Farmer Hagrid, hairy sisters, more pro-Cho, transfiguration musings

[Heather Moore]

No: HPFGUIDX 29800

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., monicawitt at m... wrote:
--- In HPforGrownups at y..., monicawitt at m... wrote:

 
> Then again there's Severus Snape... Severus I would 
> take to be a latinization of "severe", but what's a snape? And it 
> doesn't always have to really mean anything -- there are plenty of 
> characters without descriptive names. Harry being the most obvious. 



"Snape" is a good example of a name that doesn't mean anything. JKR has said that she gets some of her names off maps. She cited "Snape" was one of those: it's the name of a village in England - but it's fun that it also sounds like both "snake" and "snipe." Hrm...  I wonder if "Weasley" came off maps, too?

   

> I read Fleur Delacour as Flower of 
> the Heart, initially, but the 
> word "cour" does mean "court" in 
> French. I like the added touch of 
> Madame Maxime's first name being 
> Olympe, as she's half giant and all.    

  Indeed! I think Olympe Maxime is one of the double-pun names, as "Maxime" suggests both "principal" and "the most." Fancy growing up with a name like "Enormous Biggest"! JKR can play some very funny, rude, Pythonish tricks on her characters.  

On the other hand, I think "Fleur" itself is just another example of JKR's fondness for flower/plant names: Lily, Padma (Lotus), Petunia, Pansy, Narcissa, Rosmerta, Olive, Lavender, Lupin, Myrtle.... have I missed any? 

It could be fun to set up a listpool to guess what new flowers turn up in the next book - Laurel? Violet? Daphne? Hyacinth?


(Hrmph... on the subject of flower names, at least Americans don't get the inherent pun of "Heather Moore," so I never got teased about it growing up. Even my parents didn't realize it until it was pointed out to them by a British friend of mine during college. And now "Heather Moore" sounds like a Hogwart's student!)