 The ancient language used by the elves in Eragon is based " almost entirely " on Old Norse , German , Old English , and Russian myth . Paolini commented that " [ I ] did a god @-@ awful amount of research into the subject when I was composing it . I found that it gave the world a much richer feel , a much older feel , using these words that had been around for centuries and centuries . I had a lot of fun with that . " Picking the right name for the characters and places was a process that could take " days , weeks , or even years " . Paolini said that " if I have difficulty choosing the correct moniker , I use a placeholder name until a replacement suggests itself . " He added that he was " really lucky " with the name Eragon , " because it 's just dragon with one letter changed . " Also , Paolini commented that he thought of the name " Eragon " as the two parts of it : " era " and " gone " , as if the name itself changes the era in which the character lives . He thought the name fit the book perfectly , but some of the other names caused him " real headaches " . 
