How to use an ancient language in a novel

Anglo Saxon runes

This series of articles explains how to use an ancient language when writing a novel in modern English.

Anglo Saxon runes
Anglo Saxon runes

Why would any writer want to do this?

Why not just write the entire novel in modern English?

Here’s why.

Maybe you want to write about a character who is so proud of his/her heritage that he sometimes uses ancient words from that heritage.

If you live in the United States, you could have a Native American character, or an African American character, who is so proud of his heritage that he sometimes uses ancient words from that heritage.

If you live in Canada, you could have a character who is so proud of his Native Canadian heritage that he sometimes uses ancient words from that heritage.

If you live in Australia you could have a character who is so proud of his Aboriginal heritage that he sometimes uses ancient words from that heritage.

If you live in New Zealand you could have a character who is so proud of his Maori heritage that he sometimes uses ancient words from that heritage.

What other reasons are there for doing this?

It’s fine for these characters to feel proud of their heritages, but there has to be another reason for doing it.

You want to get something out of it, too!

After all, you’ve spent a certain amount of time to research these ancient languages, which is time that you could have spent writing.

Okay, here’s another reason.

I believe that it makes your characters more credible, more authentic, if you sometimes use words from the language of their heritage.

In the next article I’ll explain how I have sometimes used words from an ancient language to make a character more credible and authentic.

You might also enjoy:

How to use an ancient language in a novel part two

Author: Paul Gresham

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