Ginny, naming: potential for Lissa's TTTR theory

[Brooke]

No: HPFGUIDX 60622

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kirstini" <kirst_inn at y...> 
wrote:
> Firstly: Sorry if this has been mentioned before - I know that 
> people have commented on the Arthurian significance of the Weasley 
> names in various places, but I wasn't sure if this one has ever 
come 
> up. 
> 
> Have just finished marking essays on Charlotte Bronte's Villette, 
> and the name of one the characters - Ginerva - struck me as 
> interesting. Everything I've read on the subject has assumed 
> that "Ginny" is short for "Virginia" - virgin queen with the red 
> hair and etc - but I couldn't quite remember if Ginny's whole name 
> has ever been confirmed canonically. If so, this is an irrelevant 
> post. Sorry folks. If not - well, idly wasting time, I 
> typed "Ginerva" into a name-search engine called "Behind the Name", 
> and it came up with "Italian form of Guinevere". "Ooh" I thought, 
> and followed the hyperlink to "Guinevere", where we find:
> 
> GUINEVERE   f   English, Welsh Mythology
> Pronounced: GWIN-e-veer
> Old French form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which is composed of 
> the elements gwen meaning "fair, white" and hwyfar 
meaning "smooth". 
> In Arthurian legend she is the beautiful wife of King Arthur. Her 
> betrayal of her husband with Mordred prompted the battle of 
Camlann, 
> which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. Later versions 
> of the legends tell of her adulterous affair with Sir Lancelot. 
> 
> I did know the legend already, but it was rather interesting to re-
> read it in this context. I don't *like* the G/H ship, but I still 
> thought this was rather interesting. Although the translation into 
> Italian makes this a little tenuous, I think there has been some 
> debate round these parts on whether Godric and his hollow were 
> Welsh, which establishes a potential link.
>  I remember that Lissa had a theory on a pregnant Ginny betraying 
> Harry and going back in time to spawn Tom Riddle, so I thought she 
> might quite like this one.  
> 
> Kirstini
> (Okay, I'll admit it. I've re-read till I could quote you GoF word 
> for word. I'm now wasting my partner's internet time by pursuing 
> every tedious link I can. Term has ended and this week is 
stretching 
> endlessly infront of me. I need clues!)

Hi.  Being a big fan of British History, the first thing I thought of 
when the character of Ginny was introduced was Elizabeth I.  (the 
virgin queen - Virginia - nickname Ginny).  For any Americans who 
might not know, she ruled the Golden Age of England, firmly 
established the Church of England, and is the most revered of all the 
British queens in history.  

Maybe Ginny will remain without a love interest in future books 
(hence the "virgin" analogy).  Maybe she will have a very important 
role to play in the fight against Voldemort, and much like Elizabeth 
I, she will have to choose the resposibilities of her important 
position over personal romantic pursuits.  Just a thought...

I also think it is interesting that Harry is often a nickname for 
Henry, and Henry VIII was Elizabeth's father, and in many people's 
view, the most powerful and favorite of all of Britain's past kings.  
I wonder if JKR had any of these historical people in mind when 
naming her characters.  (It's hard not to believe it with other 
legendary names associated w/ royalty like Arthur and James).  Let's 
just hope that Harry doesn't turn out marrying six women and sending 
two of them off to join the headless hunt w/ sir nicholas!

Brooke