- Spoiler Alert!
It’s interesting to note that a “hallow” seems to be a magically-powerful object that was created by a powerful wizard. When speculating on the meaning of Deathly Hallows after the title release, we spent time here at this site analyzing Arthurian legend. I wrote this at the time in relation to Hallows and Horcrux speculation:
Alas, horcrux theorists will find no definite answer along these lines: the link gives all of the following possibilities as hallows based in English and Irish legend: spear/pole/sceptre, cauldron, sword, stone, pentacle, dish/cup, crown. Some of the links are obvious: Sword (Gryffindor’s), Cup (Hufflepuff’s), Pentacle (Slytherin’s). But it looks like Auntie Muriel’s tiara (crown) and a wand (spear/pole/sceptre) are still on the table. Adding “cauldron” to the mix is interesting.
While the Arthurian speculation gave us no final word on either horcruxes or the “deathly” hallows, Rowling did follow traditional hallow lore: 4 founders relics corresponding to Arthurian hallows, and 3 “deathly hallows,” relics created by the Peverell brothers. As Hepzibah Smith noted, Hufflepuff’s Cup and Slytherin’s locket had all sorts of magical powers attributed to them. The Sword also has obvious magical powers, and I think we can safely assume the same for the diadem. And Dumbledore deconstructs the children’s tale by explaining it as a story used to tell the tale of three powerfully magical items that were most likely created by the Peverells themselves (not given them by Death). So let’s examine the 7 magical items in light of Arthurian hallow lore:
- Gryffindor’s Sword – Parallels the “sword” hallow, obviously – the “sword of Rhydderch, one of the 13 Hallows of Britain, “possesses the ability to burst into flame,” underscoring the Gryffindor/fire connection.
- Hufflepuff’s Cup – Parallels the “cup” or “cauldron” hallow – according to legend, the cauldron would heat food for a true hero but not a coward. One wonders if this was merely locked away in Bella’s vault because the coward Voldemort never unlocked its magical powers. Also a Grail parallel here.
- Slytherin’s Locket – Parallels the “pentacle” hallow – so far I can only find this in some lists of hallows. Unless I’m mistaken, it does not appear to be on the list of the 13 Hallows of Britain.
- Ravenclaw’s Diadem – Parallels the “crown” hallow – once again, I’ve only seen this on lists. I don’t know the significance.
- The Elder Wand – Parallels the “stone” hallow – most likely a parallel to the “Shining Spear of Lugh” which “provided victory in any fight” (reference here). Said to have been brought from “Otherworld.”
- The Resurrection Stone – Parallels the “stone” hallow – perhaps the “Stone of Fal,” another hallow brought from “Otherworld.”
- The Invisibility Cloak – Parallels the “Mantle of Arthur” – one of the 13 Hallows of Britain.
All of this is quite fascinating especially in light of the deliberate Excalibur parallel, with Ron (“Reginald” – King) pulling the Gryffindor Sword out of the water. (I can’t think of this part of the legend anymore without thinking about the phrase, “You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.”)
One more point of interest – Arthurian legend is inextricably tied to the Christ story. Taliesin was a Welsh Bard of the 6th century, called “The Bard of Britain,” one of whose poems tells the tale of Arthur’s search for the cauldron hallow in Annwn (Otherworld). [We might be able to link this, loosely, to Rowling's use of "Beetle the Bard" as a key element of the story.] The poem’s concluding lines:
I will pray to the Lord, the great Supreme,
That I be not wretched – may Christ be my portion.
I praise the Lord, the great Prince, that I be not sad; Christ endows me.
So, in summary then: 7 Hallows, 3 of which are “Deathly,” 3 of which are Horcruxes, and one of which was never tarnished, held the power to crush the Horcruxes, and represents courage, the primary virtue of the Harry Potter series: The Sword of Gryffindor!
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So Travis,
In your D&D days would you have made the Sword of Gryffindor a +5 Holy Defender-Flames on command?
Matthew
Matthew, I think I was unclear about my past D&D involvement. All of my youth group kids played D&D, but I grew up in fundamentalist Christianity, so I never played as a kid, and I never was able to work time into my schedule to play with the youth group kids (they usually started their games at about 10pm Friday nights and played early into the morning.
