[HPforGrownups] alternative title

[Lauren Merryfield]

No: HPFGUIDX 169302

Kati:
The swedish HP publisher, Tiden förlag, reveals their translation of
the title for HP7, "Harry Potter och dödsrelikerna" (Harry Potter and
the Relics of Death). This alternative title was given to translators
by JK herself, as DH is very difficult to translate. Thoughts on the
alternative title? Are relics "only" referring to the horcruxes
(locket, cup)?


Hi,
I think JKR is using the term "hallows" to mean the Horcruxes, but I'm not totally certain of that.  When I looked up the term "hallows" I did not get a definition for a noun form of the term.  I did, however, get a definition of "relics" as a noun:

Hallows:
"tr.v.   hal·lowed, hal·low·ing, hal·lows
1. To make or set apart as holy.
2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.

[Middle English halwen, from Old English halgian; see kailo- in Indo-European roots.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company."
*******
relics:
"-noun
1. a surviving memorial of something past.
2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past: a museum of historic relics.
3. a surviving trace of something: a custom that is a relic of paganism.
4. relics,
a. remaining parts or fragments.
b. the remains of a deceased person.
5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.
6. Ecclesiastical. (esp. in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches) the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.
7. a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.

[Origin: 1175-1225; ME < OF relique < L reliquiae (pl.) remains (> OE reliquias), equiv. to reliqu(us) remaining + -iae pl. n. suffix]
-Related forms

rel·ic·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
*******
1. Something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object or custom whose original culture has disappeared: "Corporal punishment was a relic of barbarism" (Cyril Connolly).
2. Something cherished for its age or historic interest.
3. An object kept for its association with the past; a memento.
4. An object of religious veneration, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of a saint.
5. or relics A corpse; remains.

list end

[Middle English relik, object of religious veneration, from Old French relique, from Late Latin reliquiae, sacred relics, from Latin, remains, from reliquus, remaining, from relinquere, reliqu-, to leave behind; see relinquish.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company."

Thanks
Lauren