Vol-de-mort (was SV: Re: pronunciations

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 7167

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Aberforth's Goat" 
<Aberforths_Goat at Y...> wrote:
> >  In French, vol = flight or vol =  theft
> >  This gives us the possibilities:
> >  1)Flight from Death (he is striving for immortality)
> >  2)Flight of Death (and where he lands, he kills someone)
> >  3)Theft from Death (he is stealing immortality/life from death)
> >  4)Theft of Death (by killing all those people, he is stealing
> > Death's privilege of ending their lives at the appointed time)
> 
> My apologies if I've missed some relevant posts on this, but what 
about
> "Vol" as a derivative of the latinate "volo." I think it's 
something like
> *vouloir* in French, *vuolere* in Italian. Hence, Voldemort
> is "Desire of Death" or "Death Wish." I have always just assumed 
that was
> the derivation.
> 
> Or, of course, since "vol" is also an abbr. of volume, perhaps 
Voldemort
> could be construed as "Volume of Death." <g,d&r>
> 

A couple of other penumbras resonating about the name of Y-K-W: 
according to Webster's "Vole" is "any of the various burrowing 
rodents of the genus Arvicola, including the European field mouse and 
the North American meadow mouse." This introduction of a rodent motif 
into Voldy's otherwise serpentine profile would perhaps explain in 
part his affinity for Wormtail.

Another Webster definition of "Vole", this one deriving from the 
French: "in card games, the winning of all the tricks in a deal; a 
slam. TO GO THE VOLE: to risk everything in the hope of great gain." 
That does sound like a gambit Voldemort would persue! 

   - CMC