Just curious...
The dictionary isn't helping much. Is this a British thing?
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December
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- American Twentysomething in the hizzouse
- Solve the mystery!
- Note to Self
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- What's a "hallow"?
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11 comments:
That is exactly what I wondered, but with all the Christmas-ness going on I haven't had a chance to look. When you find out, let me know. :)
Merry Christmas!
no idea sorry:)
haha, darn!
The only thing I can think of is "All Hallows' Eve". This site leads one to believe that "hallows" is a traditional word for saints.
So saints with the appearance of death? Maybe saints who have fallen and become Death Eaters?
Or is "hallows" a verb here? "Hallow" means:
1. To make or set apart as holy.
2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.
So reverence in a deathly manner? Respect for the dead? Respect for those who appeared to be dead but who actually rise from the ashes like a phoenix?
;)
transitive verb
Definition:
1. make holy: to make somebody or something holy
2. respect greatly: to have great respect or reverence for somebody or something
Yes, thank you ;P See my comment above. But the "Harry Potter and the Something Something" titles have always referred to an object or person, not an action. To wit:
Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
It's not a stretch to assume that in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", hallows is meant to be a plural noun. (The word "the" precludes anything else anyway.)
But, as you so aptly point out, the dictionary only lists a definition for the word "hallow" as a verb.
But if this title were a reference to the verb "hallow", wouldn't it be "the deathly hallowing"?
So! The only definition of "hallow" as a noun that I know of is "saint". So...the saints who appear dead?
Dumbledore?
Sirius?!
Dictionary.com gives Hallow as being:
1. to make holy; sanctify; consecrate.
2. to honor as holy; consider sacred; venerate: to hallow a battlefield.
So, um, I still really don't know how that fits into that use in the book title. Hmm...
Could it be simpler than I thought?
If "Hallows" simply refers to All Hallows Eve or All Hallows Day, then yes, yes it could!
But let's not forget that "deathly" means the appearance of death.
This couldn't possibly mean that Harry's parents (who were killed on Halloween, if you didn't follow that link) are still alive, could it? They came out of Voldemort's wand, and Dumbledore made it a point to say that people can't come back from the dead in Goblet of Fire (which sounded way too much like reverse psychology foreshadowing in the movie, as Hai and I have discussed).
I will cling to my notion that it somehow means Dumbledore isn't dead.
He isn't dead. He just became one with The Force.
Heheheh, true that.. ;)
Now will you hurry up and get home, or something, I'm missing you!!
Seriously, hope you're having excellent time with your family, and David and I will see you when you get back. Don't forget, we can come pick you up like we'd talked about, if need be, from the airport..
When you listed the titles, I also noticed that they all referred to something we didn't learn until we actually read the book. Who knew what a Goblet of Fire or the Chamber of Secrets wa before those books. Perhaps we knew about Azkaban and the Order of the Pheonix before those books. I don't remember now. Anyway, my point is that perhaps she's taking a little used word and putting her own meaning to it.
Yeah, you're probably right!
We did know what Azkaban was, I think, maybe. But the Order of the Phoenix was defined in that book.
Also, people who know anything about mythology would know what the Philosopher's Stone is.
But still, you do have a point.
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