The Ugallu and The Invincible

[Heavy Arms]

So... specific thoughts for now:

Hebrew is a tough language for the Victorious. Torah traditions like to stress that victory (esp, in battle) is a linked more to piousness and dedication to serving. The entire book of Judges can be summed up as, "Jews are faithful to their covenant and listen to the warning of prophets, and they're victorious, but when they get lax about that religious stuff, their enemies gain victory over them." There's an obvious narrative message there, but it has a cultural impact on Hebrew and naming. If victory itself is a somewhat passive result of other things, heroic figures are associated with those other things.

A fairly on the nose example would be "gibborim" which in modern Hebrew is frequently translated as heroes. Though in the Torah/Biblical usage it's a bit more nuanced (the Nephilim and some wild animals were also described as such in the older meaning of "mighty"). Nimrod the hunter was described with this word for his prowess (way before Bugs Bunny's sarcastoc use of Nimrod completely changed how people think about the name).

So finding a god/hero/name that has some hook to it from a Hebrew source, is hard because it's most likely going to have a strong connotation towards one of the other Forsworn. Samson was one of the nazirim, and his victories (and loses) came from his keeping to his nazir vows, which fits in a bit more with The Plain or The Priests (even if Samson himself isn't a bad example of the Victorious' tendencies to overestimate themselves). The Shoftim in general, as judges in very different sense than the current meaning of the word judge, ranged a lot in terms of what made them victorious over their enemies (besides again, trying to guide the Israelites back into the service of their religion). They also highlight a preference for "clever" heroes over ones with lots of bravado that makes it hard to find a good Hebrew sourced fit for the Victorious as designed so far.

Now, if we're not being too picky, Nazirim could work simply because most people have no idea what being a nazir beyond the reason why Samson's hair is important,and Samson himself is a pretty good reference (also Simsonim would be weird sounding). The most famous nazir being a guy that bragged about how many enemies he could beat up with the jawbone of a donkey certainly has enough connections to have a good feel to it, it's saying something that that's probably one of the closest things you'll find.

[ArcaneArts]

So... specific thoughts for now:

Hebrew is a tough language for the Victorious. Torah traditions like to stress that victory (esp, in battle) is a linked more to piousness and dedication to serving. The entire book of Judges can be summed up as, "Jews are faithful to their covenant and listen to the warning of prophets, and they're victorious, but when they get lax about that religious stuff, their enemies gain victory over them." There's an obvious narrative message there, but it has a cultural impact on Hebrew and naming. If victory itself is a somewhat passive result of other things, heroic figures are associated with those other things.

A fairly on the nose example would be "gibborim" which in modern Hebrew is frequently translated as heroes. Though in the Torah/Biblical usage it's a bit more nuanced (the Nephilim and some wild animals were also described as such in the older meaning of "mighty"). Nimrod the hunter was described with this word for his prowess (way before Bugs Bunny's sarcastoc use of Nimrod completely changed how people think about the name).

So finding a god/hero/name that has some hook to it from a Hebrew source, is hard because it's most likely going to have a strong connotation towards one of the other Forsworn. Samson was one of the nazirim, and his victories (and loses) came from his keeping to his nazir vows, which fits in a bit more with The Plain or The Priests (even if Samson himself isn't a bad example of the Victorious' tendencies to overestimate themselves). The Shoftim in general, as judges in very different sense than the current meaning of the word judge, ranged a lot in terms of what made them victorious over their enemies (besides again, trying to guide the Israelites back into the service of their religion). They also highlight a preference for "clever" heroes over ones with lots of bravado that makes it hard to find a good Hebrew sourced fit for the Victorious as designed so far.

Now, if we're not being too picky, Nazirim could work simply because most people have no idea what being a nazir beyond the reason why Samson's hair is important,and Samson himself is a pretty good reference (also Simsonim would be weird sounding). The most famous nazir being a guy that bragged about how many enemies he could beat up with the jawbone of a donkey certainly has enough connections to have a good feel to it, it's saying something that that's probably one of the closest things you'll find.

I'm feeling the lean towards Nazirim, but it does lead to the question of nazir vows being a thing that's still in practice with Jewish communities. It's one thing to keep things in the family by pairing to Anakim through linguistic ties and all the benefits that come with that, but it's another to have a seventh of the main antagonist the line is inclined to take issue with be identified as a group of people taking on an elevated covenant in a community frequently demonized, and while my brief google-fu indicates they are still taken on to some degree, it's not giving quite a clear enough perspective on how prevalent it is.

Also, because I value your opinion a lot, even on not Jewish things, opinions on the rest? Names are fiddly things make handy distractions from Heroic Satiety Roadblocks, and more input helps to spin the knob.

[Heavy Arms]

Nazarites are very rare in modern Jewish practice, as many of the major Talmudic scholars disliked the practice as a form of extremism. It's also impossible to follow the Biblical vows because they require Temple sacrifices.. and there hasn't been a Temple for those in a very long time. Since the Rabbinic era never established a standard method of taking the vows that replaces those sacrifices (one of the reasons it became unpopular), anyone that chooses to take those vows has to accept that they're reconstructing a practice rather than continuing one.

The Nazirite vows are more strongly associated with Rastafarianism now. Though saying that I can see that don't necessarily fix any concerns in that direction.

I'll try to get to the other stuff, but focusing hasn't been going well the last few days (for me, which is bad enough anyway).

[ArcaneArts]

Nazarites are very rare in modern Jewish practice, as many of the major Talmudic scholars disliked the practice as a form of extremism. It's also impossible to follow the Biblical vows because they require Temple sacrifices.. and there hasn't been a Temple for those in a very long time. Since the Rabbinic era never established a standard method of taking the vows that replaces those sacrifices (one of the reasons it became unpopular), anyone that chooses to take those vows has to accept that they're reconstructing a practice rather than continuing one.

The Nazirite vows are more strongly associated with Rastafarianism now. Though saying that I can see that don't necessarily fix any concerns in that direction.

I'll try to get to the other stuff, but focusing hasn't been going well the last few days (for me, which is bad enough anyway).

Fair enough. Thanks much!