[HPforGrownups] Luna's Name (was: Re: Pippin, you've done it again!)

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 82832


> Have you ever read The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge? It was
> JKR's favorite book as a child.  The main character in that book is a
> Moon Princess.  In the story, there is one Moon Princess per
> generation who is chosen and given an opportunity to fulfill a
> prophecy made in the time of Edward I - to rid the Dark Forest of the
> evil people who live there and free her kingdom and it's people from
> evil.  Of course, THIS moon princess (Maria) succeeds, but since the
> prophecy every single other Moon Princess has failed.  (We meet a
> former Moon Princess in the story named Loveday Minette, called so
> because all Moon Princess "love the day".)  Part of the prophecy is
> that the Moon Princess must marry a man "beneath" her.
>
> To me, Luna Lovegood is very like the female character in The Little
> White Horse in temperment and personality.  Luna=Moon (of course, we
> all know) and I believe Lovegood is a hint at Loveday.  I think in
> Potterverse _that_ Luna is JKR's own version of a "moon princess" and
> after reading TLWH, I'm wondering about a future Harry/Luna ship.
> If "Love" is the power in the Dept. of Mysteries, the power the Dark
> Lord "knows not", who better than a Lovegood to have on your side?
> And most would see Luna as "beneath" Harry.

???  So is Luna beneath Harry in your view, or is Harry beneath Luna, as per
_The Little White Horse?_  (And, before you respond, get your collective
minds OUT of the gutter!)

And how does this "beneath her" bit work?  Socially?  Financially?
Height-wise?

Socially, I'd say that Harry's a good cut or two above Luna in the WW...he's
a celebrity and (on his dad's side of the family) from an old
pureblood-wizard family, while she's the daughter of the publisher of the WW
equivalent of the _Weekly World News._

Financially, Harry's apparently quite wealthy.  We don't know how well-off
or otherwise Mr. Lovegood is.

Heightwise---Harry's described, usually, as short and slight for his age.  I
don't remember anybody commenting on Luna's height one way or t'other.