I think they have to use Bartimaeus to summon him, (though I'm probably wrong), because I thought that that was why Ptolmey didn't call him Bartimaues.

And, I think that the whole list of names is another pride apect thing, where they earn names as they do great things. It helps to define them in the Other World.

So do you think he just makes them up? Or do you think his masters gave them to him? If so, why?

Well...If he appears as a serpent with Silver Plumes, and scares the heck out of his master, maybe the next time his master would call him that, and he'd add it to his list of acheivements. So, when a higher djinni greets him, he can use that to try to scare them into recognition...You know?

Makes sense to me. But it seems to me that if that were true he would have a whole lot more names. Or maby he only uses the names of the guises that scared the magicians into leaving their pentagles...

Maybe he just likes being a snake with wings?

Those were probably his chosen other names, like Nathaniel had John Mandrake, but Bartemaus is his "birth name" or whatever. He didn't always use Bartemaeus because it was dangerous if someone found out his name.

I'll set the record straight.
Bartimaeus is his true name, the one he's summoned with.
Ptolemy, who cared little for names, (being sixth or seventh with the name) called him Reckhyt out of respect for Bart's true name.
Each culture he's made an impact on has had it's own name for him.
Here are some-
Bartimaeus of Uruk-Babylonian
Rekhyt of Alexandria-Egyptian
Necho of Jerusalem-Duh. Jerusalem.
Sakhr Al-Jinni-Persian/Solomon's Time
N'Gorso the Mighty-Possibly known as in Old Zimbabwe
Wakonda of the Algonquin-North American
Serpent of Silver Plumes-Central American
Wolf-Jawed Guardian- Iroquoian (North America)
Nectanebo-See Below
Asmodeus- See below.

Bit of (real) History here- Giglamesh of Uruk summoned him.
Easy, as it's his real name.
Rekhyt- Egyption Bird symbolizing slavery.
Necho-Name of Two Rulers. I was Egyption, known from Assyrian texts. II was Assyrian, or helped them.
Sakhr-Interesting, this. Historical texts prove there was a Sakhr who ruled for forty days, while Solomon searched for his ring. This is even more interesting that Bart claims to have been the one to throw the ring into the Sea, whereas historical texts say it was the demon Asmodeus, who tricked Solomon. Bart and Asmodeus are likely the same demon, then. Means Solid Rock in Arabic.
N'Gorso-No idea, little real anything to go by.
Wakonda- Algonquin myth speaks of a mysterious creature/entity described as the Wakonda. Wakonda itself is a Kanza word which means "Great Spirit."
Nectanebo- The name means "strong is his Lord" in ancient Egyptian, also name of two Pharaohs, one of which was the last native ruler of Egypt.
Serpent of Silver PLumes- Serpents are rampant in Aztec and Yucatan myth, not sure bout the silver part.
Wolf-Jawed Guardian- No real anything to go off of.

There, theres the whole name thing straightended out.

similar to Gandalf being called different things in different empires (gandalf, Mithrandir, etc) yeah, i guess a pride and accomplishment kinda thing.

Yes.




LOL. The way I see it, old magicians didn't use spirit's true name to be polite, and it wasn't until recently that they did start to do so, probably for practalilty.

Queezle7 wrote: Well...If he appears as a serpent with Silver Plumes, and scares the heck out of his master, maybe the next time his master would call him that, and he'd add it to his list of acheivements. So, when a higher djinni greets him, he can use that to try to scare them into recognition...You know?

I seriously don't think any master would praise him by calling him serpent with Silver Plumes or whatever, cause it's just against their nature. More likely Bart himself invented that name after his various episodes. And the next time he would be summoned he would add that name to evergrowing list. Who knows, mightbe after his final adventure with Nat he might add the 'Nouda vanquisher' to his credit. That's Bart for me.

Odd. I never saw Nectanebo or Asmodeus in the books. Sorry Nectanebo.

Serpent of Silver Plumes doesn't have to be complementary, duh.
Asmodeus is in real life legend.
Connections in the book and the story of Solomon suggest that Bartimaeus was also Asmodeus, as Bart said he threw the ring into the sea, and real life says Asmodeus did.
One could then say that Bartimaeus and Asmodeus were one and the same.
Help?

Yes, I know Asmodeus was in real life, I just didn't read it in any of the Trilogy. And I didn't really get that connection then.
And think something more majestic then "Nouda vanisher" would be in the books; The Death Djinni Of Nouda or something along the lines of that. I couldn't think of anything better.

Dansariki wrote: Serpent of Silver Plumes doesn't have to be complementary, duh.
Asmodeus is in real life legend.
Connections in the book and the story of Solomon suggest that Bartimaeus was also Asmodeus, as Bart said he threw the ring into the sea, and real life says Asmodeus did.
One could then say that Bartimaeus and Asmodeus were one and the same.
Help?

Ya, serpent of silver plumes does not sound complementry. But what abt N'gorso the mighty? No master would call him that. But mightbe historians named him that.

Correct.
People who do great things always have titles, take Alexander for instance.