1. Nicole J Merchant

    Nicole J Merchant New Member

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    To capitalize or to not capitalize?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Nicole J Merchant, Apr 25, 2017.

    Good morning!
    I am hoping I am posting this in the correct spot, and also hope that someone can help me. I know the capitalization rules, but with what I write, the become a bit muddled. I write Fantasy, and more specifically about the gods--so far both Greek and Norse.
    I've asked this question on Facebook and not gotten a lot of help, so I've kind of done my own thing when it comes to the races, species, etc. in my books. I know with fantasy it is more of a consistency thing than a rule thing as in meaning I can capitalize a species or not but keep it consistent like Elvin or elvin, Jackalope or jackalope...
    But, here is where I get mixed signals. I know God is capitalized in Christian religion because it is a name, and in mythology the gods or god, deities, guardians, etc. are not capitalized because they are not proper nouns or actual names of the god. It would be the god Zeus, not the God Zeus.
    But why is Titans capitalized? I get that they were a race of gods before the Olympians, but my thing is, if gods is not capitalized why would we capitalize titans?
    I've been told it can be either just like jackalope, demon, dwarf, elf, but then I am also seeing that it needs to be capitalized.
    Does it really matter? I guess I am not thinking if gods is important enough to capitalize why would any of the other species of animals or human-like beings be.
    Is it just a preference thing, or should I make every mythological being capitalized so it is consistent? God, Titans, Jacaklopes, Gorgons, Demons... you get the idea.
     
  2. Lew

    Lew Contributor Contributor

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    I think I would prefer species or races, subgroups, whatever be uncapitalized. Good question on the Titans, they seem to be an exception to the rule. God is capitalized in Christianity as a mark of respect, but that is a Christian convention.

    I did historical fiction, so unless I was referring to a specific god, it was not capitalized: the gods of the desert, this god-cursed ship. But the Tengri the Sky God of the Xiongnu, Ahura-Mazda of the Bactrian Zoroastrians, they got capitalized. One major character became a Christian right before he was killed, but a Jew in his traveling group was chosen to say the funeral prayer, since his "god" was the closest to the man's new god: the rest of the party were Romans, so I followed their conventions. The funeral oration the Jew picked was the Kadesh.
     
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  3. Nicole J Merchant

    Nicole J Merchant New Member

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    Thank you for your reply, and I agree, I like the species, subgroups, and all that uncapitalized. I have gorgons in my books, but I made them a species of many not just three sisters, and did not capitalize them, same with like minotaur and hydra... again species not talking about the specific one. If I was talking about the Minotaur, the actual only one--according to some myths--then yes, it would be capitalized. Titans I did not capitalize due to the same feelings on it. It is a species of gods from Gaia and Uranus, and if I do not capitalize primordial deity, or gods, then why titans.
    I just second guess myself constantly. It is nice to get some feedback.
     
  4. Lew

    Lew Contributor Contributor

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    Don't second guess yourself. Plunge ahead. If you make a mistake, you will fix it in the editing, not a problem.
     
  5. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    You've answered your own question and not even noticed.

    'Titans' are a race of gods, just like how the 'Olympians' are a race of gods.
     
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  6. Nicole J Merchant

    Nicole J Merchant New Member

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    So then, would Primordial deities be capitalized since they were before the Titans and Olympians, and could be taken as their own '"race"?
     
  7. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Yes. Think of it this way.

    Bob, The American.
    Frank, the Candian.
    Zeus, the Olympian.
    Cronos, the Titan.

    All of them is Capitalized; however, if we went this route:

    Bob, the human.
    Frank, the human.
    Zeus, the god.
    Cronos, the god.

    Suddenly they become uncapitalized. Do you see the difference?
     
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  8. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    But I don't think I'd capitalize "primordial", unless that's the name of the time period as opposed to a description of the time period...

    Like, I'd capitalize "the Bronze Age" but I wouldn't capitalize "the age with all the bronze". Proper noun vs. description

    So for "primordial"... I think you're describing something that happened near the beginning of time. But if there's an actual family of gods called the Primordials, then, yes, I'd consider it a proper noun and capitalize it.
     
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  9. Nicole J Merchant

    Nicole J Merchant New Member

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    Thank you both! That helps a lot! For primordial, it would be Gaia, one of the Primordial deities, blah blah blah. As in, she and the few others that came from Chaos, then she had the Titans and so on
     

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