[HPforGrownups] Re: What drives You Know Who? [Non-sequitur]

[Erika L.]

No: HPFGUIDX 111376

macfotuk  <macfotuk at yahoo.com> wrote:
>Oh come on everybody. JKR is the queen of names. >Names have significance.

>Vol - steal/thief

>de = of

>Mort = death

>Cheater of death

>It's about death, .....well immortality
>absence/cheating of death)
-------------

All right, here's my two cents on the issue...

"Vol" in French is a noun meaning "theft" or "flight" ("voler" is the verb and means "to fly" or "to steal" and a "thief" is a "voleur"). The preposition "de" is translated into English as "from" or "of" depending on the context. This leaves us with the following possibilities: "theft from death," "theft of death" "flight of death," or "flight from death".

I think any of these translations can describe one aspect of another of Voldemort's character. 



"Theft from death":

This one was pretty well covered already:

coderaspberry wrote:

>Anyway, my thought was that it might be more of a stealing FROM >death type of thing - not a literal translation - and that could very >much apply. Voldemort, by seeking immortality, is basically "stealing >from death" - that is to say, cheating it. To have him flee from 
>death makes him less, I don't know, impressive or something.



"Theft of death"

For this version one could suggest another less literal interpretation whereby the "of" becomes possessive and we see it as "death's theft" pointing to death personified as a kind of thief, suggesting the harm Voldemort does in causing death and destruction. Certainly Harry has had his parents (and by extension his childhood) stolen from him when Voldemort murdered them. The families of all of Voldemort's victims can be said to be victims of this sort of theft. It's not my favourite translation of the name, but I think it's plausible.

"Flight of death"

If we consider "flight" in this context as meaning to "to fly" I would see this translation likening Voldemort to a bird of prey, death given wings or the like.

"Flight from death":

Dungrollin wrote:
>I originally thought that 'flight from' was better (ie. it fit in 
>with my secret theories), though with Riddle's (and later You Know 
>Who's) extreme arrogance in the chamber at the end of CoS, 'flight', 
>implying fleeing, doesn't entirely fit, and now I'm not sure... 

>Unless he has a secret terror of death.



You see, I think "flight from death," that is to say, the desire to flee death, is indeed the most appropriate translation of his name. I'll grant you that the fly/flee pun of "flight" exists only in English, but Rowling knows French-- she taught it-- so I think she's clever enough to make a bilingual pun. And I do actually think Voldemort is afraid of death. He wants to live so much that he's willing to enduring the most pitiable state of survival rather than face death. Just look at how he describes his existence after his AK backfires on Harry:

>>"I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive and without the means to help myself... for I had no body [...] I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist..." GoF 566-7 UK <<<

During that decade Voldemort isn't even alive in any sort of meaningful way. I mean look at his description of his "life": "forcing myself sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist." Think of that... Second by second *forcing* himself to exist... That to me suggests a nightmarish version of existence and he stays that way for some ten years. He is so afraid of death that he doesn't care about the quality life-- as long as he's not dead that's good enough for him. Contrast that with Harry at the end of OoP. When Voldemort possesses him, for a second there, Harry actually wishes for death as a means of ending the pain and of seeing Sirius again. I don't think Voldemort could ever get to the point where'd he's wish for death, where he'd choose death over any form of survival.

So yes, I think fleeing from death is what drives Voldedmort and I think that we can see it reflected in his name as well.

Best,

Erika (Wolfraven)


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