Kol, Son of Kor

[Tim Thomason]

"Worf" and "Duras" are examples of names that get repeated in family lines. "Kor" must be the same.

Kor

We also get a reference to the "Judicial Charter of Koloth" in Enterprise, and "The Fall of Kang" and "Kang's Summit" in DS9, alluding to the idea that Kang and Koloth were used by ancient Klingon figures before the ones we saw.

Kor (or qor) is a very simple word, and the 1985 Klingon dictionary says it means to scavenge. This could allude to a possible ancestral occupation of Kor's family, and the word Kor shows up in so many names, including that of the first Klingon, Kortar. Notably, it appears in the name of the Klingon heaven (Sto-vo-kor, or Suto'vo'qor), which could be etymologically linked to scavenging souls in some way.

 

[Timo]

What processes lead to the simplification or diversification of the spectrum of names ITRW? Is Europe so extremely diverse in this respect because of a splintered culture, or because of a highly integrated one that frequently cross-steals? Is China so extremely simple because of a long-running highly centralized and organized culture, or because of a fundamentally rural one where names never really mattered and only really amount to a couple of variants of X scribbled on a document? Or are these things dictated by the very nature of the language itself, the European way catering for diversity or ill catering for stability and system? As an extrapolation, would the significance of individualistic names increase or decrease in an advanced society that manages its information through complex technology?

Klingons might be stuck with a narrow range of names because names really don't matter. But what is the mechanism of that? Romans of old had throwaway names, a typical one being "Fifth Son", and did not believe in surnames as such, yet decorated themselves with acquired names at every possible turn. Do Klingons do that? In John M. Ford's novels and RPG material, self-acquisition of Names was a key idea. Is this inconsistent with onscreen Klingon culture?

OTOH, Klingon religion might outright dictate that everybody be a Jesus Maria or a Maria Jesus of some sort. This regardless of whether the names come from concepts, ideals or hallowed ancestors and heroes. This paints a picture of a wholly different culture, one where self is of little import, and fate is sealed at or before birth along with name.

OTTH, we know the Klingon culture is diverse and dynamic, down to the very bodies of the Klingons themselves. Perhaps sticking to a narrow set of names helps them retain their identity when everything from their government to the number of their nostrils changes? This brings the sticking to names back to the realm of taking control of one's fate rather than resigning to it.

I don't think we can really argue that we only ever witness the warrior class or the ruling class, but there might still be layers to Klingon society that we are missing, and those might have different naming practices, too. The one where everybody for some reason is Kor, son of Duras, grandson of Kang, great-grandson of Kor still is the one warranting our speculation...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tuskin38]

I don’t see any DSC features on him or his uniform?

He has pointed ears and ridges on his neck and chest.

And his uniform is similar to one worn by Kol and Kol-sha.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kor (or qor) is a very simple word, and the 1985 Klingon dictionary says it means to scavenge. This could allude to a possible ancestral occupation of Kor's family

I don't think so. The House of Kor is very aristocratic and arrogant, almost like royalty (indeed, they technically ARE that, since they're descended from an ancient Klingon emperor). Hardly the domain of scavengers.

 

[Ralphis]

I don’t see any DSC features on him or his uniform?

He has pointed ears and ridges on his neck and chest.

And his uniform is similar to one worn by Kol and Kol-sha.

And check out his hands. There's so Disco-ish stuff going on there.

 

[Tuskin38]

Ah yeah the nails

 

[Timo]

I don't think so. The House of Kor is very aristocratic and arrogant, almost like royalty (indeed, they technically ARE that, since they're descended from an ancient Klingon emperor). Hardly the domain of scavengers.

The etymology of the name would probably be less relevant than its history, though. The British are ruled by a monarch whose name apparently means "a winch for handling cargo by the riverside" but whose tasks are largely unrelated... Her de facto boss used to be a Thatcher without being one.

Scavenging may have been a good solid profession back in the day the first Kor made his name. Today it need not be. Although, (not) knowing Klingons, it very well might.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[EDX]

My pet theory is that Kor, son of Rynar (and presumably his father before him) are - at the start of Season 1 - a dirty little secret of the House of Kor, hailing as they do from a branch of the family tree afflicted by the Augment Virus of the 22nd Century (in fact I'd bet en mass recruitment of flat-foreheads into the Imperial Fleet stems from the losses suffered during 'Burnham's War' - with their use as 'grapes for the blood wine' nonetheless allowing them unprecedented opportunities to gain Honour & all that goes with it in Klingon society).

Given the events of DISCOVERY make it very easy to understand how Kor came to be the last of his lineage circa DEEP SPACE NINE, it's all too easy to imagine that his branch of family tree achieved ascendancy mostly because everyone else was too dead to protest (like Henry VII after the House of Lancaster was uprooted during the Wars of the Roses).

 

[EDX]

I also have a powerful suspicion that the shaven-headed styles popular amongst Klingons at the start of DISCO Season 1 might well be a way of emphasising their ridges - to make it not only clear, but blatantly obvious that these Klingons not only have all their ridges present & correct but ridges where puny Humans never even dreamed a klingon could have ridges!

It might be a trifle petty to further suggest that those extra ridges were acquired through body modification by T'Kuvma's Xenophobes and by scions of the Great Houses purely to rub the ridgeless' noses even further in their own degradation from the status of Truly Klingon, but honestly it wouldn't surprise me.