Had this fight long time ago that never got resolved
What do you think?
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I thought this argument was finished a long time ago: it rhymes with "bow".
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It rhymes with cow.
Yeah, the official word is that it rhymes with "Cow."
I always thought it would sound more mysterious (and less comical) if it rhymed with "Snow." But they never asked me. :-(
In my head, it has always rhymed with "cow."
My group has always rhymed it with Crow. Sounds better that way.
In the Gauntlegrym book, Salvatores 'Dwarf poet' rhymed it the 'other' way....
Soooo I think it's OFFICIALLY like 'cow'... but those who go Crow are in good company ;)
Beleve it or not i go both ways (on this issue)
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It rhymes with cow. It goes back to the ancient days when the first drow made fun of how easy it was to sneak up on the stupid day elves. "This guy was standing there going derrrrrr duhhhhhh. Then in the middle of a derrrrrr I stab him in the back and he goes derrrrowww. The other day elves thought that was my name. Stupid day elves."
So to this day they call themselves drow to make fun of the stupid day elves.
Gary Gygax who invented them prononced the like row "row your boat"
The correct answer is "dark elf."
When I was a little kid, I said it as rhyming with cow. At some point, something I read or heard made me change my mind and I specifically re-trained myself to say it as rhyming with crow. Personally, I think the crow way sounds better. But most of the time, I'm just going to say dark elf, or "svartalf" in my Norse-inspired settings.
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We have always said it rhyming with crow, go etc. The other way sounds odd to my ears.
FYI, when I was a kid I went to a week-long D&D summer camp (yes, you heard me right :) and the one year Frank Mentzer from TSR was the guest of honor. He pronounced it the same way we did (rhyming with crow, go etc. in other words)
I actually asked him about it and he said even within TSR it gets pronounced both ways.
I think the answer really is that both are correct.
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According to Wizards of the Coast, it is pronounced to rhyme with how/now/brown/cow.
Source: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_FAQ.asp - Scroll down to the section titled "How do you pronounce...?", which also includes other controversial terms such as "bulette" and "sahuagin."
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I always went with the 'how now brown cow' pronounciation as well. I think the original source word, trow, is pronounced 'troh' 'though.
I like that there's more confusion over how to pronounce Drow than there is on how to pronounce Tzimisce. :)
I like that there's more confusion over how to pronounce Drow than there is on how to pronounce Tzimisce. :)
I played Vampire for years and never once questioned that one. I honestly can't even come up with a second way to say it. Now I'm curious--what's the debate between?
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I like that there's more confusion over how to pronounce Drow than there is on how to pronounce Tzimisce. :)I played Vampire for years and never once questioned that one. I honestly can't even come up with a second way to say it. Now I'm curious--what's the debate between?
When WW published a list of ways to pronounce it (I don't remember in which book...), they listed both 'zim-iss' and 'sham-i-say' are options, for some reason. I don't think anyone I gamed or LARPed with went with 'sham-i-say.' It was always 'zim-iss.'
When WW published a list of ways to pronounce it (I don't remember in which book...), they listed both 'zim-iss' and 'sham-i-say' are options, for some reason. I don't think anyone I gamed or LARPed with went with 'sham-i-say.' It was always 'zim-iss.'
I find both of those crazy sounding. I've always read it as...er, I have no idea how to get across the subtle "t" in front of the z in type here, but: tzih-MEE-see
According to Wizards of the Coast, it is pronounced to rhyme with how/now/brown/cow.
Source: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_FAQ.asp - Scroll down to the section titled "How do you pronounce...?", which also includes other controversial terms such as "bulette" and "sahuagin."
Most of those are right, but I wouldn't take it as gospel -- for example, as I understand it, "Geas" is pronounced more like "gesh" in the original Gaelic. I always figured "Drow" rhymes with "grow".
I've been pronouncing it to rhyme with "now" for about thirty years, but this thread has managed to confuse the issue for me! As someone intimated upthread, I'm pretty sure Bob Salvatore pronounces it to rhyme with "now" and sources seem conflicted about whether Gary Gygax had a firm opinion. There's a lot about the creation of the drow that would give a philologist pause, I think, not just the pronunciation.
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Most of those are right, but I wouldn't take it as gospel -- for example, as I understand it, "Geas" is pronounced more like "gesh" in the original Gaelic.
