[ Models | Lore | Sources | Inspiration ]
With a rich background stretching back decades in time, the various Warhammer games contain a vast array of names (of people, places, items, and so on). Many of these names are original, but some happen to have a meaning in the real world, as obscure terms, foreign words, or cultural references. This page lists some of these underlying etymologies for your edification. Note that some of these are best guesses (speculative fan theory) rather than confirmed derivations.
Where a name is followed by the symbol ¹, if you hover over or click on that symbol you will see when that name was first mentioned in a publication.
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ave Dominus Nox | Latin ave, "hail" + dominus, "lord", + nox "night". This gives the Dog Latin meaning, "hail, Night Lord". Correct Latin would be ave domine noctis ("lord" needs to be in the vocative when being addressed directly, and "night" needs to be in the genitive to give "lord of the night" or Night Lord). When addressing multiple Night Lords, one should say ave domini noctis. [WH40k Chaos NightLords] |
| Curze | See: Konrad Curze. [WH40k Chaos Primarch NightLords] |
| Konrad Curze | Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), a novelist whose work includes Heart of Darkness + Kurtz, a character from Heart of Darkness. [WH40k Chaos Primarch NightLords] |
| Nostramo | Nostromo (1904), a novel by Joseph Conrad. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System NightLords] |
| Inspiration | |
| Warhammer Setting | The Dark Tongue; Daemonic Names; Lexicon; Short Stories; Cut-ups; Cool Stuff |
| Art | Golden Demon; Nurglesque Music |
| Speculation | Chaos God Correspondence; Dark Heresy Backgrounds; Sevenfold Path; Sevenrot; Seven Deadly Sins |
| Real World References | Nergal in Mesopotamian History; Symbolism of Three Circles; Symbolism of Seven |
dedicated to the Pestilent Lord