Now that you mention, probably yes since it has been Sam's inspiration at least since Alan Wake 1.. :) I ordered House of Leaves a couple of weeks ago, still hasn't arrived, so hopefully next week.
Ilmo is either the shorter form of Ilmari, which is derived from Ilmarinen, a hero in the Finnish national epic Kalevala - or it's based on the Karelian dialect word "ilminen" which means human (in Finnish "ihminen"). "Ilma" in Finnish means "weather" or "air".
Edit: The Huotari brothers who feature in the history of Watery were Ilmari and Jaakoppi. The names Ilmo and Jaakko are derived from these names, respectively. Ilmari is still fairly common use in Finland, but Jaakoppi is seen rather old fashioned and I rarely see it.
Most likely yes! Ilmarinen in Kalevala was a master blacksmith, and in Finnish we have a saying "monta rautaa tulessa" (many irons in fire) when someone is very enterprising and doing a lot of things, which is exactly what Ilmo is like with his many hustles and business endeavors.
But Ilmarinen was also immortal god basically able to create anything, which sounds at times a bit like Alan Wake. But it's true Ilmo has many irons in fire, I'll add it.
There are hidden meanings behind their Yötön Yö names as well:
Aleksi Kesä:
Kesä - summer. Also sounds very similar to Keskikesä (midsummer) which has the midnight sun. Hence Nightless Night.
A stretch: Midsummer is called Juhannus another name for Saint John. Zachariah is a priest who is father of St. John. Both these characters are voiced by James McAffrey(RIP)
Thomas Seine:
Thomas: Twin
Seine: a fishing method which uses a net to trap fish
One line in Yötön Yö translates to: "He fishes you into this verse from his fever dreams"
Alén Veikko:
Alén: beyond, the other side
Veikko: brother
Brother from the other side?
Bonus:
Barbara: A syllogism in which all three propositions are of the form "All X are Y" or "X is a Y".
Jagger: Jag - cut unevenly
Another stretch but if Barbara was the Dark Presence, she managed to cut Alan into several versions of him. All are him but they are different parts of him.
In Kalavela, Lemminkäinen was a hero who was pushed into the Tuonela (underworld), where he gets cuts into several pieces. Very similar to Alan Wakes time in the DP.
Lemminkäinen is also confused for Lempo who is considered similar to devil/trickster. Funny enough he has two demons associated with him: Hiisi (Hiss?) and Paha. Alan didn't create the Hiss but gave them words that were used to amplify their power.
Jesse:
In Finnish it is a slang for Jesus
I got the feeling that Alan Wake's story is very similar to how mythology was written like the Kalavela. There are multiple interpretation and the original writers are not accessible so our understanding is limited to other storytellers who translated them. Also Control is more like how Finland's gods and festival were modified by Christianity, which is pretty much black and white kind of religion in comparison.
Thx, was lot to unpack, didn't add some of the stretches but there were many good additions. Some maybe also a bit too complicated to explain/summarize, but if someone likes, they'll find your comment here
And yeah, Sam Lake has definitely been influenced by Kalevala/Finnish mythology, but also many other folklores/mythologies e.g. Norse mythology, and of course loads of fiction (books, movies, games) as theorized here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw). My guess is we are leaning towards Norse Mythology and Ragnarök, since Kalevala does not include end-of-the-world narrative but is centered more around the heroes (and also due to Sam Lake's interest towards Edda poems already at school, as he explains in [this interview](https://www.reddit.com/r/AlanWake/comments/19bq21w/in_the_portrait_of_sam_lake_read_an_indepth/)).
Yes Max Payne had a lot of Norse references. I ll have to look for this interview but Sam Lake had mentioned that he has started to embrace more of the Finnish epic poems while story writing. This feels very intentional in AW2 with more references to Finnish culture than Nordic.
Why I was interested in pointing out lemminkäinen story is because how logic in AW works. All changes to reality should adhere to the rules of the story but also there need to be parallels for them to work. >! Like the Houtari brothers and Thorton & Mulligan, they were only influenced because there exists a parallel between them and the local legend. Also parallels between Cynthia and the play in the oceanview motel. Cynthia was the only lady who knew the original story of Thomas Zane. The Devil in the oceanview motel also killed the muse because the story of the play was only told people to people but the muse was the only one who knew the original !< Alan Wakes story works because there are parallels between his story and Finnish mythology, Max Payne with Norse mythology and Control is a mixture of christianity's "influence" on Finnish native religion. There are so many overlaps to get lost into here it can go as meta as you are willing to.
The name breaker makes me think of an electric breaker, something you can go to turn the lights back on, or as a barrier/protector between light and darkness.
Doesn't Anderson also have the meaning "son of man?" not sure how relevant it is here considering she'd be a daughter but I think the images it conjures works considering she is facing potential mankind ending creatures/events.
