alternative title

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 169355

> Carol responds:

> "HP and the Relics of Death" may be one of the alternate titles
> mentioned on her website that she came up with and decided against
> (for whatever reason) in favor of "Deathly Hallows." It isn't
> necessarily synonymous with "Deathly Hallows."

Leslie41:
That's true.

Carol: 
> In any case, I'm not convinced that "Relics of Death" (which, BTW, 
> is a rather horrifying title for a children's book, isn't it?) is
> synonymous with "Horcruxes," which are supposed to *prevent* death
> (unlike, say, the relics of a dead saint or the relics you inherit
> from your great grandmother on her death). Nor am I completely
> convinced that "deathly hallows" relates to objects. It could refer 
> to a dead person "hallow" in "Halloween" or "Hallowe'en" refers to 
> saints (not just holy people but good people who have died) or to a 
> place(the place where the dead kings are entombed in LOTR's Gondor 
> is referred to as "the Hallows"). 

Leslie41:
Yeah, I used to agree, but after seeing the translation she approved 
I don't anymore.  "Relics" seems to me to be a very precise word, one 
that would contradict it being a place or a person.

Carol:
> I'm not going to argue the point, but "hallows" suggests "holy" 
> and Horcruxes are anything but.

Leslie41:
That is definitely true, but combined with "deathly" the implication 
is that they are *un*holy, or an evil inversion of holiness.  "Relics 
of death" suggests that to me.  
 
Carol:
> One more note, not a point, exactly. Most of JKR's magic-related 
> terms are Latin or pseudo-Latin ("cod Latin," she calls 
> it). 

Leslie41:
I never heard that!  That's fascinating.  Where does she talk about 
that?

Carol:
> "Crux," of course, is Latin for "cross," so it makes sense that 
> the "hor-" root would be Latin as well. 

Leslie41:
Well, makes sense, but not necessarily. Many of her invented words 
are *not* rooted in Latin.  "Thester" for example, in Old English, 
means "dark, obscure, gloomy, mournful", etc.  To my knowledge there 
is no equivalent in Latin.  It seems plain to me that she used that 
Old English word to create "thestral".  Crux has its *root* in Latin, 
but Old English assimilated an enormous amount of Latin words.  Crux 
("cruc") is also an Old English word. 

Carol:
> I don't think that JKR would use the meaning "whore" (even
> figuratively to suggest filth) in a title for a HP book. The Latin
> meaning is more appropriate both in terms of readership and 
> meaning, IMO.
 
Leslie41:
Or maybe she thought the root "hor" was a perfect blend of both!
 
Carol:
> Carol, who really hopes that the "hallows" are not the Horcruxes and
> will be very disappointed in Rowling's judgment if they are

Leslie41:
Why?