[HPforGrownups] Question about Death Eaters

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 52495

At 05:49 19/02/03 , Greg Johnson wrote:

>So, do we know how the Death Eaters got their name, or why they are called
>thus? I know that they are Lord Voldemort's supporters, but what is their
>name in reference?  Is there any other historical or literary reference?  I
>imagine this has already been discussed, so could someone please point me 
>in the  right direction?

Chicken or egg time: the Dark Mark incantation is "Morsmordre" (Old French: 
"eat death"). Was this incantation designed by Death Eaters, or did they 
take their name from the incantation?

Take your choice, as canon is currently silent on the issue. However, I 
have a feeling somewhere deep inside me that we're going to find out 
something about the history of the Death Eaters as a movement before the 
end of the series.

For what it's worth, as far as I'm aware, there is no real-world or 
literary precedent of a movement or group using that name. Although, of 
course, the use of skulls, snakes, etc in "scary" (I use that word to be as 
generic as possible, including everything from school playgrounds to Nazis 
and beyond) movements is as old as iconography itself.

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, who currently has four larger discussion posts in 
preparation but doesn't have the time to finish any of them, and is only 
replying to this post to clear his mailbox.