Booking through Thursday – Pet names

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Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme in which we answer a question about books or reading. Go over there and check out the other answers.

Solan GundersenThis week it’s about pets:

Do you have any pet that has a name inspired by your readings?
If not, what would you pick if you DID?
Do any of your friends have book-based names for their pets? (Or their children?)

Oh, yes. Our cat is named Solan Húrin, so there’s two literary references. Solan is after a feisty bird (an antropomorf magpie called Solan Gundersen) in a beloved Norwegian book series called Flåklypa Tidende by Kjell Aukrust. He’s also a movie and theater star. Kjell Aukrust described Solan Gundersen like this:  “He’s a morning bird, nonchalant, and was hatced in an aspen tree by the river Glomma. He’s an eternal optimist, always wearing felt slipper and a scarf, and isn’t too bothered by high moral standards.”….so basically he’s a bird shaped cat….  Húrin is from J.R.R. Tolkien and is the name Solan got from his breeders. We kept it of course.

Our old cat, beloved pet for almost 15 years, was named Shevek. He was named after the main character in Ursula K. Le Guin’s great and much awarded science fiction novel “The Dispossessed“.One of my favorite books.

I don’t think any of our friends have named their children after book characters, but some good friends named their cat Gulliver. I think Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift played a part in that particular decision.

Comments

Booking through Thursday – Pet names — 20 Comments

  4. cool! i awesome you live in norway? my great-grandfather was from there so i’d like to visit one day. also right now i am reading the snowman by jo nesbo, a norwegian author :)

  6. I really need to check out these books. I admit, I am not particularly familiar with books from other countries. However, I love the names! If these books are wonderful enough to name a book after, then definitely worth checking out. :)

    • I’m not sure that they would translate well, or if they are translated at all. Have to check it out.

  7. What a cute name for your cat, Shevek. I liked the sound of it. And Gulliver as well. Thanks for stopping by! :)

  13. I like the sound of those names, especially the second name for your cat of Hurin. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier and have a great weekend.

  15. See, everybody names their pets after Tolkien characters. It must be a “thing”. My two cats had common names. I was a kid when I named them and hadn’t even read what are now my favorite books at that point. Boots would have made an awesome Arwen or Eowyn.