New Star Wars: The High Republic Villain Name Translates To “Boys” In Icelandic

John F. Trent |

Mar 5, 2021

Star Wars: The High Republic’s newly introduced villains, the Drengir, is a word that actually translates to “boys” in Icelandic.

The Drengir were first introduced in the Dark Legends anthology series written by George Mann. They would be referenced in Charles Soule’s The Rise of Kylo Ren and have recently been prominently featured in Cavan Scott’s The High Republic comic.

A first look and initial details about the Drengir were revealed on the official Star Wars website back in October 2020.

At the time, Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain detailed that the Drengir were created to answer the question, “What scares the Jedi?”

He explained, “One of the north stars for this initiative is to answer the question, ‘What scares the Jedi?’ Which is a really fun but extraordinarily challenging question to answer.”

“All five authors, as well as the Story Group and Publishing teams, had thoughts on what would scare them — and why — but everyone agreed that had to be something new,” he continued.

That something new was the Drengir.

The High Republic author described the Drengir as “Sentient plant-life who are looking to reap a terrible harvest across the galactic frontier.”

“The seed for the vegetation-based villains came from a sketch by [legendary Star Wars concept artist] Iain McCaig in the early days of The High Republic’s development,” Scott continued.

He elaborated, “Iain had been sketching monsters and there was one creature that was covered in vines and creepers. It sparked off the inspiration for what became the Drengir and I quickly fired off a document outlining what could be their culture and background to the rest of the group, drawing on research I’d been reading about how real-world plants thrive and communicate with each other.”

Scott then stated, “It’s been great to see the Drengir’s threat grow throughout the initiative. They are one of my new favorite Star Wars monsters to write. They are sinister, unstoppable and, as we’ll find out, inescapably linked to the fate of one of our High Republic Jedi…”

The official description of The Drengir on the Star Wars website reads, “Chock full of tentacles, teeth, and thorns, the Drengir are horrific, sentient plant-like creatures that have once again been released upon the galaxy. Carnivorous, amorphous, and unsettling, the Drengir aim to reap a terrible harvest across the galactic frontier.”

However, the actual name of the Drengir translates to “boys” in Icelandic according to Google.

Wiktionary also details that a variation of the name “Drengr” translates to “valiant, gallant, chivalrous man” in Old Norse. Other definitions include “lad, youth, a boy” and “one who is bold, reckless, or inexperienced.

Wiktionary also claims the word’s Etymology comes “from Proto-Germanic *drangijaz (“staff; stake; man; servant”). Cognate with Old English dreng (“warrior; soldier”).”