On Mon, 17 Apr 2017 21:06:12 +0000, "Bruce  Johnson"
<xxxxxx@Pharmacy.Arizona.EDU> wrote:

>An analogue would be ‘your big brother who teaches you about life and such’. It starts to capture the closeness of the relationship. ONe would expect that they remain close confidants all through life; more than a servant. They serve the family not the person?

Yes; the idea is that the scion is 'trained' and advised such that xir
actions will always reflect well on the family, and to the extent
possible, promote the family's legitimate prestige (as opposed to
increasing the 'fame for being famous' practiced in some celebrity
quarters these days...).

>‘Utbror’; fake (or maybe real) Swedish: ‘Out brother’. Out in the sense outside of the family.

Or, mangling Icelandic probably beyond recognition, "viturrathar"
(actually, if it comes through, "viturraðar"). Actual Icelandic
original, via Google, "vitur raðgjafi", 'wise counsellor'. Or
"vitradar/vitragar" via Swedish, 'vis rådgivare', same meaning.
Doesn't cover it all in the semi-literal meaning, but since we're
making up words, they can work. Especially in the Sword Worlds.

Continuing in that vein, Kurdish is (approximately) 'shiretkar zana',
which can be adjusted to 'shirekazana' (or 'shikazana' or 'shikazan'
or even as short as 'shizan') to be consistent with Vilani.

Anyone else want to play with languages and Bing/Google translate and
phrases to describe the role, by all means, feel free, and please
share.

>Something like a godparent also comes kind of close,  the unrelated  “aunts and uncles” that kind of thing.
>
>They could well be family, but not ones in the line of succession, but of valued experience.

'Valued experience' is key, here - just like in the military
relationship I touched on earlier.