Fenrir Greyback - literary parallels

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 138123

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "marika_thestral" 
<marika_thestral at y...> wrote:
> Marika:
> 
> I'm a bit confused... 
> 
> You made the statement that "I can't see anyone naming a child after
> the monstrous wolf of Norse mythology." My reply to that is that I
> can't see why, since some people actually do chose to name their 
sons
> Loke. Loke is not precicely a nice guy, and his destany is not a 
nice
> one either - being tied up having snake poison dripping all over 
him.
> Still some parents think it's a fine/cool (?) name.
> 
> The second part of my answer referred to catkind who was "taking 
that
> (Grayback) as a (translation of a) nordic-type surname."  I just
> suggested that it doesn't sound like it to me - being Scandinavian 
myself.
> 
> If somehow there is something I misunderstood, I apologize.

Geoff:
My thought about Fenrir as a given name was that, often in olden 
times, children were given a name which perhaps were an aspiration to 
what they might become or which highlighted a physical 
characteristic - Rufus for a redhead for example. It is quite common 
in Jewish circles; if you read the Bible, the meaning of a given name 
is often mentioned. Thus, I though it odd that the name of a fabled 
werewolf might be used.

As to Greyback, my thought was that it could be a family name (such 
as the Scots name Cruickshank) or possibly a further nickname 
referring to physical looks, such as calling someone Longshanks or 
Strider....

These were merely observations on my part - no confusion was intended.