Ollivander

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 171603

wish4puppy wrote:
>
> According to a number of websites, the name Ollivander is an
anagram. i.e., Ollivander = An evil lord.
> 
> Has anyone thought of the fact that he could be totally the opposite?
> 
> The olive branch is a symbol of peace and in Dutch "van der" means
"of the."  So Ollivander could be "of the peace."
> 
> His disappearance from his shop is suspicious, regardless of the
meaning behind his name.

Carol responds:
I think the only significant anagram in the series is "I am Lord
Voldemort." The etymology of a character's name, I agree, is more
likely to provide a clue to his character traits and/or loyalties.

I agree with you that "Olliv" suggests Olive, and we might want to
check into the properties and associations of olive wood (above and
beyond the proverbial olive branch). But I think "vander" relates to
"wand" (appropriate given his profession): "Wand" is Middle English
for "slender stick" and comes from Old Norse "vondr" (same meaning).
Essentially, Ollivander means "olive wand." That being the case, I'm
pretty sure he's a good guy, perhaps one of Dumbledore's "useful
spies." We know that he informed DD when each of the wands containing
a Fawkes feather was sold. Quite likely, he sent other messages as well.

Carol, hoping that Ollivander is alive and well and related to Luna,
whose silvery eyes resemble his 

[Side note to Neil in the Harry is not a Horcrux thread: If you go
upthread and read my post a little more carefully, you'll find that I
agree with most of your points. I was arguing that neither Harry nor
his scar is a Horcrux. I agree that it would be stupid to make the boy
he's trying to kill into a Horcrux and probably impossible to create a
Horcrux accidentally. I only conceded that a soul bit *might* have
accidentally entered Harry's cut, giving him some of Voldemort's
powers, but *if* that's what happened, it didn't make him a Horcrux.
Most of the people who *do* think that Harry's scar is a Horcrux--and
I am not one of them--think that it became one accidentally. *I* think
that an encasing spell is required to create a Horcrux, making an
accidental Horcrux impossible. As for deliberately making Harry a
Horcrux, not even Voldemort would be that stupid. C.]