Of Deer and English and Ravenclaw

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Carol genealogized in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38500>:

<< We've also got a connection with (snip) a semi-famous colonial
preacher ancestor named Michael Wigglesworth >>

'Wigglesworth' would be a great Potterverse name. We are too
accustomed to the names 'Bacon' and 'Drake' to notice that they're
Animagus names, or someting.

Geoff wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38507>:

<< A stag is *any* male deer. In season, as you say it is recognisable
by its antlers, in the winter by its larger size. I frequently see
them, often within a couple of miles of home. My area is famous for
its herds of Red deer. >>

A colleague at work calls the deer who sometimes eat his garden 'Jane
Doe' and 'Bill Buckley'. I vaguely suppose that in this region they
are mule deer.

Cabal wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38511>:

<< I live in Bucks County, wonder where it got its name? >>

Pennsylvania? Wikipedia says William Penn named it after
Buckinghamshire, England, of which Wikipedia says "The name
Buckinghamshire is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means The district
(scire) of Bucca's home. Bucca's home refers to Buckingham in the
north of the county, and is named after an Anglo-Saxon landowner."

Geoff wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38542>:

<< One use of stag in connection with men is "stag night" where a
bridegroom-to-be gets together with male friends for an evening close
to the marriage. I suspect that this might be the same usage on the
west side of the pond? >>

USA has the same tradition, but the nomenclature is a bit different.
The pre-wedding festival, traditionally the night before, is called
'bachelor party' and any all-male festivity can be called a 'stag party'.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38549>:

<< 410-600 Settlement of most of Britain by Germanic peoples (Angles,
Saxons, Jutes, some Frisians) speaking West Germanic dialects
descended from Proto-Germanic. <snip> Celtic peoples, most of whom are
Christianized, are pushed increasingly (despite occasional violent
uprisings) into the marginal areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland,
Wales. Anglo-Saxons, originally sea-farers, settle down as farmers,
exploiting rich English farmland. >>

Nitpick: Some of the Celts were pushed all the way from Britain
(Cornwall) to the Continent (Brittany).

Nitpick: The Celtic people were NOT pushed into Ireland; they were
already there and the Saxons didn't reach Ireland. At that time,
Ireland was called Scotia and its Gaels were called Scots, such as
John Erigena Scotus. Later, Gaels from Ireland conquered a nice chunk
of Northern Britain, to which the name Scotia was somehow transferred,
thus Duns Scotus.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigena> says: << Johannes Scotus
Eriugena (c. 815–877) (also Johannes Scotus Erigena, Johannes Scottus
Eriugena, John the Irishman), was an Irish theologian, Neoplatonist
philosopher, and poet. He is known for having translated and made
commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius. // "Eriugena" is
perhaps the most suitable surname form as he himself uses it in one
manuscript. 'Scottus' in the Middle Ages was the Latin term for "Irish
or Gaelic". The spelling 'Scottus' has the authority of the early
manuscripts until perhaps the 11th century. Occasionally he is also
named 'Scottigena' ("Irishborn" or "Gaelic") in the manuscripts.  >>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duns_Scotus>: << The blessed John Duns
Scotus, O.F.M (c. 1266 – December 8, 1308) was one of the most
important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was
nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of
thought. // Little is known of Scotus' life. He was probably born
~1270 [1] at Duns, in the Borders in Scotland. In 1291, he was
ordained in Northampton, England. >>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoti>: << Scoti or Scotti (Old Irish
Scot, modern Scottish Gaelic Sgaothaich) was the generic name given by
the Romans to the Celtic Gaels who raided from Ireland. Some of them,
from the Ulster Kingdom of Dál Riata, migrated to the Inner Hebrides,
Clyde islands and Argyll, extending Dál Riata. In time the name became
applied to all the people within this kingdom, hence the modern words
Scot and Scotland. It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called
themselves Scoti in ancient times, except when referring to themselves
in Latin. >>

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38560>:

<< ... Aethelred the Unready ... Harald Hardrada (for "hard reign") >>

As Carol knows, poor Aethelred's epithet means 'the ill-advised'
because 'rede' means 'advice or counsel', altho' the word is no longer
in general use.

<http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=read>: 
<< read 
    O.E. rædan (W.Saxon), redan (Anglian) "to explain, read, rule,
advise" (related to ræd, red "advice"), from P.Gmc. *raedanan (cf.
O.N. raða, O.Fris. reda, Du. raden, O.H.G. ratan, Ger. raten "to
advise, counsel, guess"), from PIE base *rei- "to reason, count" 
(snip)
Words from this root in most modern Gmc. languages still mean
"counsel, advise." Transference to "understand the meaning of written
symbols" is unique to O.E. and (perhaps under Eng. influence) O.N. raða. 
(snip)
O.E. ræda "advise, counsel" is in the name of Anglo-Saxon king Æðelræd
II (968-1016), lit. "good counsel," and in his epithet Unræd, usually
rendered into Mod.Eng. as Unready, but really meaning "no-counsel." >>

I quoted all that because of "O.N. raða". Poul Anderson translated
Harald's epithet as 'Hard rede' because one standard translation is
"stern counsel". Tough advice like 'surrender to me or die'.

Potioncat wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/38520>:

<<  For that matter, why isn't Gryffindor's animal a gryffin? And why
are all these tokens Muggle animals rather than magical ones? >>

Except that Salazar chose a snake for his symbol because he was a
Parselmouth, we have only fanfic for why the FOunders chose their
symbols and for how they got their names. 

I like to think that Rowena's bronze eagle was the actual eagle of a
defeated Roman Legion which she was very proud of having found on an
archaeological exploration. Altho' it's perfectly possible that she
changed to her symbol to The King Of Birds when she had to work with
Godric whose symbol was The King Of Beasts. I can't imagine how Rowena
got her surname, other than some listie's suggestion that she was a
raven Animagus.