Below you’ll find the basic pronunciations for the characters that inhabit Titha Mae’s world, in order of appearance. Many more friends and foes await in The Ballad!

Titha Lilly Mae (pronounced Tih-tha Lilly May, with the ‘Ti’ sound as in ‘tip’, Lilly like the flower, and May like the month) Aged about 11 forest-years, Titha Mae is the adventurous middle child of Theole the Watcher and Thea Celtica Mae.

Gillian “Gilly” Rose Mae (pronounced Gill-ian, like the gill of a fish, and you know the rest) Titha’s older, lankier, and supposedly more “mature” sister of roughly 16 forest-years.

Beebee Mae (short for Begonia Bee Mae, pronounced Bee-bee like the honey-making insects): The youngest (and by far the most adorable) Mae sister of only three forest-years.

Theole the Watcher (pronounced The-Ohl, with ‘The’ as in Theodore): Father of Titha, Gilly, and Beebee Mae and the great protector of Yythengrey. His better half, Thea, was taken from him many moons ago in a great battle.

Paw the Black Bear (pronounced like the paw of a bear) Titha’s Bear-brother and best friend in the entire world. Paw is a rambunctious (and enormous) young forest black bear.

Cypress the Squire (pronounced Sy-press, like the cypress tree) Theole’s closest confidante and Commander of the Cedarguard.

Vulduun (pronounced Vul-dune, with ‘Vul’ as in Vulcan and ‘dune’ like a sand dune) The surviving Great Drake (Dragon), Keeper of the Sun and creator of Gaela alongside his fallen mate, the Duskmother, Meriduun.

Nech the Scribe (pronounced with a hard CH sound commonly found in Hebrew speech, closer to ‘Netch’ than ‘Neck’) A well-learned and once-prosperous yellow-skinned Craglin from the Craglands. In short: one very old and talkative Goblin.

Rainer Angvarson (pronounced Rain-ehr, with ‘Rain’ as in water falling from the sky) The oldest son of Jarl Angvar and Shieldmaiden Sigrid of Autumnhill. Commander of the Houndsmen.

Jarl Angvar (pronounced Yarl Ang-var, with ‘Ang’ as in angle and ‘var’ as in ‘jar’) Ruler of Autumnhill alongside his wife, Sigrid Shieldmaiden, Angvar is a steady and hardy Jarl (king amongst Vikingmen).

Sigrid Shieldmaiden (pronounced See-grid, as in look, ‘see’! A ‘grid’!) Sigrid is ruler of Autumnhill alongside her husband Jarl Angvar. She is a stoic yet graceful warrior who is destined for even greater things.

Audun Angvarson (pronounced Aw-dune, as in ‘aw’ isn’t he cute, and dune like a sand dune) The youngest son of Sigrid and Angvar, Audun is an avidly curious reader and very intelligent for seven years of age.

Haldor the Wolfhound (pronounced Hal-door, with ‘Hal’ as in hallelujah and door like a front door) Audun’s fiercely loyal, unusually large, and prone-to-face-licking best friend.

Maya the Peregrine Falcon (pronounced Mai-ah, like the traditional name Maya) Head of the Peregrine Order and Nech’s oldest friend & colleague.

Ugar the Terrible (pronounced Oo-gahr, with the ‘Oo’ as in tool, and ‘gar’ like the fang-toothed fish) A horrid foe who might as well be the combination of all bad and ugly things in Gaela.

Zazzec (pronounced Zaz-zeck, with ‘Zaz’ as in pizzazz) The unmentionably old Craglin Shaman of Cragoa, prone to age-appropriate mood swings.

Gupper (pronounced, for once, just like it looks!) Gupper is a strange turtle-person, known as a Torgon, which is something no one else in this story has ever heard of before. Regardless of peculiarity, he whips up a mean stew.

Want to know more about Titha & her friends? Be sure to read The Ballad of Titha Mae, the first book in the Titha Mae series! A full glossary accompanies the story, featuring all the characters found in the book as well as locations, objects, and much more.

all characters and their names, appearances, and stories are copyright Jon B. Dalvy / Nechalec Press & Jon D. Bumpus, published by Amazon.com. Any use of these names, characters, their likenesses or imagery without consent is strictly prohibited.