Why "Lord"?

[lori_black286]

No: HPFGUIDX 33170

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ck32976" <ck32976 at y...> wrote:
> I was wondering, and forgive me if this has been discussed, why 
> everyone refers to Voldemort as "Lord".  Either "The Dark Lord" 
> or "Lord Voldemort".  I don't mean his followers.  I mean the 
> people who are against him.  Even Dumbledore does it.  I see Lord as being 
> a term that implies some respect.

Well, while I see where you're coming from, I have to disagree.  
After thinking about this myself I came to the conclusion that while 
they may not like what Voldie-chan does, they have got respect for 
him.  I rest my case partly on the point of Ollivander's little speech 
as Harry is buying his wand in PS/SS "terrible things, but very 
great" or something along those lines.  He obviously has a respect, 
albeit a fearful one, for Voldemort.  The fact that Dumbledore 
refuses to use the powers "only a dark wizard would use", I think 
that perhaps- and I could be wrong- that he has a sort of... not 
fearful, per-se, but an apprehensive respect for Voldemort even 
though he is actively against what Voldie supports.  I think there 
*is* respect or at the least awe there from most everyone, be it 
grudging, fearful, or following.

> Plus, don't you think it would really make Voldemort very angry if people > > > referred to him as Tom.  No greatness implied, no reverence.  It would be a 
> huge shot to his already overinflated ego.

Imagine this: you are Voldemort.  You have essentially infinite 
(okay, exaggerations, but go with me here) dark power and many, many 
toadies to choose from to do your bidding.  Someone- or a lot of 
people- decide to start calling you Tom.  Now, maybe I'm getting a 
little too into this, but if it were me, I'd want to crush that 
immediately. It usurp some of the fear that has been instilled in the 
hearts of the magical community for years, even decades.  If you're as 
nasty and bad as Voldie, you certainly won't want that.  Plus, it 
would give him a viable- from his POV- excuse to crush many in the 
name of replacing that fear.  It might only strengthen him in the 
long run.

I just realized, I haven't introduced myself yet... silly me. ^_^*

I'm a fifteen-year-old female who is nearly dangerously in love with 
the Harry Potter series (hey, I joined an adult discussion list, can 
you tell I have free time?).  I mainly joined because I figured that 
you lovely Elders could maybe give me some ideas on HP relationship 
theories and provide some interesting discussion material- I write 
horribly OOC fanfic and maybe this will be a form of therapy.  Plus 
it's fun to do in the time between books. ^_^

Glad to be among you!

~Sachi