Book 7 Title

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163131

Elfundeb wrote:

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> > 1.  Hallows is used as a noun (although my dictionary does not do 
> so), so it must be a person, place or thing.  I think it is a place.
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> > 2.  Hallow means sacred or holy, so the place must be sacred in
some fashion.
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Lupinlore responded:
> A "hallow" can also be a physical object.  New Age movement versions 
> of the Arthurian legend sometimes refer to various of the objects 
> associated with Arthur (the Grail, Excalibur, etc) as "hallows."
> 
> A "deathly hallow" would be a holy or powerful object associated
with death -- in other words, a horcrux.  Thus the title, I strongly 
> suspect, simply reads "Harry Potter and the Horcruxes."

Carol responds:
Merlin's beard! Why didn't I think of the Arthurian connection? I
don't think that the reference is to the Horcruxes, which are anything
but hallowed, but maybe the (non-Slytherin) Founders created something
akin to sacred objects, the Sword of Gryffindor being one, that are
the antithesis of the Horcruxes, helpful to Harry but "deathly" to
Voldemort or Nagini? Say, a wand and a tiara? I don't like the idea of
Book 7 turning into a scavenger hunt, though, or of objects doing all
the work for Harry. There's also the problem of the relative absence
of religion in the books so far. Yes, JKR is a Christian and we've had
references to baptism and to very secularized Christian holidays
(Christmas and Easter), but a quest for sacred objects would make me
think I'd fallen into the wrong story. And the idea of the "hallows"
being the Horcruxes just doesn't sit right with me. They're not
hallowed; they're desecrated. 

At any rate, "hallows" *is* clearly a noun modified by an adjective,
"deathly, following the pattern of "Philosopher's Stone" and
"Half-Blood Prince." It could refer to a time (All Hallows Eve and All
Hallows, aka Halloween and All Saints Day), the time when the Potters
were killed or a place (hallowed ground such as a graveyard or a
churchyard). 

The etymology of "hallow" in All Hallows or Hallowmas doesn't seem
very helpful. I think, though, that "hallows" as JKR uses it must mean
holy or hallowed objects or a hallowed place (singular with a plural
ending). The "deathly hallows" may have hallowed at one time but
become corrupted, for example, a graveyard infested with Inferi. (I
don't like that idea, either--I don't want Book 7 to turn into "Night
of the Living Dead"!)

At any rate, I'd rather that the hallows be a place than the
Horcruxes, but all the ideas I get for the meaning give me the creeps.
I wish she'd chosen one of her alternate titles!

Carol, who just spent fifteen minutes talking with two
thirteen-year-old boys about DH ("Deadly Hallows"), including why
Snape might be a good guy after all, who's going to die, and what an
epilogue is