The power of words in the WW (Was: Fear and Valour)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 105700

Sherry wrote:
<snip> I've never yet heard a death
> eater call Voldemort by his name.  In fact, though I have nothing
but gut instinct, this is one of the reasons I don't believe in ESE
Lupin or Black.
> They freely say his name.  They are not afraid of him. The death eaters
> fear Voldemort, that is part of the hold he has over them. <snip>

Carol responds:
I'm not sure what I think about this idea. Certainly some of the Death
Eaters (e.g., Nott, Avery, and the coward Karkaroff), and even
Bellatrix was pleading with Voldemort near the end of OoP. But her
reaction to Harry's saying the name ("How dare you?" or words to that
effect) indicates indignation rather than fear. She's furious that
Harry, a child in her eyes, dares to say her master's name. And in
Snape's case, it's different still. The name causes him physical pain
and he unconsciously clutches his left arm. That, to me, is the most
solid evidence we've seen that he really is a "traitor" to the DE
cause. Whether Voldemort still thinks of him as "the one who has left
us forever" or has changed his mind, accepting the excuse of not bing
able to apparate into the graveyard and so on, the mark itself senses
Snape's disloyalty to the DE cause (as it did in the confrontation in
GoF between Snape and Fake!Moody even though the name itself was not
spoken). Whatever the reason why the other DE's avoid Voldemort's
name--fear or deference or a desire to make the name fearful
throughout the WW--Snape has his own reason for calling Voldemort "the
Dark Lord."

On a related note, the other Order members (except Dumbledore and
Lupin) habitually say "You Know Who." Snape never uses this term.
Probably as a DE he got into the habit of saying "the Dark Lord." He
may feel that "You Know Who" is a slightly ridiculous alternative, or
he retained the habit of saying "The Dark Lord" to avoid arousing the
suspicions of his Slytherin students and his Death Eater contacts.

BTW, has anyone noticed the contrast between Dumbldore's practical,
almost real-world approach to words and names (don't use euphemisms;
call it by its name) and Gandalf's and Aragorn's in LOTR, where words
do seem to have power (e.g., Strider scolds Frodo for saying that if
he goes without food any longer, he'll become a wraith)? It strikes me
as odd that Dumbledore, who knows what words can do when used as
spells, takes their power so lightly.

Are there any other examples of words that can or might have power in
the WW besides Voldemort's name and spells or incantations? (If anyone
wonders, the distinction I'm making here is between one- or two-word
spells like "Expelliarmus" and "Avada Kedavra" and lengthy
incantations, possibly accompanied with Potions, as in the restoration
of Voldemort in GoF.) Wouldn't a spoken oath be magically binding, for
example? (Again, think LOTR or the Silmarillion--the Ring binds Gollum
to his oath; the Silmarils bind the sons of Feanor to theirs.) Would
an oath sworn to Voldemort have power beyond the personal vengeance of
Voldemort on the oath breaker? (I'm assuming that the initiation
ceremony in which the DEs received their Dark Marks involved some such
oath and that Snape is breaking or has broken his.)

Carol, who now has Pippin's oath to Lord Denethor running through her head