Like every classically-trained nerd, I have read The Lord of the Rings. Valinor, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, is a land where only immortal beings are allowed to live (and of course, some of the mortal main characters of his novels).

Personally I just thought it was a beautiful name, so I chose to use it as a nod to one of my favorite fantasy works.

In the world of Alani, ‘Valinor’ means ‘courage and honor’ in the Ancient tongue. The Arisian settlers of the mountainous northwestern landscape revered these two virtues above all others, and thus named themselves and subsequently their land as such.