"I am Lord Voldemort"

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 94652

I was thinking about anagrams, after seeing the one 
about 'Ollivander' = 'an evil lord'.  We have surmised a fair few on 
this list: 'Severus Snape' = 'Perseus Evans', or 'Dolores Umbridge' 
= 'Dumbledore! Go, sir!'.

I got to wondering what makes an anagram likely, in the sense that 
somebody's name might be an anagram of a concealed clue.  On the one 
hand, the fact that 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' is an anagram of 'I am Lord 
Voldemort' may be a piece of foreshadowing: some other character's 
name may be a clue of this sort.

On the other, why should a person choose an anagram as a means of 
changing their name?  It's a bit forced, IMO, if a plot point 
ultimately depends on this kind of thing unless it's well motivated 
in the characterisation of the person doing it.

In Riddle's case, I think it may reflect the way that Voldemort 
tries to escape his origins, but that his actual method of doing so 
tends to reaffirm those origins.

This is pointed up most starkly when he has to go back to his 
father's grave and body to get his immortality experiment back on 
track, but also in his use of a Muggle diary to preserve his teenage 
memories.

In the case of his name change, it means that, in his new identity 
as Voldemort, his old identity as Tom Riddle is still embedded.

I don't know exactly what this means for future anagrams, but, IMO, 
to be credible in the story there are not that many ways they can 
come in.  Certainly at present anagrams of names such as Snape seem 
to lack motivation.  If Snape were really related to another 
character, why would he choose an anagram to disguise his name?

David