Everything Stolen (WAS: Why the Dark Mark?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 121972


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tristan" <tiggers_disco at y...>
wrote:
> 
> Very Interesting, I didn't know that about the origins of the dark mark.
> 
> The only thing that baffler me is that every little thing in HP 
> seems to have been stolen from something else.
> 
> 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!
> 
> Azkaban:
> This is really doesn't explain the meaning of Azkaban, but it's
> pretty interesting. Someone (Mitchell) told me that Azkaban and
> Alacatraz are both similar because they're both prisons on islands,
> and they're both 3-syllable words that sound the same. 
> 
> ...many more examples snipped....
> 
> Tristan

bboyminn:

Stole or used? JKR sets her world in the real world. She didn't steal
London, she simple used it because it exists in the real world and in
her fictional version of the real world.

Unicorns and Dragons are part of our real world mythology, and are
therefore part of her real world too. 

The use of Latin in spells and in hidden meanings of names is natural
because in our real world many names and words have Latin origins, and
Latin would most likely be the language of magic since it is the most
ancient language of Europe. In Asia, it's likely that magic words have
their origins in Sanskrit, the equally ancient language of Asian.

Also, in choosing some names, she has dropped hints about the
characters. There are 'dog' hints in Sirius Black's name. There are
wolf hints in Remus Lupin's name.

So, I agree with all your examples, but I think 'stole' is a little
too strong, she has simple borrowed the real world in order to
construct her version of it.

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)