Significance of the term "Dark Lord" (Was:: The Prophecy and Its Reference to LV

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 147984

Jen D. wrote:
> I have never felt at ease with anyone who called LV "the Dark Lord"
since FakeMoody did so with Harry in his office at the beginning of
his unveiling. It was such a clear signal in that instance that now I
feel very uncomfortable when other characters, characters that we are
supposed to know and understand their loyalties, use it. Snape, I am
hoping uses it to maintain his cover with Draco. It's obvious that it
doesn't ring bells for most characters. Harry realized it, that only
DeathEaters ever call him the Dark Lord, but Harry didn't spend a lot
of time pondering it, the clue when past him in the prophecy and the
"wise old man" let it pass as well. We are being led somewhere with
this and I haven't quite got there on my own yet. 

>
Carol responds:
The Prophecy is spoken in a voice that is not Trelawney's. She's a
conduit or oracle voicing an ambiguous prediction that may or may not
come to pass. The language that she uses in Seer mode is both ominous
and ambiguous. Neither Harry nor Voldemort is named. Voldemort
supplies the identities for both parties (Harry's some months after
hearing the Prophecy as he's not yet born when it occurs). However,
Trelawney's second Prophecy also refers to the Dark Lord, and there's
no question that the term in that instance refers to Voldemort.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I don't think that the use
of the term "Dark Lord" in the Prophecy links either it or Trelawney
to Death Eaters, and when Harry says, "I've only ever heard Death
Eaters call him that" (quoted from memory), he's forgetting that the
term was used in the PoA prophecy ("The Dark Lord shall rise again").
It's possible, then, that others do use the term, including the
labeler of the Prophecy in the MoM (who probably did so because that
was the term used in the Prophecy itself--how he knows that without
hearing the Prophecy, I can't say--or perhaps from the near-universal
fear of the name). Also, Voldemort or Lord Voldemort is not really a
name but a title that Tom Marvolo Riddle created for himself by
scrambling the letters of his birth name. So neither "Voldemort" (the
invented identity) nor "Tom Riddle" (the abandoned name) would work in
the Prophecy even if ambiguous wording and an ominous tone were not
essential characteristics of a "real" prophecy (as I believe they are).

As for why the Death Eaters use the term "Dark Lord," it's both
ominous and dignified, in contrast to the awkward "He Who Must Not Be
Named" (which recalls H. Rider Haggard's "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed") and
the silly "You Know Who," which reflects superstitious fear and (to
me) sounds odd coming from the likes of Minerva McGonagall. Snape
would, of course, be in the habit of saying "the Dark Lord" from his
DE days and would have retained the habit to avoid accidentally saying
the name or using some other term in front of the DEs or his Slytherin
students. It also fits the rather sinister and dignified image that
Snape has cultivated for himself (along with his black clothing and
sweeping movements). I simply can't imagine him saying "You Know Who"
as if he were *afraid* of the name. "The Dark Lord" suits him better
as a euphemism, both in its ominous dignity and its use by the DEs he
must associate with in his role as double agent (notably Lucius Malfoy).

There is also some indication that the name itself (or discussion of
the Dark Mark) cause Snape's Dark Mark to burn (the GoF scene with
Fake!Moody and the first Occlumency lesson in OoP) as Snape
involuntarily rubs his arm as if it hurts him on both occasions. We
don't see any such thing with any other Death Eater or ex-Death Eater.
It's possible (I'm not saying probable) that the Dark Mark senses
Snape's disloyalty to LV. If so, his avoidance of the name "Voldemort"
would have a motivation different from the fear of speaking the name
that prevents, say, the Weasleys from speaking it, or the adoration of
Bellatrix, who thinks that to speak Voldemort's name is to desecrate
it (if I can use that word for a person who is as far from sacred as
it's possible to be).

I don't think that we can judge either Snape's or Trelawney's
loyalties by their use of the term, and as Jen points out, DD doesn't
comment on the significance of the term in the Prophecy. Nor do I
think that we can assume that any new character who uses it is a Death
Eater. It might suit Scrimgeour or Slughorn better than "You Know
Who," or worse, "the wizard styling himself Lord Voldy-thingy" (which
to me suggests "the artist formerly known as Prince").

Carol, also unsure where JKR is leading us with this term but tossing
out a few thoughts on the topic for what they're worth