Thoughts for the Serious Reader of Harry Potter
The good news? Evanna Lynch continues to succeed on ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ No one was eliminated this week on ‘Disney Night’ but it is assumed two couples will be voted off at ‘Halloween.’
Back to ‘Crimes of Grindelwald’ speculation and Lethal White exegesis here tomorrow!
This won’t be available for viewing for very long: two minutes of Crimes of Grindlewald — Theseus, Leta, and Newt at the Ministry…. Catch it while you can!
In my post last week about the Dickensian Cryptonyms found throughout Lethal White I neglected to mention or guess at the Cratylic meaning of ‘Lorelei Bevan,’ the girlfriend of Cormoran Strike. The first name is discussed in the text but the last name, Bevan, is only mentioned once (ch 11, p 113).
Lorelei was her real name, taken not from the mythical siren of the Rhine, but from Marilyn Monroe’s character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, her mother’s favorite film. ch 11, p 115
I wrote two friends in the UK about the name and both replied it was almost certainly a reference to Aneurin Bevan, the Welsh radical leftist who founded the UK’s Welfare State after WWII. I’d never heard the name before, but it turns out he is something of an iconic figure for liberals in England, Scotland, and especially Wales; one online poll on the subject of ‘100 Welsh Heroes‘ placed him as #1. {Aside: Note that Jack o’Kent plays a part in the life of Owen Glendower, #2 in that poll.}
Join me after the jump for an introduction to this Bevan, the many pointers to him in Lethal White, and my best guess as to why Lorelei, of all people, was stuck with this surname. [Read more…]
Several more promtional behind-the-scenes looks and interviews after the jump!
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Friend of this blog Beatrice Groves, Research Fellow and Tutor at Trinity College, Oxford University, and author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has been writing articles for Harry Potter fandom mega-sites MuggleNet.com and The-Leaky-Cauldron.org. MuggleNet has created a home for her posts on everything from Shakespeare allusions in the Hogwarts Saga to Cratylic Names in Cormoran Strike, a dedicated page called ‘Bathilda’s Notebook.’
Prof Groves writes less frequently for Leaky (see her three part discussion there from July about the 2005 JKR-Lev Grossman interview) but has just finished a five-part survey of Rowling’s use of traditional plant lore in the Harry Potter novels. My favorite is the fifth and concluding part in which she reveals the alchemical side of plants (and makes a great catch, a first I think, of the hermetic items for sale in Diagon Alley), but all five have Groves’ characteristic wit and insight.
Who knew Culpeper’s Complete Herbal was so important to Rowling’s potions work and alchemical drama? “Not I,” says the Dean. I include links to the five posts below for your convenience in finding and reading all five. Enjoy!
“Harry Potter: A History of Magic” and Plant Lore:
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