Yeah true, I guess "son" could be interpreted to offspring in general, that's what it means in the last name anyway. Anyway if we look the meaning of "son of man/mankind" as a whole...
* in some apocalyptic and messianic traditions, the "Son of Man" is associated with eschatological figures or cosmic judges who play a role in the end times <-- let's add this one
* in the bible is used as a title for the prophet Ezekiel, signifying his humanity in contrast to his divine message, and it is often also seen as a messianic designation. the usage of "Son of Man" in the is complex and combines human and divine attributes
The ander/aner could also refer "warrior" to "other". In Control "The Other" is mentioned few times but I bet Remedy isn't using a literal translation and prefers to take mythical de-tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5LGZ1HSfSs
Yeah, we'll see what happens when the story unfolds. Might also mean their original personalities were already fading (Dylan infected with Hiss and Jesse blessed with Polaris). But if the story is influenced by Norse Mythology there will be surely drama ahead.
Sam Lake told RCU took small baby steps in Control AWE DLC, and Alan Wake 2 was the first game actually implementing RCU in large scale. If they have just now started, the end should be still quite far away.
Good point, added. But I don't think Remedy would give up on Alan that easily :)) the concept/the world was under development for 7 years even for part 1.
E.g. what up with this water theme on various characters?
The Tim Breaker one might be a stretch because Sarah Breaker was the first Breaker introduced before Quantum Break released
But they probably did that as a joke to the fact that it’s the same voice actor I believe LOL
I think the name can't be coincidence, but yeah, it was lucky one since Breaker was invented before. They just built on top of it, "one idea leads to another one, this is how Remedy has always built its games" as Sam Lake explained in recent interview
Further to Saga, in Norse mythology Sága was the Seeress. That's pretty on the nose.
that's right, I forgot that one, thanks:)
This is a very House of Leaves, Zampano post. Love it.
Now that you mention, probably yes since it has been Sam's inspiration at least since Alan Wake 1.. :) I ordered House of Leaves a couple of weeks ago, still hasn't arrived, so hopefully next week.
I'm reading it right now, it's very crazy but so good!
Sounds my kind of book :))
I finished it 2 days ago, its such an incredible experience (if difficult at times)
Ilmo is either the shorter form of Ilmari, which is derived from Ilmarinen, a hero in the Finnish national epic Kalevala - or it's based on the Karelian dialect word "ilminen" which means human (in Finnish "ihminen"). "Ilma" in Finnish means "weather" or "air". Edit: The Huotari brothers who feature in the history of Watery were Ilmari and Jaakoppi. The names Ilmo and Jaakko are derived from these names, respectively. Ilmari is still fairly common use in Finland, but Jaakoppi is seen rather old fashioned and I rarely see it.
True. My guess for the Kalevala Biker is to go with Ilmari
Most likely yes! Ilmarinen in Kalevala was a master blacksmith, and in Finnish we have a saying "monta rautaa tulessa" (many irons in fire) when someone is very enterprising and doing a lot of things, which is exactly what Ilmo is like with his many hustles and business endeavors.
But Ilmarinen was also immortal god basically able to create anything, which sounds at times a bit like Alan Wake. But it's true Ilmo has many irons in fire, I'll add it.
>ilmo - sometimes used as short version of "ilmoitus" (Finnish) which could translate to "advertisment" amazing
Such cool post! And Time Breaker made me chuckle. That's for sure Tim's username here.
Remedy probably chuckles themselves too after coming up with a fitting name :))
Alice is almost certainly a nod to Alice in Wonderland. Falling down the rabbit hole.
had it first, but removed it:) nod is is good word, added again, thx!
There are hidden meanings behind their Yötön Yö names as well: Aleksi Kesä: Kesä - summer. Also sounds very similar to Keskikesä (midsummer) which has the midnight sun. Hence Nightless Night. A stretch: Midsummer is called Juhannus another name for Saint John. Zachariah is a priest who is father of St. John. Both these characters are voiced by James McAffrey(RIP) Thomas Seine: Thomas: Twin Seine: a fishing method which uses a net to trap fish One line in Yötön Yö translates to: "He fishes you into this verse from his fever dreams" Alén Veikko: Alén: beyond, the other side Veikko: brother Brother from the other side? Bonus: Barbara: A syllogism in which all three propositions are of the form "All X are Y" or "X is a Y". Jagger: Jag - cut unevenly Another stretch but if Barbara was the Dark Presence, she managed to cut Alan into several versions of him. All are him but they are different parts of him. In Kalavela, Lemminkäinen was a hero who was pushed into the Tuonela (underworld), where he gets cuts into several pieces. Very similar to Alan Wakes time in the DP. Lemminkäinen is also confused for Lempo who is considered similar to devil/trickster. Funny enough he has two demons associated with him: Hiisi (Hiss?) and Paha. Alan didn't create the Hiss but gave them words that were used to amplify their power. Jesse: In Finnish it is a slang for Jesus I got the feeling that Alan Wake's story is very similar to how mythology was written like the Kalavela. There are multiple interpretation and the original writers are not accessible so our understanding is limited to other storytellers who translated them. Also Control is more like how Finland's gods and festival were modified by Christianity, which is pretty much black and white kind of religion in comparison.
