Percy Weasley and the Camelot connections of the Weasleys

bookworm857158367 bookworm857158367 at yahoo.com
Thu Jun 10 14:23:07 UTC 2004


No: HPFGUIDX 100689

"The 'Weasley is our King' song may have also been a possible clue 
to  Arthur Weasley's assention to Minister of Magic as well.  Arthur 
> basically becomes "King" of the Wizarding World.  Maybe or most 
> likely with the help of Dumbledore (Merlin figure) ... However, 
the parallels with HP get dodgy in that there can be 
> parallels to other resources beyond the Arthurian Legends.  Jane 
> Austen, Shakespeare, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and various Celtic 
or 
> Greek myths to name just a few examples.  Who can we honestly say 
> Harry is based on?  Voldemort?  Ron?  Hermione?"   

   I think that's a pretty shrewd guess that may well turn out to be 
right. I do think the Weasleys will come out on top in some fashion. 
I don't think Rowling is following any exact blueprint or basing her 
stories exactly on Camelot or any other legend, but there are enough 
elements of all of them in the Weasleys to make them look awfully 
special in some way:

   -- The names: Arthur Weasley/King Arthur; Ginny/Ginevra/Queen 
Guinevere; Percy/Sir Percival.
   -- References to royalty: Harry dreams of Ron and Hermione 
wearing crowns; the Slytherins and then the Gryffindors 
sing "Weasley is our King"; Bill, the oldest son, is dating Fleur, 
whose full name translates to "flower of the court"; Ron plays the 
part of a knight in the human game of Wizard's Chess in the very 
first story; even the Weasleys swearing by "Merlin's beard." 
   
   I don't think you can look at any one of those things and see an 
exact parallel to any particular story or legend. Maybe Rowling did 
everything just because it sounded cool and she really doesn't 
intend to go further with the Camelot similarities. 

If I were to make predictions, I'd say she did pick them for a 
reason and is maybe toying with the idea of making Arthur Minister 
of Magic; maybe the Weasley sons and daughter will become honored 
for their courage and feats of daring as knights in Dumbledore's 
Army; maybe Percy, who was sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of 
his brave, loyal, red-headed siblings, will redeem himself and die 
heroically; maybe Ginny will begin dating Harry and Ron will date 
Hermione and both will be important in some sense as lead couples of 
the wizarding world. 






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