Adding cauldron to the mix only calls to mind the giant cauldron in the graveyard, book 4. It doesn’t appear to have much significance beyond utility, however, and apart from having a role in Voldemort’s pursuit of immortality I see little connection to the horcruxes themselves.
I can’t think of anything else in the Potter world, though I can easily think of the Black Cauldron from the Prydain Chronicles.
I’m saying that perhaps the Hufflepuff Cup is supposed to parallel the Cauldron.
Travis–
Have you read Stephen Lawhead’s series about Arthur and Merlin? In them, Merlin is not a sorcerer, but a Christian bard, and Taliesin is his father.
Yeah,
I was trying to be funny.
Flopped, though.
Matthew
I laughed.
I also laughed at the Michael Palin line (or was it Terry Jones?)
Is it time to take off our hoods and show who we really are?
Ah! Right, of course. cup = cauldron. Silly me.
Rowling’s NBC News, 1 hour special was very lovely. In it a boy asks about the themes of prejudice and genocide that seem to parallel historical events such as Nazi Germany, and Rowling replies that although she didn’t set out to specifically focus on those themes there are definitely many political undertones that come from many sources.
And, (YES!), she is asked by the interviewer about the title “Chosen One” and whether there were any religious undertones in the series as well. It went just about exactly like this:
Question: Harry is also referred to as “The Chosen One”, so are there religious undertones…
Rowling: “Well…there clearly is a religious undertone, and it’s always been difficult to talk about that because until we reach book 7, views of what happens after death and so on…it would give away a lot of what was coming. So, um, yes…my beliefs and my struggling with my religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book.
I: And what is the struggle?
Rowling: Well, my struggle…really, is to keep believing.
I recorded the interview on VHS last evening, so I wrote all this down sitting with pen and paper just this morning. I’m sure I’ve missed some “um”s and quite possibly some contractions are a bit different, but I think I wrote it down almost exactly as they phrased everything.
Fantastic. Jo is awesome. Truly an inspiration. She has a life fan in me.
Me too! There’s some stuff about Snape, too, and she didn’t actually say he was entirely unheroic. Here we go (I’ve been transcribing this all morning to keep for personal enjoyment!):
“I knew from the beginning what Snape was. Do I think he’s a hero? To a point I do, but he’s not an unequivocally good character. Snape is a complicated man: he’s bitter, he’s spiteful, he’s a bully…all these things are still true of Snape even at the end of this book. But! Was he brave? Yes, immensely. Was he capable of love? Very definitely. So he was a flawed human being, like all of us. Harry forgives him, as we know, from the epilogue. Harry really sees the good in Snape ultimately. I wanted there to be redemption and I wanted there to be forgiveness, and Harry forgives.”
Isn’t that a precious explanation? I think she sums up everything very nicely.
“Dumbledore knew what his weakness was, and he learned it when he was 17. He learned his weakness and his temptation was power. He recognized that he was not really to be trusted with power, and so he remained at Hogwarts. It was important to me that Dumbledore made that choice, and Harry, I think, admires him more for it.”
“From very early on, I wanted Hagrid to be the one who carried Harry out of the forest. That had been planned for so long, and I wanted Hagrid to believe that Harry was dead…so I have had that image in my mind, that Hagrid would survive to do that, to carry him out.”
“I really, really cried after writing Chapter 34, which is where Harry walks back into the forest.”
I don’t have the exact words at the moment, but she explained that she’d had the last third of the book planned for ages, especially that chapter, which is part of the reason it was the most emotional one for her to complete. The content of the chapter was very emotional for her to, but having planned it for so long it had a huge effect on her when she finally reached it.
I love that interview. More like those thanks Jo!
Thanks shadowquill . Those are some fantastic insights.
I don’t care if I have to wait 20 years for the opportunity. I want to meet her someday for even a one minute conversation. I don’t know what I’d ask, though. I’ll have to plan it all out, and hopefully it won’t be a random surprise meeting on the street! I’d be speechless. I know she’s essentially an ordinary woman just like everyone else in the world. I’ve never been one to hero-worship celebrities much. But the influence her books have had on my life (I’ve been growing up with Harry! I was going to take my driver’s test after reading about Harry’s Apparition test in book 6!) make the thought of meeting her more…personal, I suppose, than it would be otherwise. I relate so much to her through what I’ve learned of her through her writing. I could never write something as spectacular as she’s managed, but if I had the talent I would use it as she has.
