Warlock/Wizard - was Asking JKR just one question

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 119434


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister"
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "M.Clifford" <Aisbelmon at h...> 
> wrote:
> 
> Valky:
> > The word Warlock is said to be derived from Old English for Oath 
> > Breaker. ... It means traitor.


> Geoff:
> Just adding a couple of odds and ends to the thread....
> 
> According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, warlock is and archaic 
> word for sorcerer or wizard (covers Dumbeldore?). It is derived from 
> Old English "waerloga" = deceiver which includes the root "waer" = 
> truth and is cognate with Latin "verus" = true and "loga" = liar. 
> which seems a little contradictory. Truth liar? why not just plain 
> liar? However.
> 


bboyminn:

While it can certainly be helpful, and many time is, I think we need
to be careful about putting too much stock in word origins. We can
find many words in the English language whose modern common usage
don't fit their ancient origins.

In Geof's example of 'Truth Liar', let's think of magicians and magic;
for this example, let's consider Stage Magic. Stage Magic is both the
truth and a lie. What we see is unbelievable, sometime appearing
impossible, yet the magician's action are real and true, he really
does make the 'thing' disappear, however, what we see is an illusion.
The object in questions has vanished, but not the way it appears to
have vanished. 

So to really magic, as in Potterverse magic, is real. To a Muggle, the
appearance of Harry Potter style magic is both a lie and the truth.
The Muggle sees what he sees and knows that it is real, but at the
same time can only explain it by saying it is a trick. Again, we see
both true and lie wrapped into one.

I'm not saying that's the correct interpretation of the origins of
Warlock, only showing that it's possible to create a path of logic
that is not so inconsistent with modern usage.

In general, I think all societies (in the books) treat the words
Wizard and Warlock as one and the same, just as they sometimes say
'sorcerer', it's just a question of who gives which word priority and
why. 

The best I can come up with is something cultural. Maybe it's not East
vs West, maybe it's North vs South, or possibly slightly archaic vs
modern. Or, rather than regional, as I suggested, maybe it's based on
language origins. French, Spanish, English, and Italian have strong
origins in Latin, but I suspect German and similar languages have
their origins elsewhere. Maybe it's aristocratic vs common language. 

I readily admit all of these above, and all of the suggestions by
others are flawed in some way. Someone suggested it was similar to
Freemasons, and that could be, but why would Freemason be typified as
wild, rowdy, and raucous. Not shooting down just the Freemason idea
specifically, just trying to show that, so far, none of the ideas I've
heard, including my own, quite fit the bill. 

That's why I think it would be a good question to ask JKR, especially
if it were in a situation where she wasn't rushed to answer as many
questions as possible as in the on-line chats. 

Also, there are some fantastic question we would all like to ask, but
what are the chance that they would actually be answered. The
'Warlock' question is one that I think has a chance of being answered.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)