The Death Eater Name

[bob.mornington at wanadoo.fr]

No: HPFGUIDX 11524

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Caius Marcius" <coriolan at w...> wrote:
> Message: 19
>    Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 08:40 PHT
>    From: duo at d...
> Subject: The Death Eater name was Voldemorts Sphere of Influence
> 
> >Whilst we're on the subject, does anyone agree with me that
> >"Death-Eaters" was rather a silly name for JKR to have chosen for
> >Voldemort's supporters?
> >Wouldn't something along the lines of "The Dark League" or "The
> >National Order of Dark Wizardry" have been much better?
> >Bob
> 
> To us Freudians, the name Death-Eaters is redolent of both 
the "oral" phase
> of childhood development and the dread and awe-inspiring Thanatos, 
The Death
> Instinct - i.e., simultaneously childishly immature and 
transcendentally
> sinister and destructive.  The name Death-Eaters literally 
coruscates with
> Dark Magic, and I would count it as one of JKR's most serendipitous
> coinages. The National Order of Dark Wizardry OTOH sounds like 
something
> that would have an office on K Street and extensive contacts on 
Capitol Hill
> and the Commerce Dep't.
> 
>      - CMC

Interestingly, the French word for an undertaker (I think this 
is "mortician" in American English) is "Croque-mort" which does 
literally mean "Eater of Death"
Though I still feel it's a bad choice of name for Vole's cronies.
Bob