Durmstrang (formerly Re: Karkaroff/transfer students)

[pengolodh_sc]

No: HPFGUIDX 38269

--- In HPforGrownups "Jamie Lipton" wrote:
[snip]
> - the fact that he is headmaster of a foreign school, and
> therefore must be fluent in whatever language they speak there.
> (I know the currect theory says something about German and
> northern Latvia - but I heard one very interesting theory that
> said Durmstrang is located in outer space :-))
[snip]

Just briefly reappearing to nitpick a little bit.  The evidence in 
canon points towards there being no possibility that Durmstrang is 
located in Latvia, or in the Baltic states at all.  We know that 
Drumstrang is in a place where the winters are very dark, and that 
there are mountains and lakes around the school - Krum says as much 
during the Yule Ball dinner.  We also can deduce that most wizards 
assume Durmstrang is far to the North - Ron's comment that he hoped 
Draco would accidentally slip off a glacier points to this.  The 
method of travel used by Durmstrang suggests that Durmstrang must be 
in a region with strong ties to the sea - a mere lake is not enough; 
the things that sail around most lakes you find around Europe are 
puny things indeed.  The Baltic states are completely devoid of 
mountains - they are almost as flat as Denmark proper.  To find 
mountains, that also fulfill the other conditions, you have to move 
North.  There is terrain fitting the conditions on the Scandinavian 
peninsula and on the Kola peninsula (in Northwestern Russia, North of 
Finland).  

Then there's the fact that JKR herself at a bookreading in Glasgow in 
December 2000 (see 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/6494 ) suggested 
that she thought Durmstrang was in Northern Scandinavia.

I have more extensive posts about this at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/28822
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/24956
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/20286

There may still be a tie-in with the Baltic region, however.  The 
school has a German name, while all students and teachers we have 
seen are of East-European origin (not Russian, from what I 
understand - there was a post about this a year or so ago, which I 
haven't been able to relocate) - this is reminiscent of the expansion 
of the Teutonic order into Eastern Central Europe.  

A possible theory is that Durmstrang was established in Southern 
Balticum by existing German schools of magic as an effort to bring 
ordered and formalised magic to the magical population in less 
developed areas, with more primitive forms of magic.  The school was 
subsequently forced to flee when the Teutonic Order started crusading 
heavily in the same area.  There was at the time already a culturally 
and politically significant centre at the Finnish Bay (near St. 
Petersburg), and the school was not allowed to settle as an 
independent school - it was given the alternative of students and 
staff becoming students and staff in existing institution, at the 
service of the resident rulers, or moving on.  The school then moved 
on northwards, settling very far North in sparsely populated regions 
to fulfill its charter - education of East-European students in the 
arts of magic for the raising of the standard of magic in their 
region.  

Of course, this being quite a few centuries ago, many things might 
have changed over the years, and the rather turbulent manner of 
founding might have meant that some members of faculty might have 
been lost on the road, and the schools view on what is or is not 
beneficial to teach as part of a general education in ars magica 
might have been influenced.

Best regards
Christian Stubø