Before we get too far from New Year’s Day, here is an interesting possibility. Could the ‘Hog’ in ‘Hogwarts’ be more heavenly than porcine? According to Robert Trexler, friend of this weBlog and authority on George MacDonald, there is a possibility that ‘Hog,’ at least in one Scottish celebration, Hogamanay (“New Year’s” to us), the ‘Hog’ means ‘holy.’ He writes:
Dear John,
Your readers might like to know about Christmas celebrations (or lack thereof) in Scotland and the emphasis on New Year’s celbrations instead. The implication in this article is that the prefix “Hog” in some Scottish words meant “Holy.” So, the Scottish Rowling is following British or more modern Scottish practices in celebrating Christmas in Harry Potter. George MacDonald’s family celebrated Christmas, but George had left Scotland by the age of 20 – so maybe he was also following English custom too. Interesting.
Bob
About Christmas in Scotland, we read:
It may not be widely known but Christmas was not celebrated as a festival and virtually banned in Scotland for around 400 years, from the end of the 17th century to the 1950s. The reason for this has its roots in the Protestant Reformation when the Kirk portrayed Christmas as a Popish or Catholic feast and therefore had to be banned. Many Scots had to work over Christmas and their winter solstice holiday was therefore at New Year when family and friends gathered for a party and exchange presents, especially for the children, which came to be called hogmanay.
Having just learned that Ms. Rowling is in the Episcopal Church of Scotland (Anglican Communion), which affiliation makes her part of a small denominational minority in Scotland, now we learn that by making Christmas the winter holiday rather than New Years she is also showing her English leanings? I doubt it. How many of the students and faculty at Hogwarts are Scots?
More interesting is the thought about the meaning of ‘Hog’ in Hogamanay. The article says:
There are many theories about the derivation of the word “Hogmanay”. The Scandinavian word for the feast preceding Yule was “Hoggo-nott” while the Flemish words (many have come into Scots) “hoog min dag” means “great love day”. Hogmanay could also be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon, Haleg monath, Holy Month, or the Gaelic, oge maidne, new morning. But the most likely source seems to be the French. “Homme est né” or “Man is born” while in France the last day of the year when gifts were exchanged was “aguillaneuf” while in Normandy presents given at that time were “hoguignetes”. Take your pick!
It looks like ‘Hog’ could mean “great love,” “holy,” or just “new” — and that it’s anybody’s guess. Would anyone like to take a stab at unwrapping the meaning of ‘Hog-warts’ from this new clue? Have at it!
John,
I would just like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you for all the cool information you have provided people like me in the past years about the meanings of words in the Harry Potter series as well as the links with other literature. I am a long-time homeschooler and have used all of these clues in teaching literature and literary criticism to my children. We have read Jane Austin, Dickens, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Macbeth, the tales of King Arthur, Greek and Roman myths and many others works beginning with an interest in how J.K. Rowling used references from these works in her story. After just reading this inquiry into the possible meanings of the word “hog” I turned around from the computer desk to let my kids in on the news. Despite the fact that they were pursing their various electronic pursuits (gameboys, computer games, etc., since it is still Christmas vacation) they did pause to get a little lesson in etymology, and definitely appreciated the possible Christian link to the name “Hogwarts”.
I think that you asked a while ago for anecdotes that would demonstrate how much this series has affected the education and reading habits of today’s children. Well, every one of my children began to love literature with their initial reading of Harry Potter. I really believe that they have become life-long readers because of their love of the series. They have learned to read closely and critically. And you were the one who helped me to see the richness in these books which I was able to share with my family.
I came across this page when I Googled “Hogwarts etymology:”
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/word_sources.html
Apparently there is a flower named a Hogwart, though I could find no reference pages to explain what it is.
Well, every one of my children began to love literature with their initial reading of Harry Potter. I really believe that they have become life-long readers because of their love of the series. They have learned to read closely and critically. And you were the one who helped me to see the richness in these books which I was able to share with my family.
If this what Ms. Rowling feels like when people say their children learned to love reading through her stories, I have to tell you, it is a very good feeling indeed. Thank you for the early Christmas gift! (Orthodox Nativity is Monday.)
Rahner13 Says:
January 4th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I came across this page when I Googled “Hogwarts etymology:”
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/help/word_sources.html
Apparently there is a flower named a Hogwart, though I could find no reference pages to explain what it is.
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That would be because it’s a HogwOrt (“wort” being a generic old word for plant):
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CRCA6
(what IS the code to hide urls beneath a more interesting clicky-word?_