Meaning of Hyrule?

In all of my Zelda research, I have yet to come upon the actual meaning of Hyrule. Then, I noticed something in the Wind Waker. The King of Red Lions, is actually (or at least controlled by) the King of Hyrule. Then could Hyrule mean Red Lions? Or is it just some crazy nickname that the King of Hyrule used to be some what undercover when he controlled the boat?

I don't think it was a nickname I think it was a title. In hyrule in the WW there are statues of lions holding swords.

But he already has a title, the King of Hyrule! Why do you need another one? Of course he wouldn't go around as a boat calling himself the King of Hyrule because everyone would think he's gone off his rocker, but why the King of Red Lions? What do you think lions, an animal never before seen in Zelda games, have to do with Hyrule?

???? no, not Red Lions, But you were close. It is right under your nose. Alright lets see, The King of Red Lions (the boat or persona, which ever you prefer) was, infact, King Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule and it is called after all The Kingdom of HYRULE, get it? the Kingdom was named after it´s ruler. So it doesn´t really mean anything, it´s just a last name. Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule, may very well be the first king of the realm, so he probably decided to name the kingdom after himself. This, of course, is only speculation, I am not Shigeru Miyamoto.

I don't know maybe his knight where called the Red Lions after all this was a different king of Hyrule I believe.

Originally Posted by Hero_of_Legends

???? no, not Red Lions, But you were close. It is right under your nose. Alright lets see, The King of Red Lions (the boat or persona, which ever you prefer) was, infact, King Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule and it is called after all The Kingdom of HYRULE, get it? the Kingdom was named after it´s ruler. So it doesn´t really mean anything, it´s just a last name. Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule, may very well be the first king of the realm, so he probably decided to name the kingdom after himself. This, of course, is only speculation, I am not Shigeru Miyamoto.

Yes, I know that the land of Hyrule was named after the Royal Family, but back when that family wasn't so royal, they had to get a last name somewhere. Last names in history have come from professions, locations, special characteristics, ect. For example, if there are two Johns in your town, if one of them is a cooper, he may become known as John Cooper. If the other has brown hair, he may become known as John Brown. But then there's really far out there names that could mean something in another language, but I'm not entirely sure about them.

Anyways, I'm either asking how the Royal Family got the name Hyrule, or how Nintendo came up with the name. Nintendo often uses names that mean something, such as Epona is some Celtic horse god.

What do you think?

I don´t know. As I said so before I am not Shigeru Miyamoto. Who knows, maybe it has some significance in japanese or in other languages. Maybe it was changed from it´s original name in japanese when they translated the game to english. Maybe it was just something that they came up with, who knows. The only person I believe could answer this would, the man, Shigeru Miyamoto himsef. Try looking in an Etimology dictionary, maybe you have some luck. If you find something let me know.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The name France originates from the Franks, a Germanic tribe that occupied the region after the fall of the Roman Empire. More precisely the region around Paris is called the Île-de-France which was the original French royal dominion.

That case could be applied as well. I doubt there is any deep, special meaning to it anyways. The kingdom named after its ruler? Could be be the reverse case, I think.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The Merovingian dynasty owes its name to Merovech (sometimes Latinized as Meroveus or Merovius), leader of the Salian Franks from about 447 to 457, and emerges into wider history with the victories of Childeric I (reigned about 457 - 481) against the Visigoths, Saxons and Alamanni.

But like I said before earlier, I don't think there is any well defined etymology to the word.

And going back to the land-ruler naming:

Angevin is the name applied to three distinct medieval dynasties which originated as counts (from 1360, dukes) of the western French province of Anjou (of which angevin is the adjectival form), but later came to rule far greater areas including England, Hungary and Poland (see Angevin Empire).

Well, the way I've interpreted it, all the names in the game were thought up in English. I mean, they were always thinking of America when they made this game, because Nintendo was trying to save video games in America. Watch G4, they'll show a show called Icons about the NES quite often. What I'm saying is that the games were always made with how America would percieve them, Japan just got the games first. Anyways, Hyrule may be one thing in Zelda games that has a root in Japanese language. If we break it down into syllables, then it's Hy-rule. Oh, duh, in the land of Hyrule. It's pronounced "high rule", meaning that there's a dinstinctive person ruling over the land, namely the King. Something to that effect, if you can tell us what I'm saying better than I can, then, by all means, go ahead.

So often when I'm gonna say something, I find that Master of ALttP has just said it. The high rule thing... I'm just too slow.

Well, I'll say another thing then. I don't think the Red Lions means anything special, I always thought it's because the boat looks like a red lion. So it's a bit stylized lion, but a lion anyway.

I kind've like Shaitan's idea about the Red Lions, perhaps it was the name of the Knight's of Hyrule. If the King of Hyrule was indeed military commander also, he would in fact be the King/Leader of the Knights of Hyrule, or King of Red Lions. But this again brings up another point. When has a live lion been seen in Hyrule?

Edit: I also just thought of something. Nobody referrs to the lands in WW as Hyrule, they just call it something like the Great Sea. If the King of Hyrule was king of them before the flood, he would be after the flood, too. So maybe Red Lions is some term referring to the Islands of Hyrule?

???? no, not Red Lions, But you were close. It is right under your nose. Alright lets see, The King of Red Lions (the boat or persona, which ever you prefer) was, infact, King Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule and it is called after all The Kingdom of HYRULE, get it? the Kingdom was named after it´s ruler. So it doesn´t really mean anything, it´s just a last name. Daphnes Nohasen Hyrule, may very well be the first king of the realm, so he probably decided to name the kingdom after himself. This, of course, is only speculation, I am not Shigeru Miyamoto.

According the Japanese manual of ALttP Hyrule was named after the HYLIANS. I've always believed that Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule is a mistranslation and it's supposed to be Daphnes Nohansen OF Hyrule.

I think Hyrule could mean "Land of Prosperity" or something royal in terms of "Land to Rule All Lands" Neh. No proof here just an idea. I don't no Hylian so why do I give a damn?

I get what you are saying, but I don't think Hyrule means red lions, it is the kings last name

I kinda agree with Hero_of_legends.i also think it could mean its rule over the land.the Triforce was found there.see HY as in high and rule as in rule.thats the best i can put it

The original, Japanese, name is Hairaru, which relates to the original name for the Hylians, most likely Hairia. As I said, the land was named after the Hylians. Or more correctly, it was made from the root of the word Hylia.

http://www.zeldalegends.net/index.php?n=z3translation

Does anyone know what the kanji for Hyrule, or Hairaru, looks like, or where to find a picture of it? I have a couple of little Japanese dictionaries that might help...maybe.

I think is written like this:
ハイラル (HA-I-RA-RU)
but i think it isn't kanji