Oh mate that’s my dream as well. I’d ask her… I don’t know…
Shadowquill, thank you so much for transcribing and sharing that interview. It makes some things very clear: how she sees Snape, the fact that for him there is both redemption and forgiveness, what she seees as Dumbledore’s weakness, and how she felt about Chapter 34, which to me, is an incredibly moving piece.
Hagrid carrying Harry out of the forest – well, that didn’t resonate as much, because we knew, even if he didn’t, that Harry was still alive. But if it turned her on, then that’s all that matters.
Thank you again.
No problem at all! I’ll keep writing down what I can from what I VHS taped. I want to share her reply to the question reguarding the political turmoil of the series as well, I just haven’t had the time yet and I have to work this evening, so…
Maybe with luck a transcript of this interview will show up on Accio!Quote and I won’t need to do all of it. It’s a pleasure, and every time I rewind to watch and listen again I appreciate it more and more, but it is a bit time consuming.
Tada! Yay, no more work! Here’s the complete transcript of the interview, curtesy of MSNBC!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20001720/
There are some slight variations from what she actually said in this transcript, though. The meaning is essentially the same but whoever transcribed this did it a little less word-for-word. I reccomend finding a video clip and watching that.
Thanks for the link to the transcript, as well.
There are a lot of answers, including the fact that Voldemort did have one last real chance at redemption – and chose not to take it. Also that all was well – the ending is not a hook for a new story.
And more answers still at the Leaky Cauldron interview, link posted by Felcity at the Around the Common Room: A Week After.
The bit about Voldemort and his final form was intriguing.
I think I have closure.
Shadowquill–
I’m glad to hear the rest of that interview, because I’ve pretty much been saying the same thing all along. It’s always nice to be vindicated.
Yes! I’d also point out that the entire question of worthiness is inextricably tied to the Grail Quest in Arthurian lore. Dumbledore’s comments about Harry’s worthiness to possess the Hallows (versus his own) could easily have been spoken by Lancelot to Galahad in the Vulgate Cycle or Quest del Saint Graal regarding achieving the Quest.
The Locket may be a varition on the Stone of Eluned which was brlorvrf to prodie potable water
Eluned is believed to have been one of the twenty-four daughters of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, a sub-Roman monarch, who had embraced the new faith of Christianity. Eluned became a Christian at a young age, but was pursued by a pagan prince. She spurned his advances and, like many women of her time, she ran away to keep from being forced into the relationship. She traveled to Llanddew where she was ousted by the locals, and then to Llanfilo. Here again, she was ousted by the inhabitants, on the pretext of thievery. She then travelled to Llechfaen (now Llechen), where she was again thrown out of the community. She would not find peace until her arrival at Slwch Tump, where the local lord gave her protection. However, Eluned’s pursuer found her. When she ran from him, he chased her down the hill and beheaded her. Her head rolled down the hill and hit a stone. In that spot, a spring arose. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eluned
The stone was included on some lists of the 13 treasures., while the diadem could parallel the crown of Lochlainn
The Locket may be a variation on the Stone of Eluned which was believed to produce potable water
Eluned is believed to have been one of the twenty-four daughters of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, a sub-Roman monarch, who had embraced the new faith of Christianity. Eluned became a Christian at a young age, but was pursued by a pagan prince. She spurned his advances and, like many women of her time, she ran away to keep from being forced into the relationship. She traveled to Llanddew where she was ousted by the locals, and then to Llanfilo. Here again, she was ousted by the inhabitants, on the pretext of thievery. She then travelled to Llechfaen (now Llechen), where she was again thrown out of the community. She would not find peace until her arrival at Slwch Tump, where the local lord gave her protection. However, Eluned’s pursuer found her. When she ran from him, he chased her down the hill and beheaded her. Her head rolled down the hill and hit a stone. In that spot, a spring arose. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eluned
The stone was included on some lists of the 13 treasures., while the diadem could parallel the crown of Lochlainn