The name Riddle

[Brett]

No: HPFGUIDX 158103

Mike:

> Speaking of anagrams, oh you weren't? Well anyway I tried
> out "Grindelwald" to see what's in it.

Argus Pyrites responds:

I've always thought "Grindelwald" quite evocative enough without
resorting to anagrams. "Forest of the Trolls" (or perhaps more
fittingly "Forest of the monster from Beowulf who's mother was
actually more fierce and whose exact nature as a monster has been
debated for centuries, but I digress)

As far as his deeper purpose in the stories, that comment on the
back of the Frog Card always implied to me that Mrs. Rowling was
hinting at the 'real' cause of WWII.

The idea of a person who is the Cause with Hitler as merely an
Effect, well that person scares me profoundly!

As to the Riddle of the name Riddle... I'm left wondering which
came first, the name Voldemort, or the name Riddle. I believe
Mrs.Rowling came up with the (nickname hardly seems a strong enough
word) -- Title 'Lord Voldemort" first, then created his backstory
and creation of his name after. Thus, Voldemort's name is the
riddle, which we puzzled over in CoS.

But, this only works when we learn of it in reverse as we did in
the books. If we'd met a boy named Riddle first, then learned that
he changed his name to Voldemort, there actually isn't a
riddle/conundrum couched in there, just an anagram... (a case where
chicken before egg (Descartes before Horace?) actually makes more
sense)