Meaning of names in Harry Potter
Jul. 21st, 2004 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
General flower names:
These are names like Lily, Petunia, Myrtle, Fleur, Olive, Lavendar, Pansy.... They seem to indicate that this is a semi-important female person who isn't important enough to be given a full description, ever. Olive is the exception, she's just the girl who found Myrtle dead.
Quirrel:
Squirrel. Refers to his personality until we found out that he was possessed. It may also refer to his relationship to Voldemort, who tends to be snakish.
Remus Lupin:
Remus was Romulus' twin brother who suckled from a she-wolf with him. Lupin is obviously related to lupus, wolf. Lupus is also a disease of the immune system, where the body literally attacks itself.
Sirius Black:
Sirius is the Dog Star, and the faithful dog of the hunter Orion. The "dog days of summer" in August, when it's very hot and muggy, were attributed to the Dog Star being high in the sky. Black means Black. Wow. A faithful black dog. Whoda thunk?
Voldemort:
Okay, we know that this is part of an anagram. Please note that mort is related to the words mortal and mortgage, and refers to death.
Tom Riddle:
Well, he was refered to as "He-who-must-not-be-named" because, of course "before he was Voldemort he could be freely named". It's a bit of a... um... conundrum? Puzzle? Enigma?
Sibyl Trelawny:
Sibyl is a word for a Greek prophetess. One of her ancestors was a famous Seer named Cassandra, who was a specific (and cursed) seer in Greek mythology.
Minerva McGonagall:
Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, and defensive war. And also weaving. Her Greek name is Athene or Athena. Her symbol is the owl, and the olive is sacred to her.
Severus Snape:
Oh, come on! He's severe. That's all there is to it. And possibly also snivelly, but that's another issue.
Viktor Krum:
Viktor is a victor. Apparently. Even though he technically lost in every game we've seen him in. I doubt that makes Ron very happy, though.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore:
Albus means white, like his hair and (presumably) as the opposite of dark. Wulfric means, apparently, wizard. And Percival was a knight in King Arthur's (like dad Weasley, if you wanna get strange) court.
Percy Weasley:
Okay, I doubt that the Percival in general means much, but maybe he was named after Dumbledore?
Well, I'm bored now. I may make a new list later.
These are names like Lily, Petunia, Myrtle, Fleur, Olive, Lavendar, Pansy.... They seem to indicate that this is a semi-important female person who isn't important enough to be given a full description, ever. Olive is the exception, she's just the girl who found Myrtle dead.
Quirrel:
Squirrel. Refers to his personality until we found out that he was possessed. It may also refer to his relationship to Voldemort, who tends to be snakish.
Remus Lupin:
Remus was Romulus' twin brother who suckled from a she-wolf with him. Lupin is obviously related to lupus, wolf. Lupus is also a disease of the immune system, where the body literally attacks itself.
Sirius Black:
Sirius is the Dog Star, and the faithful dog of the hunter Orion. The "dog days of summer" in August, when it's very hot and muggy, were attributed to the Dog Star being high in the sky. Black means Black. Wow. A faithful black dog. Whoda thunk?
Voldemort:
Okay, we know that this is part of an anagram. Please note that mort is related to the words mortal and mortgage, and refers to death.
Tom Riddle:
Well, he was refered to as "He-who-must-not-be-named" because, of course "before he was Voldemort he could be freely named". It's a bit of a... um... conundrum? Puzzle? Enigma?
Sibyl Trelawny:
Sibyl is a word for a Greek prophetess. One of her ancestors was a famous Seer named Cassandra, who was a specific (and cursed) seer in Greek mythology.
Minerva McGonagall:
Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, and defensive war. And also weaving. Her Greek name is Athene or Athena. Her symbol is the owl, and the olive is sacred to her.
Severus Snape:
Oh, come on! He's severe. That's all there is to it. And possibly also snivelly, but that's another issue.
Viktor Krum:
Viktor is a victor. Apparently. Even though he technically lost in every game we've seen him in. I doubt that makes Ron very happy, though.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore:
Albus means white, like his hair and (presumably) as the opposite of dark. Wulfric means, apparently, wizard. And Percival was a knight in King Arthur's (like dad Weasley, if you wanna get strange) court.
Percy Weasley:
Okay, I doubt that the Percival in general means much, but maybe he was named after Dumbledore?
Well, I'm bored now. I may make a new list later.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-07-20 11:21 pm (UTC)One bit of history that I clearly remember really showed him to be a very cruel and ruthless man. Clodius Albinus, a contender for the throne after Commodus (the emperor around when Severus came to Rome and made his way up to consul and then governor) was killed, thought himself Severus' successor (Severus' troops had hailed him emperor, I believe). After Severus defeated Niger, another contender for the throne, therefore making his presence in Rome stronger, he threw Albinus a curve ball by declaring one of his sons successor instead. Albinus' troops hailed him emperor, and now the two were basically going to have a face-off in Gaul. If I recall correctly, it was a pretty close battle, but Severus won. Albinus killed himself to escape a horrible execution at Severus' hands.
Severus wasn't finished with Albinus yet, though. He decided to have Albinus' corpse stripped, and he trampled it under his horse. He then cut off Albinus' head, sent it back to Rome, and had his body, along with the bodies of his wife and children, hurled into the Rhine River. Because beating him in battle wasn't quite enough.
Sounds like quite the emperor, eh? Not sure if I'd say Snape's that cruel, but he's up there all right.
For another random trivia fact, there was another emperor named Severus Alexander. He became emperor about eleven (I think?) years after Septimius Severus, but he was actually very peaceful and religious. I remember he built a lot of libraries and temples especially. Seems the exact opposite of Septimius.
There was another emperor who went by Flavius Severus, but I'm not sure he was very influential or noteworthy.
The name's got a lot of history, apparently. :)