The Bards of Luthiel discussion

Who have you told about Luthiel's Song today?

Well I have a funny story about this. I was at the library the other day when I recommended Luthiel's Song to someone browsing the fantasy section. I got this odd look and reply.

"Isn't the word Luthiel like Lucifer?" the lady asked.

Taken a little aback, I responded by saying "Well, no, Luthiel doesn't have anything to do with Lucifer. Lucifer is a name that means 'light bearer.' And Lucifer was an angel who lead a revolt against God."

I went on to explain that Luthiel is an old word that means 'one for good' in German. But that in the story means 'water through stone.' In general, this is a symbol of life and goodness and though Luthiel rebells against unjust laws in order to save her sister, Lucifer, in the old myth, rebelled against the very spirit of benevolence in the world.

The person narrowed her eyes and looked at me, then walked away. A little discouraged, I was about to put the book down when a girl, about age thirteen, walked up to me and asked me to tell her more about Luthiel.

It's one of those things you never think will happen. But it seems we have a bit of bigotry to deal with when it comes to spreading word about our favorite heroine.

Fair fortune to you all, but beware the narrow minded!

Just did a search on this and look what I found??

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/...

Seems someone wanted to name their child Luthiel and then a bunch of crazies jumped on her and compared the name to Lucifer.

Scare tactics? Is life imitating art?

The people who posted that thing about Luthiel being Lucifer are idiots. Sometimes I swear I'm living in mideval times. Some people should just get a brain.

As a Wikka, I get this kind of stuff now and then. Often it's more just people who think they can somehow save my soul by trying to scare me away from my beliefs.

In my opinion, it's spiritual blackmail.

Blah! We should go out and post the right information about Luthiel on Wikipedia or something!

Ah well, that's a dirty trick. I'm a Christian but I never was a great friend of fear mongering. People are who they are and it's often a waste of time to try changing them. You catch more flies with sugar in any case.

But it can't hurt to tell the truth about Luthiel. A great character and a good example. Life's not so simple as just black and white. Luthiel spreads that message very well.

Luthiel? Is that like Lucy Lu? Lucite?Lucrative? Lucubrate? Luggage? Lugnut? Lugubrius?-Good word, but ah, no. Luthiel and lucifer have L And U in common, are these people literate? Ludricrous.

Beth --

You're absolutely right! It is Ludicrous. Even when looking at the language origins it doesn't make sense. Luce is latin for light so Lucifer is light bearer. It would even be a corruption to say that Luth is equivalent to light. But even so Luthiel would translate to angel of light rather than light bearer.

One other point and I think this one is poetic -- Luth is translated to mean Lute in French. So the fact that Luthiel's magic comes from song, I think, is a bit profound.

I loved this book! I've told all my friends and family. Off to invite people to join! What a great idea!

LOL! Rumor control. Well I went and voted for LS on some lists here :). Some people at my church read the book after I recommended it and loved it.