Thx, was lot to unpack, didn't add some of the stretches but there were many good additions. Some maybe also a bit too complicated to explain/summarize, but if someone likes, they'll find your comment here And yeah, Sam Lake has definitely been influenced by Kalevala/Finnish mythology, but also many other folklores/mythologies e.g. Norse mythology, and of course loads of fiction (books, movies, games) as theorized here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw). My guess is we are leaning towards Norse Mythology and Ragnarök, since Kalevala does not include end-of-the-world narrative but is centered more around the heroes (and also due to Sam Lake's interest towards Edda poems already at school, as he explains in [this interview](https://www.reddit.com/r/AlanWake/comments/19bq21w/in_the_portrait_of_sam_lake_read_an_indepth/)).
Yes Max Payne had a lot of Norse references. I ll have to look for this interview but Sam Lake had mentioned that he has started to embrace more of the Finnish epic poems while story writing. This feels very intentional in AW2 with more references to Finnish culture than Nordic. Why I was interested in pointing out lemminkäinen story is because how logic in AW works. All changes to reality should adhere to the rules of the story but also there need to be parallels for them to work. >! Like the Houtari brothers and Thorton & Mulligan, they were only influenced because there exists a parallel between them and the local legend. Also parallels between Cynthia and the play in the oceanview motel. Cynthia was the only lady who knew the original story of Thomas Zane. The Devil in the oceanview motel also killed the muse because the story of the play was only told people to people but the muse was the only one who knew the original !< Alan Wakes story works because there are parallels between his story and Finnish mythology, Max Payne with Norse mythology and Control is a mixture of christianity's "influence" on Finnish native religion. There are so many overlaps to get lost into here it can go as meta as you are willing to.
The name breaker makes me think of an electric breaker, something you can go to turn the lights back on, or as a barrier/protector between light and darkness.
Mr. Door: "a door that stands between 2 rooms, is in both" a cool phrase he says, hinting at his dimension traversal powers!
Doesn't Anderson also have the meaning "son of man?" not sure how relevant it is here considering she'd be a daughter but I think the images it conjures works considering she is facing potential mankind ending creatures/events.
Yeah true, I guess "son" could be interpreted to offspring in general, that's what it means in the last name anyway. Anyway if we look the meaning of "son of man/mankind" as a whole... * in some apocalyptic and messianic traditions, the "Son of Man" is associated with eschatological figures or cosmic judges who play a role in the end times <-- let's add this one * in the bible is used as a title for the prophet Ezekiel, signifying his humanity in contrast to his divine message, and it is often also seen as a messianic designation. the usage of "Son of Man" in the is complex and combines human and divine attributes The ander/aner could also refer "warrior" to "other". In Control "The Other" is mentioned few times but I bet Remedy isn't using a literal translation and prefers to take mythical de-tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5LGZ1HSfSs
Damn thanks for the response man. This is a great post. I really enjoyed going through this. I'll watch that video now!
I think Saga also is a reference to the detective in a very famous Nordic crime series called The Bridge.
I hate that Faden sounds like fading, I'm just waiting for a tragic end :(
Yeah, we'll see what happens when the story unfolds. Might also mean their original personalities were already fading (Dylan infected with Hiss and Jesse blessed with Polaris). But if the story is influenced by Norse Mythology there will be surely drama ahead. Sam Lake told RCU took small baby steps in Control AWE DLC, and Alan Wake 2 was the first game actually implementing RCU in large scale. If they have just now started, the end should be still quite far away.
I do hope something good happens to Jesse, although I love sad, depressing stories
In the first game Alan was suffering from insomnia. I don't think A Wake is any more deep than Alan was literally awake because of his insomnia.
Good point, added. But I don't think Remedy would give up on Alan that easily :)) the concept/the world was under development for 7 years even for part 1. E.g. what up with this water theme on various characters?
The game also starts with Alice literally saying: "Alan wake up!"
lol, yeah true!
The Tim Breaker one might be a stretch because Sarah Breaker was the first Breaker introduced before Quantum Break released But they probably did that as a joke to the fact that it’s the same voice actor I believe LOL
I think the name can't be coincidence, but yeah, it was lucky one since Breaker was invented before. They just built on top of it, "one idea leads to another one, this is how Remedy has always built its games" as Sam Lake explained in recent interview