Wormtail - parallels with Wormtongue?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 82498

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "meltowne" <meltowne at y...> 
wrote:


Tammy:
> > Don't forget, though, in LOTR, worms weren't only the soft, 
> squishy, wriggly, slimy things so 
> > reminicsent of a rat's tail.  Worm was also another term for 
> dragon, and dragons had a well-
> > deserved reputation for sweet-talking the unwary (and indeed, 
even 
> the MOST wary) out of 
> > hiding and into roasting range.
> 


Melinda:> Actually, Dragons are WYRMs not worm:
> 
> Wyrm /w3:m/ [also wurm] noun. a type of dragon with a long slender 
> body, often able to breathe fire, with either none or four limbs 
but 
> usually without wings. Derives from the Old Germanic Gewurm.


Oxford English Dictionary points out that "wyrm" is the Old English 
word from which "worm" was derived and would not be a modern word.

I know of Tolkien's dragon views - Worminghall in "Farmer Giles of 
Ham" for example but I still have a gut feeling that JKR stuck with 
our "earthy" worm and that Peter Pettigrew is seen as far more of a 
wriggly character than a fire-breathing, flying type although he can 
obviously do just as much damage in a quiet, sneaky way.

Geoff: