Gryphendale, the first book in the Legends of Gryphendale series, was published in 2016. Since then, I have had many people try to correct the spelling of that title, which is also the name of the fairy world in my book. I have stubbornly fought back against this “correction.” My stubbornness has probably cost me sales to those who think this indicates that my books are full of spelling errors. So, it is time I explain why it is so crucial that Gryphendale is always spelled with an “e.”
1) It began in the mind of a little girl with dyslexia.
From the time I was a very little girl, I was fascinated with fairy tales. Right away I started inventing my own stories and even wrote one for a competition in 2nd grade. The problem was that my writing and spelling was terrible. I was not able to understand why writing was so hard for me until college. I had great ideas, but everyone only saw my errors. Once I learned how my brain worked and used spelling and grammar checkers, I was able to learn the art of creating fantasy fiction. Gryphendale is spelled the way the little girl part of me wanted it. It is a nod to my dyslexia.
2) The name of this fairy world is ancient.
Spelling was not standardized until only a few generations ago. Educated adults did have conventional ways of spelling most words, but things like old place names had many variants based on how they sounded verbally in regular usage by various accents. The place names changed over time as the pronunciation of them became lazy and mushed together. I have heard many ignorant people complain about the “errors” in old classic novels. These individuals do not realize that all the variations in spelling that they see were historically accepted as correct. Gryphendale should not be seen as a misspelling of “Gryphondale”, but as an ancient mashing of “Gryphon’s Inner Dale.” This place name described what it is, the Dale (Valley) inside of the earth belonging to the creator god, the Blue Gryphon.
3) Tolkien did it.
There are some writers today who just mash their hand down on the keyboard and combine random letters to form names. I have explicitly avoided this. For 95% of my books I use names of real plants, animals, and fairy creatures. For the things I have made up, I have tried to make them sound like something from the English language: Toble, bolerita, and… mmm I can’t think of anything else.
Because of the massive number of poorly written books on the market, it is hard for readers to give an author the benefit of the doubt. Many book are filled with misspellings and errors. I have been asked to review some of them. When readers are constantly faced with lazy proofreading, it is no wonder they are ready to call intentional oddities errors.
Tolkien invented languages for his book as well as fake etymologies. He had an amazing amount of education and knowledge behind what he did. At the same time, he created words from thin air because they sounded right. They were completely invented. Not a mash of letters, but words that sounded right and followed a set of invented rules that mimicked real language.
Gryphendale is my world. It was not going to be a world from literature, folklore, or any place on earth. I wanted it to have an invented name yet sound part of English. So why just one letter?
So when you say “Gryph-en-dale” it should sound different than “Gryph-on-dale.” I could have spelled it Giffindale, but that just looks difficult to read. So, like Tolkien, I wanted a name that sounded a certain way, intentionally.
4) Because that is just what the world is called.
I could just cave in to those who want me the change my world to Gryphondale just so I can get their sale. After six books and hundreds of copies sold, the world has its own identity now. It has a personality. Sure, some people do legally change their names as adults, but if it is a different name than who they had gone by, it marks a new chapter in their life. Some people don’t even realize in correspondence that it is the same person.
But it’s just one letter.
My name is Lara, but my whole life I had to deal with people calling me Laura. I have had people intentionally misspell my name because they thought Lara was spelled wrong. I have missed important emails because my first name is in my email address. Maybe I should give in and say my parents spelled my name wrong and have it legally changed.
Except they didn’t spell it wrong. They intentionally chose my name because it sounded pretty to them. It was the name from the movie and novel Dr. Zhivago. It was the name of Superman’s mom. It means victorious. It is my name. To change it would me to change me.
Gryphendale is the name of the world in my books.
It isn’t misspelled.
It isn’t going to change.
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