Voldemort -- French translation (Was "Re: Ollivander = An Evil Lord")

[forestlily]

No: HPFGUIDX 73029

>Mlle Bienvenu says:
 
>Couldn't Vol de Mort also be "Flight from Death"? or is my French off 
>just a bit? I took three years in high school, but that was some time 
>ago. However I seem to remember the 'de' can mean 'of' or 'from' 
>Anyway, if it is possible that his name means Flight from Death, it 
>seems to make perfect sense given his attitude towards death. 
>However, If it does mean both, then I'm sure JK loved the interesting 
>and suited ambiguity of the phrase.

Me: (L.F.)

I'm afraid that 'Vol de Mort' could not be 'Flight from Death' in french . 
'de' can mean 'of' and 'from' you're perfectly right, but not in this case. 
'Flight from Death' in french would rather be 'S'enfuir de la mort'  . 
To fly, flee, run away  from can't be translate by ' Voler/Vol de'  but  's
enfuir/s'échapper'.
It's a pity because I love the idea that Voldemort  is like a flight of
death falling on people ( er... my english is not very good here but it's
exactly what it evokes in french) and is avoiding the death .

However, maybe 'Flight from death' was in JKR 's mind , who knows ? 
 Because even if she was a french teacher she's not french . It could be a
kind of bad interpretation.
But I'm not sure at all because she seems to be really good in french .
I mean she was able to find the word 'Malfoy'_'Mal Foy' which is a very old
french word (french Middle ages !) to say 'bad faith' and 'ill will'.
I'm always amazed by all the meanings of the names in Harry Potter . She
uses names as a code. Most of the time the name highlight the main feature of
the character.

L.F.