1.Fudge, 2.Hogwarts Founders

[Catlady]

No: HPFGUIDX 1607

First let me inflict a scrap of chat on you-uns:
jferer says, Microsoft tactic: FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)
catlady_de_los_angeles says, The first 3 letters of FUDge
catlady_de_los_angeles says, is G greed?
jferer says, FUDge? Coincidence? I think not...
gypsycaine says, empty headed = e
catlady_de_los_angeles says, Envy
catlady_de_los_angeles says, Elitism
catlady_de_los_angeles says, Egotism

Now, to the point (which also appeared repeatedly in the chat)

I think the surnames of the Founders are not family names, as family
names hadn't been invented yet (for example, Harry's history textbook
told of a witch who was burned 47 times: Wendilyn the Weird, not
Wendilyn Weisenheimer). Instead, they were epithets, nicknames ('surnom'
in French) given to them by their associates.

1. Gryffindor

I just figured out a few days ago that the name Gryffindor is a merger
of GRUFFYDD (Griffith) and GLYNDWR (glendower). Both are Welsh names. (I
posted that on hpa but no one responded).

If he's Gruffydd Glyndwr rather than Godric Gryphon d'Or, then he's
Welsh rather than Norman, which is much more suitable for someone
founding a wizarding school in Britain circa 990 CE ('more than a
thousand years ago'), considering that the Norman Conquest was 1066.

Ffor Gruffydd Glyndwr to have allowed his name to be changed to Godric
Gryffindor, he must have been excessively tolerant of the Sassenachs who
can't
pronounce a decent language....

My friend Lee thinks that Gryffindor is pronounced Gryffinder (as Jim
Dale does) and originated as Griffin Finder.

2. Hufflepuff

Helga was named Hufflepuff by her childhood 'friends' because of the way
she huffed and puffed after doing all her family's heavy housework
before her mother even woke (hard work is a Hufflepuff trait).

3. Slytherin

Salazar was given that name, indicating his slipperiness and slimiyess,
by people who had done business with him. They made have been the lucky
ones: they were still alive.

4. Ravenclaw

I didn't know why Rowena was called Ravenclaw, but Dee suggested she had
been a raven Anigmagus, perhaps the one who pestered Poe. I agree that
perching on a bust of Pallas Athena (whose Roman name is Minerva) in a
library fits with her scholarliness. Perhaps she was trying to chase Poe
from the room so that she could turn back into human and read the book
she'd come looking for.




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