But we're speaking English, not Gaelic.
Jim Ward and Skip Williams pronounce it like "how now brown cow," and they were in Gygax's campaign.
How do you pronounce Salvatore? How about Gygax? ;)
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It's always been "cow" for us, and it never really occurred to me that it could be pronounced another way until somewhere else on this forum I came across that question. Thanks for the link, by the way, DeathQuaker!
Also, yes, originally, in the Gaelic, it was more like "Gesh", from all I've seen. Also, the reason it would be "trow" as in "troh" in the original is that it's very closely related with "troll" as in the monster with the long "o" sound in its name. Originally, it seems, the drow were related to the trow myths, which were troll myths... which were related to the dwarf myths of the Norse.
So obviously, "drow" should be pronounced "duergar".
I prefer the rhymes with cow version, but I like Toz's comment above about them chaotically using different pronunciations.
I can see house wars worse that the edition wars about how the race name should be pronounced.
I've always pronounced it to rhyme with "cow," probably because "drow" is spelled close to "drowsy," "drought," and "drown." The probable origin of the word, "trow" (a Shetland/Orkney troll or fairy), I've never heard anyone say, but the "trow/trou" in English words like "trowel" and "trousers" have the "au" sound.
(And maybe I'm too hung up with pronouncing every letter, but when I saw "Tzimisce," I tried to say it out loud as "tsi-MIS-kay.")
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Actually, it's spelled "Drow," but it's pronounced "Throat Warbler Mangrove."
My group has always rhymed it with Crow. Sounds better that way.
In the Gauntlegrym book, Salvatores 'Dwarf poet' rhymed it the 'other' way....
Soooo I think it's OFFICIALLY like 'cow'... but those who go Crow are in good company ;)
I have a hard time regarding Salvatore as a reliable reference for anything other than Drizzt's longwinded journal entries regarding conflicting thoughts over whether he likes the color blue.
The first group I played with rhymed it with cow. I rhymed it with crow mainly because those guys were often wrong about things. In time I came to really like the crow pronunciation. Then I got a group going with two guys who made relentless fun of the way I said it.
I rhyme it with cow most of the time now, just to make the nutjobs happy, but I still prefer crow.
Incidentally, for those who feel tempted to link the word with ancient Norse myth describing dark elves, it has no connection to those tales. Well, the creatures themselves do, but the name doesn't. I remember reading a fairly reliable article wherein it was revealed Gygax simply turned the word "word" around to create the name. That story was repeated later by other designers and people in the know.
Don't ask me to cite sources, it has simply been too long. But read it, I did.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I pronounced it the how now brown cow way.
In part because the first time we encountered them in game it was by an underground river and some smart @$$ blurted out "Drow drow drow your boat, gently down the stream!"
If Homer Simpson was a dark elf, it would be pronounced Dr'oh!
Tzimisce aside.
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I pronounced it the how now brown cow way.
In part because the first time we encountered them in game it was by an underground river and some smart @$$ blurted out "Drow drow drow your boat, gently down the stream!"
If Homer Simpson was a dark elf, it would be pronounced Dr'oh!
Tzimisce aside.
** spoiler omitted **
Oh, the Three Bears vampires.
If you use "ze offishul" pronunciation of Tzimisce, it sounds like you would say "Three Bears" in Polish.
Hence, Three Bears came with their szlachta and broke our party. No wonders it's hard to take Sabbat seriously.
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I pronounced it the how now brown cow way.
In part because the first time we encountered them in game it was by an underground river and some smart @$$ blurted out "Drow drow drow your boat, gently down the stream!"
If Homer Simpson was a dark elf, it would be pronounced Dr'oh!
Tzimisce aside.
** spoiler omitted **Oh, the Three Bears vampires.
If you use "ze offishul" pronunciation of Tzimisce, it sounds like you would say "Three Bears" in Polish.
Hence, Three Bears came with their szlachta and broke our party. No wonders it's hard to take Sabbat seriously.
Yeah, I've always pronounced it "Tzimisce" instead of whatever horrible utterings people across the pond call out, but the bear thing sort of draws attention. I wonder if the name was originally a designer's private joke.
Then again, some of the Ulfen place names and personal names have me in stitches. "Kopparberget" works fine, but what should I make of "Aldigheart" or "Bildt"? Better ask "Tege" :D
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I pronounced it the how now brown cow way.
