Significance of Dumbledore's name (WAS: A theory about Harry (kind of long, sorr

[sevenhundredandthirteen <sevenhundredandthirteen@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49395

Tyler wrote:

>I suggest that the name Dumbledore has meaning.
>Dumbledore is old English for bumblebee. What does a
>bumblebee do? Pollinate. In its search for nectar, a
>bumblebee spreads pollen, fertilising flowers (in "The
>Botany of Desire", author Michael Pollen refers to
>bees as 'flying penises'). Dumbledore could have been
>the one who cast the spell, or gathered ingredients,
>or otherwise helped Lily and James 'pollinate' their
>special creation. JKR has apparently claimed that she
>just liked the word Dumbledore, but we wouldn't
>expect her to divulge a clue that large, would we?
>One more small tidbit about bumblebees-they are
>solitary, they don't hive like other bees. Sounds a
>little like Dumbledore, doesn't it?

Using a bee analogy for Dumbledore also has other implications. When 
a bee stings, it dies. Relating that in an allegorical sense to 
Dumbledore, it suggests that Dumbledore will "sting" Voldemort and in 
doing so will cause his own destruction.

I've always liked this analogy because it is so simply and because 
such a noble character like Dumbledore seems exactly the type to 
sacrifice his own life for the greater good. 

Using this analogy it suggests that when Dumbledore dies it will be 
extremely calculated and voluntary resulting eventually with the 
ultimate downfall of Voldemort. (Whether it's Harry that finishes him 
off or not, it's likely Dumbledore will have a large part to play in 
the undoing of Voldemort, IMO)

(Just one small note: According to my research on bumblebees, their 
sting isn't barbed, like honeybees, so they can sting more than once. 
Comparing Dumbledore to a bee that dies when it stings when his name 
is derived from one that *doesn't*, doesn't really strike me as that 
much of an issue because I'm talking in a symbolic sense. Bee 
enthusiasts, however, might disagree ;D )

~<(Laurasia)>~