Everything Stolen (WAS: Why the Dark Mark?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 121747


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tristan" <tiggers_disco at y...> 
wrote:
> 
Geoff:
An interesting summary pullng together information we've culled over 
the years. One of two extra thoughts.....


Tristan:
> Aragog:
>     The scientific name for a spider is ARAneae, which happens to be
> the first three letters of Aragog's name. Since Aragog is a spider,
> that makes perfect sense!

Geoff:
JKR isn't the only one who does this. In LOTR Shelob, the giant 
spider is derived from "she" + "Lob" whici is an Old English word for 
spider.


Tristan:
> Beauxbaton:
>     "Beaux-Baton"="Beautiful Stick" in French!


Geoff:
This could be also accurately translated as "beautiful wands" - a 
little more apt perhaps.


Tristan:
> Fawkes:
>     I looked this up the dictionary myself, and it actually had it 
in
> there...kinda. It had "Guy Fawkes" in the dictionary, and he was an
> English conspirator who was executed for his involvement in the
> Gunpowder Plot (1605), which was an attempt to blow up King James I
> and the Houses of Parliament with shells and fireworks. Since Fawkes
> is a phoenix, which according to mythology bursts into flames every
> hundred years or so, and then rises from its ashes to take the form 
of
> the phoenix once again. See the connection? Gunpowder, shells,
> fireworks and ashes, fire, flames???? Maybe JK Rowling named Fawkes
> after Guy Fawkes?


Geoff:
Which is why we in the UK have Bonfire Night, a big celebration, 
every 5th November - and why of course all English readers would 
latch onto JKR's allusion.


Tristan:
> Knockturn Alley:
>     Knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Well, to be nocturnal is to be 
active
> during the night, so since many of the Dark Arts are performed 
during
> the night, it seems reasonble that JK Rowling named it Knockturn
> Alley. This is so cool! I discovered the definition of this myself!


Geoff;
This is one of JKR's well-known wordplays. Others in the same frame 
might include Diagon Alley = "diagonally" and Grimmauld Place = "grim 
old place". "Auld" ia Scots dialect word for "old". The Scottish 
capital, Edinburgh is sometimes called "Auld Reekie" a combination of 
old and "reek."


Tristan:
> Lupin, Remus:
>     Stories said that there was a boy named Remus who was abandoned
> when he was just a baby, (aww) but was found by wolves who nursed 
him
> and raised him. Also Lupin means wolf-like in Latin.
>> snakes were evil and cunning creatures - A basilisk is a snake and
> it's very deadly.


Geoff:
This is the story of Romulus and Remus who were raised by wolves. 
Rome was named after the first brother after they fought about it. 
Even Star Trek got in on that one :-)


> Riddle, Marvolo Tom:
>     If you rearrange all the words in "Tom Marvolo Riddle", you
> get...what else?? "I am Lord Voldemort"!!


Geoff:
Well, yes. Tom demonstrated that himself in COS.