posted
So after watching the new Harry Potter trailer for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about Durmstrang, one of the other schools in the Tri-Wizard tournament. For some reason the name clicked in my head as it never had before.
So, after awhile, I thought I'd figured out where it came from. Anyone who has read Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy" probably knows the character Talon Karrde. Karrde lived on Myrkyr and had two pet vornskrs, who I remembered as Durm and Strang.
So after that realization clicked on in my head, a wave of theories came after it. "JK Rowling is a huge Timothy Zahn fan, and honored him by taking the names of Karrde's pets and melding them together?" Was the basic principle. I got fairly into it, until about 10 minutes later, when going to post my conspiracy theory on here, I double checked the spelling of both Durmstrang the school, and Durm & Strang the vornskrs.
As it turns out, Durmstrang is correct, however the vornskrs are Drang and Sturm. That started a brief "wait, is it' Drangsturm or Durmstrang?" argument in my head, before the entire thing exploded and I realized I was the biggest dork on planet Earth.
So, if any of you out there were worried that your dorkiness was out of control, please be comforted by this thread, and know that there is one out there with a dork level that far surpasses your own.
I'll probably delete this thread tomorrow when I realize that no one has any idea what I'm talking about.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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No, that makes perfect sense. Stick with your conspiracy theory. Rowling obviously just mixed up the name further to try and throw you off. Stick with it though, I think you're really onto something. Posts: 42 | Registered: Aug 2005
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What ? said. Your theory is completely plausible, and I only pause to wonder why no one else came up with it first. Your logic is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
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You know rivka, I'm really glad you messed up the URL at first. I never knew that you could use a Graemlin as an actual link to another web site.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, I am an idiot.
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Thanks ?, I never even would have seen the link...
quote:Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, is named for Guy Fawkes, the leader of a famous attempt to blow up the English Parliament building in 1605 (often called "The Gunpowder Plot").
That is hillarious to me for some reason. Is Rowling secretly anti-goverment?
Posts: 1209 | Registered: Dec 2003
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So, you mean to tell me, Lyrhawn, that when you see two very similar literary allusions, you don't Google the terms before you post a thread about it?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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The thought occurred to me too, Lyrhawn. But I'm a bigger dork than you are, because I've re-read those books months back and remembered the names correctly Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Well I DID double check it before I posted the thread, I'm only a partial idiot, not a complete one .
And while I just recently read Goblet of Fire, I haven't read the Zahn books in probably a year or two. I think I did good with the names.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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In other words, the vornskyrs' names are not transposed; however, Durmstrang -- in keeping with Rowling's love of wordplay -- is.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Maybe that's where Zahn got it from too. See, my stupidity leads to unexpected and fascinating discoveries!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Um, that's what I meant, Lyrhawn. If you Google the term "Sturm and Drang", you get a "Did you mean "Sturm und Drang?", and then you can click on that and find the connection...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'm not sure I buy all the connections in Rivka's link. Especially Wood. Also Skeeter, which, it seems to me, more likely comes from "mosquito," hence an insect of some sort.
Ginny, of course is not exactly chaste and virginal, although I susptect Rowling may have intended a bit or irony in the name.
They left out the reason Fawkes got his name, which is that, much like a phoenix, Guy Fawkes is burned in effigy every year.
The Ron Weasely explanation is kind of amazing, especially with the yellow rat. Does this mean Ron is going to die?
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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The first time I ran across the phrase "Sturm and Drang" in popular (well, fairly propular) lituratue was in Endymion. Then again, that book (and series in general) seems to take pride in reaching and hording ideas and resources from other disciplines.
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Filius Flitwick: Filius is Latin for "unnoticeable"; Flitwick is a town in England.
Sirius Black: "Sirius" is a constellation that is often referred to as the "Dog Star." Hence, Sirius Black is named such for his Animagus form of a black dog.
I double-checked in my dictionary, and the only Latin definition for "filius" is "son." Also, Sirius is NOT a constellation, it's a star within the Canis Major constellation.
And there's my contribution to dork-ness.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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You know, I was gonna show off my theatre-nerdiness by giving you all a brief history lesson on the meaning and importance of "Sturm und Drang" in the development of 18th century German and European theatre, but rivka's smilie likny beat me to it. Curse you rivka! Foiling again my opportunity to look smart!
Posts: 786 | Registered: Jun 2003
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