwin Land, who developed the "Land Camera" (aka the 'polaroid' camera).

I always thought there must be some reference in that name. Sounds vaguely familiar somehow.


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Gauss Weapons named (IRL too) after Carl Friedrich Gauss

New Necrons build on the theme with weapons named after Nikola Tesla

One of the reasons that 40k has such a rich fluff is that pretty much everything is shamelessly 'borrowed' from either popular culture or ancient history. It's on of the reasons it's so popular - they've created a universe where, if I want, I can fight my space-Redcoats against your space-Ninjas against Optimus Prime. If I want.

So, Kaspar Hauser in Prospero Burns is a reference to the old german story of Casper Hauser, a boy who doesn't know where he's from.
D'onne Ulanti, the Necromunda Special Character with the cone-bra is better known as Mad Donna (Madonna)

Shakespeare references are quite common. Someone has also mentioned that Prospero is the main character in The Tempest (and the homeworld of the Thousand Sons). He has a slave called Caliban (Dark Angels' homeworld). Macbeth was Thane of Cawdor, and Cawdor are a Necromundan House.

And of course, who can forget the Rainbow Warriors chapter, named after the Greenpeace ship sunk a few years before 40k was written...

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:Cpt. Uriel Ventris, of the Ultramarines 4th company.
Uriel is the 4th Archangel of Heaven in some religious teachings.

Dark Scipio wrote:Abaddon:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbaddonShort: Angel of the Abyss.

Religious ones are actually pretty common - try googling pretty much any Dark Angels name. Most of them are ancient Christian or Jewish references to demons, who are of course 'Fallen' angels....

Azrael - archangel of death
Asmodai - king of demons
Belial - prince of hell

etc etc

Flight of the Eisenstein. It mentions the ship is named after two acient Terrans,a scientist and a remembrancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthold_Eisenstein

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein

Satan is referred to as Sayten is the HH books.

Fulgrim comes from the latin word "Fulg" meaning pure. He started pure and had a "grim" end= Fulgrim.

Typhus is also a disease.

Angron has a Sparactus backstory,led galdiator revolt and made a last stand on the slopes of the mountain.

Ahriman is the name of the evil deity in the Zoroastrianism faith.

Zweischneid wrote:

I always thought there must be some reference in that name. Sounds vaguely familiar somehow.


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Damn. Beat me to it.

I haven't checked and maybe there aren't any actual real connections but if the Grey Knights aren't inspired by Opus Dei and the Inquisitors by Torquemada I'll eat my helm !

Ulrik the Slayer - "Ulrich" means Wolf in German.
Canis Wolfborn - "Canis" is the genus that contains wolves (Canis Lupus).
In Njal Stormcaller's fluff for Nightwing, it says he saved a blacksmith named Ulf Blackbrow. Ulf is, inevitably, Scandinavian for "Wolf".
Gunnar Red Moon (one of the Wolf Lords) - "Gunnar" means Warrior in Scandinavian.
Harald Deathwolf - "Harold" means "Leader of the Army." Harald Deathwolf is a Wolf Lord who leads an entire army.


I could be wrong, but Ragnar might well be a reference to this guy, a Norse king and champion.

Fenris is almost certainly a reference to Fenrir, a monstrous wolf.

Someone else pointed it out, but Lukas the Trickster is a reference to Loki, a trickster god in Norse mythology.

GW was fairly blatant about making wolfy names for the Space Wolves, to say the least.

Magpie wrote:I haven't checked and maybe there aren't any actual real connections but if the Grey Knights aren't inspired by Opus Dei and the Inquisitors by Torquemada I'll eat my helm !

I thought the Inquisition was just the Spanish Inquisition in space. With guns.

Sir Samuel Buca wrote:

I thought the Inquisition was just the Spanish Inquisition in space. With guns.

There's clearly a play on the Malleus Maleficarum in there.

And Ordo Hereticus has got to be The Crucible, with their Puritan hats and all


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Sir Samuel Buca wrote:

Magpie wrote:I haven't checked and maybe there aren't any actual real connections but if the Grey Knights aren't inspired by Opus Dei and the Inquisitors by Torquemada I'll eat my helm !

I thought the Inquisition was just the Spanish Inquisition in space. With guns.

HAHAAAAA nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition !

Yeh kinda but they mix in a whole heap of other stuff too

Hell, IIRC the Inquisitor in DoW 1 says "No one expects the Imperial Inquisition." every time he is selected...

IDK, but the Commissar in DoW2 says "Drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword" if you embark him into a Chimera.

The amount of references to classical greece/rome are simply staggering. Some may just be similar without meaning it to be so. Most of the "posh sounding" words are either direct or slightly altered latin. Authors in the HH series make frequent links to classical events/mythology to draw smilies from.

Corvus Pattern Mk 6 Power Armour was.named in honour of the Raven Guard Legion, Primarch was Corax.

Don't know if it counts but the latiny scientific name for a raven is Corvus Corax or Corax Corvus. Not sure which.

The entire Heresy and fall of Horus is a direct copy of the fall of Lucifer from Heaven and the war between Heaven and Hell where the Angels are Space Marines, hence them being referred to as Angels of Death.

Locclo wrote:Ulrik the Slayer - "Ulrich" means Wolf in German.
Canis Wolfborn - "Canis" is the genus that contains wolves (Canis Lupus).
In Njal Stormcaller's fluff for Nightwing, it says he saved a blacksmith named Ulf Blackbrow. Ulf is, inevitably, Scandinavian for "Wolf".
Gunnar Red Moon (one of the Wolf Lords) - "Gunnar" means Warrior in Scandinavian.
Harald Deathwolf - "Harold" means "Leader of the Army." Harald Deathwolf is a Wolf Lord who leads an entire army.


I could be wrong, but Ragnar might well be a reference to this guy, a Norse king and champion.

Fenris is almost certainly a reference to Fenrir, a monstrous wolf.

Someone else pointed it out, but Lukas the Trickster is a reference to Loki, a trickster god in Norse mythology.

GW was fairly blatant about making wolfy names for the Space Wolves, to say the least.

And yet you leave out Erik Morkai and Irnst the Wise. For shame.

Another good one here: Wazzdakka Gutsmek's base of operations is the planet Skalex VI

Deadshot wrote: Corvus Corax or Corax Corvus. Not sure which.

Corvus Corax the Common Raven I think you got it right , it does count

Ciaphas Cain and his aid, are just coppied characters from an older TV show.

All I can say is that GW's intellectual property court battles must be a hoot ! Working out who owns what must be quite a circus

Inquisitor Karamazov is from Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov"; it has a long chapter called "The Grand Inquisitor". Coteaz is Cortez.

Blood Angels have a lot to do with Hell:
Dante was a medieval poet who wrote about a descent into hell (if you've ever heard of the "seven circles of hell", this is where it's from).
Baal is a demon. Ditto for Astorath (Ashtaroth).
Mephiston is from Mephistopholes, an agent of the devil in "Faust".
Tyche was an Ancient Greek goddess.

And there's Prometheus, who gave fire to humans.

Dheneb wrote:
Baal is a demon

I thought he was a god of storms and destruction?

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:

Dheneb wrote:
Baal is a demon

I thought he was a god of storms and destruction?

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal: Baal means "master/lord", also a substitute for Hadad, god of rains and thunder.

But he was also a demon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal_(demon)