[HPforGrownups] Re: Fawkes / Snape = Snake?/ Severe Draco

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 34250

In a message dated 29/01/02 00:34:29 GMT Standard Time, lucky_kari at yahoo.ca 
writes:


> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "judyserenity" <judyshapiro at e...> wrote:
> > In message #34196, Lucky_Kari suggested that if Guy Fawkes was a 
> > wizard, this would explain why Dumbledore's phoenix is named 
> Fawkes. 
> > Actually, JKR may have named Fawkes after a character in another 
> book. 
> > I've heard that there is a children's fantasy book, featuring a 
> > phoenix named Fawkes, and that JKR really likes this book.  
> > Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it. 
> 
> "The Phoenix and the Carpet", by Edith Nesbit, by any chance? The 
> phoenix there isn't named Fawkes, but he arrives in conjunction with 
> Guy Fawkes day, IIRC. That probably is the explanation outside the 
> book, but I'm one of those people who hunt for elusive explanations 
> inside the book, that never would have occurred to the author in the 
> first place. I felt guilty of this many years, till I read Moby Dick. 
> The justification that book afforded me in this habit by its 
> treatment of symbolism etc. has made it very dear to me, even though 
> it is an acquired taste.
> 
> > In fact, the name "Snape" makes me think of snipe and snide, not 
> > snake. 
> 
> 

Since we burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire, it is a fairly 
appropriate name for a bird which periodically bursts into flames ( as 
Porphyria mentions). For British readers I suspect the allusion is fairly 
obvious.
By the way, just to clear up any confusion, Guy Fawkes himself was not burned 
at the stake, he was tortured on the rack, then hanged, drawn and quartered 
before being beheaded, poor man. Must have needed some pretty powerful magic 
to fake that one, if we are to believe the wizard theory.

JKR confirmed in an interview that Snape, like Dudley is from the place name. 
There are several Snapes, I believe, the most famous is associated with the 
Aldburgh (Benjamin Britten) Festival. But I agree, it has that snipey, snappy 
feeling.

Draco means dragon in Latin, but it is also of course the name of the tyrant 
noted for his SEVERE laws (from which comes the adjective Draconian = 
extremely severe). Just thought the coincidence with the forename of his head 
of house was rather nice.

Eloise


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