I have added a new article about Laurania’s National Symbol – the Lauranian Eagle – and the country’s various flags to my Imagi-nations website.
It contains the same information covered by my blog entries of 6th September, 8th September, and 13th September, but has been re-written, re-ordered, and additional text and flag designs have been added.
It contains the same information covered by my blog entries of 6th September, 8th September, and 13th September, but has been re-written, re-ordered, and additional text and flag designs have been added.
Rich, self-consitent, original yet likely: very interesting, I stay tuned for future developments!
ReplyDeleteWith two Imagi-Nations, any interesting idea that could not be used for one -'slot' already taken, incompatibity with other elements- can be used for the other, nothing wasted. And with such a distance between Laurania and Opeland, even if along the centuries they happened to be members of opposite alliance, your two beloved brainchilds cannot be hereditary arch-enemies: you need a common border for that, or at least no more than a Channel in between...
I suspect that the early history of Opeland is shrouded in mystery down to the conversion to Christianism -which may have occured at a very late date? Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII had for sure a great impact on Opeland, in their times?
What is the tongue spoken in Laurania? A member of the Slavic family as in many countries in the area, or -given the blatant 'Romanised' culture- Rumanian as "locally evolved Latin"? Given the use of the Latin alphabet I doubt Laurania would use Greek, or a derivative, as part of any Eastern Roman / Byzantine heritage? But It may be in the novel...
Now, if I may dare... what about labelling (it can be done a posteriori under the 'edit posts' utility') with e.g. 'Imagination' ALL your posts devoted to Laurania AND Opeland, your two fictional countries. I know, I'm a freaky fanatic of easy, sure, exhaustive information retrieval: don't think of your blog as 'ephemeral'. Think of the newcomers who will discover it in years to come, when *huge*, and who will wish to explore and enjoy its riches: such labelling would be very 'explorer friendly'.
Cheers,
Jean-Louis
abdul666 (or should I call you Jean-Louis?),
ReplyDeleteI take it from your comments that you like what I have already written about Laurania!
You are right about having two (or more) imagi-nations; an idea is never wasted, even if it does not work for one country, it might work for another. I do foresee a time when the armies of both countries might fight on opposite sides in a war … or even as allies. Time (and my imagination) will tell.
Opeland is much more Nordic/Germanic is character, whereas Laurania is more Mediterranean in nature. The former speak a language that is similar to Anglo-Saxon whereas the latter speaks a language that has developed from Latin (rather as Romanian has). There is no clue in Churchill’s book except that many of the names used are similar to Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian names (with the occasional ‘Germanic’ name, usually for political agitators and extremists); hence my decision to use a Latinate language for Laurania.
You are right about using some imagi-nation labels, and I will add some as soon as possible.
All the best (and keep reading!),
Bob Cordery
PS. If you like reading about imagi-nations, have a look at the relevant sections of my Colonial Wargaming website. The sections you might like to read are Imaginary East Africa and Imaginary South Asia which I wrote, and Eric Knowles’s Madasahatta from which I got a lot of early inspiration!
Thanks, Bob -and indeed it's Jean-Louis!
ReplyDeleteJean-Louis,
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy reading those sections of my website that are about colonial imagi-nations.
I usually address people who leave comments about my blog entries by their 'tags' as I know that some of them like to remain anonymous. I will try to remember to address you by your proper name in future if that is all right with you.
All the best,
Bob