In part because the first time we encountered them in game it was by an underground river and some smart @$$ blurted out "Drow drow drow your boat, gently down the stream!"
If Homer Simpson was a dark elf, it would be pronounced Dr'oh!
Tzimisce aside.
** spoiler omitted **Oh, the Three Bears vampires.
If you use "ze offishul" pronunciation of Tzimisce, it sounds like you would say "Three Bears" in Polish.
Hence, Three Bears came with their szlachta and broke our party. No wonders it's hard to take Sabbat seriously.
Yeah, I've always pronounced it "Tzimisce" instead of whatever horrible utterings people across the pond call out, but the bear thing sort of draws attention. I wonder if the name was originally a designer's private joke.
Then again, some of the Ulfen place names and personal names have me in stitches. "Kopparberget" works fine, but what should I make of "Aldigheart" or "Bildt"? Better ask "Tege" :D
Don't get me started on jadwigas. Oh please don't. :)
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I pronounced it the how now brown cow way.
In part because the first time we encountered them in game it was by an underground river and some smart @$$ blurted out "Drow drow drow your boat, gently down the stream!"
If Homer Simpson was a dark elf, it would be pronounced Dr'oh!
Tzimisce aside.
** spoiler omitted **Oh, the Three Bears vampires.
If you use "ze offishul" pronunciation of Tzimisce, it sounds like you would say "Three Bears" in Polish.
Hence, Three Bears came with their szlachta and broke our party. No wonders it's hard to take Sabbat seriously.
I didn't know Vampires were that into porridge.
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Rhymes with now
Williams, Skip. "Sage Advice" Dragon #142 (TSR, 1989)
WOTC FAQ
How do you pronounce...?Here are some commonly mispronounced words and their dictionary pronunciations where they are available and common-practice pronunciations or TSR rulings where they not. For more general pronunciation help, see the article "Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd" by Frank Mentzer in Dragon #93 (Jan. 1985). For help pronouncing words and names specific to the Forgotten Realms setting, see the Forgotten Realms box and the trilogy of Forgotten Realms deity books. For help pronouncing the names of the various tanar'ri and baatezu types, see MC8 Outer Planes Appendix.
Aarakocra: a-rah-KO-krah
Arquebus: AR-keh-bus
Baatezu: bay-AH-teh-zu or BAH-teh-zu
Bardiche: bar-DEESH
Bulette: boo-LAY
Catoblepus: kuht-OH-bleh-puhs, also kah-TA-ble-pus
Chatkcha: CHAT-k-cha (thri-kreen throwing weapon)
Chimera: ky-MAEE-ruh, or ky-MAIR-ruh (rhymes with "care of")
Chitin: KITE-in
Cuirass: KWEE-rass
Drow: DRAU (as in drowsy; rhymes with now and how)
Dweomer: DWEH-mer (rhymes with "hem her"), or DWIH-mer; sometimes DWEE-mer
Falchion: FAL-chun
Geas: GEE-ass, or GYASS (both with a hard "g")
Gygax: GY-gaks
Halberd: HAL-berd, (not HAL-bread)
Herb: ERB
Ioun: EYE-oon
Iuz: YOOZ or EE-uz
Ixitxachitl: iks-it-ZATCH-i-til or ik-zit-zah-chih-tull
Lich: LITCH (as in ditch), *not* LIKE or LICK
Lycanthrope: LY-kun-throhp, LY-kan-throhp (like lichen rope/my tan rope)
Lycanthropy: ly-KAN-thruh-pee
Mage: MAGE (as in age), *not* MADGE (as in badger)
Melee: MAY-lay
Otyugh: AHT-yuhg
Sahuagin: sah-HWAH-gin
Scythe: syth (rhymes with tithe)
Svirfneblin: svirf-NEB-lin
Tanar'ri: tah-NAHR-ree
Tarrasque: tah-RASK
THAC0: either THAK-oh, or THAKE-oh
Vargouille: var-GWEEL
Vrock: vrahk
Wyvern: WIH-vern (as in did learn), or WHY-vern
Zaknafein: zack-NAY-fee-in
So, it does depend on where the race resides.
Greyhawk = row/crow
Forgotten Realms = cow/now/how
Golarion = bow (or however your House Mother chooses to say it)