Quirrel and Scandinavia?

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 87528

Susan wrote:

> I was re-reading SS/PS lately and noticed that Quirrel seems to 
have 
> at least some contact with Scandinavia. 
> 
> One - he has some talent with trolls. I looked up references for 
> trolls on the Internet and discover that these are particularly 
> Scandinavian legendary creatures and are quite common in 
Scandinavian 
> lore.
> 
> Two - he somehow got hold of a "rare" Norwegian Ridgeback egg to 
lose 
> to Hagrid in the Hogshead. Surely, he must have gotten this egg 
from 
> somewhere near Norway.
> 
> This got me thinking. Where else have we come across relics from 
the 
> North? It occurs to me to wonder if old Quirrel might have 
something 
> to do with Durmstrang. The Lexicon implies that Durmstrang may be 
in 
> Eastern Europe, but we have no information other than that it is 
> cold, the winters are cold and students and teachers often have 
> Slavic sounding names. Scandinavia could be in the running for the 
> location of Durmstrang.
> 
> Do any of our Northern readers have any other information that 
might 
> connect Quirrel with a northern country or with Durmstrang?

Berit replies:

I don't think I'm able to help you much even though I am a 
Norwegian :-) Trolls are certainly "native" to Scandinavian 
countries, and so are the Norwegian ridgeback it seems. Also the 
mentioning of high mountains, lakes and a harsh, cold climate + very 
short days in the winter fit well. The only problem I have (but this 
is also a big problem that can't be overlooked) with Durmstrang being 
in Norway are the Slavic sounding names that you mention. Those names 
would be very foreign to Norwegian language and traditional culture. 
To me that is a pretty good sign Durmstrang is NOT situated in 
Norway. I've always imagined Durmstrang located somewhere in Russia 
or Romania etc., so I am inclined to believe the HP Lexicon is right 
about Eastern Europe as the most likely location. Because of the 
Slavic-sounding names none of the Scandinavian countries fit the 
description, really. We could extend it to the Nordic countries too 
(that includes Finland and Iceland), but the language just isn't 
right in any one of them, not even Finland...

P.S: The only historic incident I know of where a considerable amount 
of people with Slavic-sounding names resided in Norway was during the 
2nd World War: The Germans shipped thousands of Yugoslavians to 
Norway and forced them to do slave labour. A lot of them died from 
hunger and exhaustion...

My guess is that Quirrel very well might have been to Norway 
on "expeditions", but not because he visited Durmstrang but because 
he had other business there. The same way Charlie goes on field trips 
to for example Romania; the only tie being he needs to study 
dragons :-)

For those of you who like details: The name Quirrel have a small 
resemblance to the name "Quisling" (first three letters are the 
same :-) which I am sure you all know... Vidkun Quisling turned a 
traitor during the 2nd World War, governing Norway during wartime on 
German orders. So being a "Quisling" is forever a synonym 
for "traitor". So, hm, maybe Quirrel was a Norwegian traitor :-)

Berit