Drawmij: Honestly, how long did it take you?

[Ed_Laprade]

Up until a few years back when I read someone mention it on one of these very forums.

So...figure about 30 years or so into playing.

I knew about "Melf" several decades earlier though. Do I get bonus/make-up points for that?

Pretty much this, except that I learned about Melf the same way. But then, it never occurred to me to even look for hidden meanings in published character names.

 

[Crothian]

Not until someone mentioned it on EN World a number of years ago. We always had odd names for characters so I never thought the names had meaning.

 

[eryndel]

I guess I fall into the "up until today" camp so... about 34 years. Love the fact that there's more to learn, especially about the early years of gaming. Thanks!

 

[Henry]

Given Gary and his crew and their penchant for this sort of thing, I figured out a number of them (Yrag the Lord, Ring of Gax, ErElHei-CinLu, etc.) but to be honest Drawmij was the last one I figured out -- sometime in the late 90's, about 18 years or so after I started playing.



http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html

It's been a while since someone posted it, but the above link is a rundown of all of the "name puns" in early D&D and AD&D...

Gary also used to tell a story of how Rob Kuntz would force him to name all his PCs similarly - Rigby, Bigby, Zigby, Digby, etc.

And if you think that's bad, how about the Mad Archmage himself, Xagyg Yragernae? ("ernie Gary Gygax"?)

 

[TarionzCousin]

One of my friends bought Metamorphosis Alpha game. Someone pointed out "Drawmij" when they saw the name on the box.

http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html

It's been a while since someone posted it, but the above link is a rundown of all of the "name puns" in early D&D and AD&D....

That is a great resource. I never knew that Vecna was named after Jack Vance.

I can finally definitively say that I now know the alleged meaning of these crazy names:

Beek Gwenders of Croodle
Flerd Trantle
Fonkin Hoddypeak
Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter
Roaky Swerked

 

[Serendipity]

http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html

It's been a while since someone posted it, but the above link is a rundown of all of the "name puns" in early D&D and AD&D...

Beat me to it. Pretty much since I first ran across that list, oh several years ago now (maybe 2006-2008).

 

[Vaprak001]

I've kind of always recognised Drawmij, as when I first joined a group back in 1979 we all used our names backwards. It was quite the fashion at the time (Nitsuj and Nosaj ride to the rescue yet again etc)! However thanks to the great link from Henry above, I'm relieved to find that despite 35 years of pondering, it is confirmed that Mordenkainen wasn't an anagram of some sort after all!! * (*closest icon I could find to nervous twitch)

 

[MortalPlague]

Also put me in the 'just learned about it today' camp. Hah!

 

[MarkB]

Having mostly only got into D&D in the 3e era, and not really paid much attention to authors' names, I think the first time I'd even heard the name Jim Ward was in the context of someone pointing out the 'Drawmij' derivation. If I'd had to guess at the origins of those funny names in the spell lists, I'd probably have assumed that they were thematic to one or another early campaign setting.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Right up there with my barbarian Tem Ashlied.