Harry Potter: Provenance of "Death Eater"?

mac57 · mac57 #1 (**permalink**)

10-31-2007, 03:06 PM

I have just finished reading the last of the Harry Potter books, and one thing has always "confunded" me - where did the term Death Eater originate and what is its meaning?

It occurs to me that "mort", part of "Voldemort" is the French word for dead/death, and so I wondered if there was a French word like "volde" that had some association with eating. I can't find one though.

I am aware of the lines in the books around the idea that death is the last enemy to be vanquished, but it doesn't seem to me to tie in strongly enough.

Anyone? Where does "Death Eater" come from?

cheesybanana · cheesybanana #2 (**permalink**)

10-31-2007, 03:40 PM

Errr...Dumbledore's gay?

I don't know, but I would be interested in finding out.

mac57 · mac57 #3 (**permalink**)

11-01-2007, 07:13 PM

I have been working on my limited knowledge of French. "Mort" = "Death", so if the "Volde" part somehow meant anything related to "Eat", you could translate Voldemort as "Death Eater".

Well, that was my theory. It is almost close.

"Vol de mort" in French can be loosely translated as "thief of death" or "flight from death" depending on whose translation you go with. How about a bit of a stretch here... "cheater of death"? Then given Rowling's love of having fun with words might jump in, and "Death Cheater" becomes "Death Eater"?

Just a thought...

I have googled and googled and googled, and am amazed at how few people have even thought to ask this question!

Ryan13 · Ryan13 #4 (**permalink**)

11-01-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mac57

I have been working on my limited knowledge of French. "Mort" = "Death", so if the "Volde" part somehow meant anything related to "Eat", you could translate Voldemort as "Death Eater".

Well, that was my theory. It is almost close.

"Vol de mort" in French can be loosely translated as "thief of death" or "flight from death" depending on whose translation you go with. How about a bit of a stretch here... "cheater of death"? Then given Rowling's love of having fun with words might jump in, and "Death Cheater" becomes "Death Eater"?

Just a thought...

I have googled and googled and googled, and am amazed at how few people have even thought to ask this question!

Cool idea Mac57, you've really done a lot of research!

Shannonb · Shannonb #5 (**permalink**)

11-01-2007, 10:31 PM

Well I checked the Harry Potter Lexicon and they didnt have information on it besides that they were once called the Knights of Walpurgis.

hotdog182 · hotdog182 #6 (**permalink**)

11-01-2007, 11:32 PM

I don't have a clue why voldermort, could possibly be just a name she thought of, She did an interview over here in UK on a kids news show, saying she loved making up words, So i guess that =].

Although your ideas are awesome too.

P.S. How hot is emma watson

Shannonb · Shannonb #7 (**permalink**)

11-01-2007, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotdog182@mac.c

I don't have a clue why voldermort, could possibly be just a name she thought of, She did an interview over here in UK on a kids news show, saying she loved making up words, So i guess that =].

Although your ideas are awesome too.

P.S. How hot is emma watson

P.S. Very.

Thundermoon1994 · Thundermoon1994 #8 (**permalink**)

11-02-2007, 04:16 AM

She said in an interview that her meaning behind Voldemort was "flight from death". Anyway, if you eat something, you destroy it or conquer it. Voldemort's goal was to overcome death.

macjuicy23 · macjuicy23 #9 (**permalink**)

11-02-2007, 09:22 AM

I asked the father from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and he says it Originated from Greek Language... Oh yeah and Windex cures any skin disorders....

Village Idiot · Village Idiot #10 (**permalink**)

11-02-2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thundermoon1994

She said in an interview that her meaning behind Voldemort was "flight from death". Anyway, if you eat something, you destroy it or conquer it. Voldemort's goal was to overcome death.

This pretty much sums it up. Voldemort split his soul into different pieces so he could never be killed and would never die. I guess he named his followers the Death Eaters because he was egotistical and narcissitic and thought that they would never die or could never be defeated.

That or the name was created by some one with the same view, just from the victim perspective.

Mac_OS · Mac_OS #11 (**permalink**)

11-03-2007, 03:55 PM

mort comes form the french infinitive of the verb mourir meaning to die, then the word death is mort, for example to die = pour mourir which literally translated means 'for to die' - the word, i don't know about the eating thing but the infinitive of the verb to eat en francais is manger.

Mac_OS · Mac_OS #12 (**permalink**)

11-03-2007, 03:58 PM

if you were to conjugate the verb manger it would look like this, (excuse the Uk keyboard)
je manges
tu mange
il/elle mange
nous mangons
vous mangez
ils/elles mangent

i dont think voldemort is connected to the french for eating i do think however its connected to the latin verb for eating, i believe i read this somewhere.

ambivalent · ambivalent #13 (**permalink**)

11-03-2007, 07:49 PM

im glad you guys brought up this question, I always forget that I have questions like this.

Thats why I love you guys.

iSebastianGrey · iSebastianGrey #14 (**permalink**)

11-04-2007, 08:21 AM

The term "death eaters" means what Thundermoon said. Now the origin of the term may actually come from what were known as "sin eaters," those who would take upon the sins of the dying through ritual means.

mac57 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 29, 2006 Location: St. Somewhere Posts: 4,547 Mac Specs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, 120 GB SSD, 500 GB HDD	10-31-2007, 03:06 PM I have just finished reading the last of the Harry Potter books, and one thing has always "confunded" me - where did the term Death Eater originate and what is its meaning? It occurs to me that "mort", part of "Voldemort" is the French word for dead/death, and so I wondered if there was a French word like "volde" that had some association with eating. I can't find one though. I am aware of the lines in the books around the idea that death is the last enemy to be vanquished, but it doesn't seem to me to tie in strongly enough. Anyone? Where does "Death Eater" come from? My Macs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, Mac Pro, 3.2 GHz 8 Core, Power Macintosh 7500/100 My iStuff: 32 GB iPhone 4, 30 GB iPod Video, 16 GB iPod Touch My OS': Mac OS X Tiger, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Mac OS X Leopard, Mac OS 8.6, openSUSE 10.3, Win XP I was on the Mac-Forums honor roll for September 2007
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cheesybanana #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 13, 2007 Location: Akron, Ohio Posts: 939 Mac Specs: C2D MacBook Pro	10-31-2007, 03:40 PM Errr...Dumbledore's gay? I don't know, but I would be interested in finding out. Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?
	QUOTE Thanks

hotdog182 #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 08, 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 220 Mac Specs: 17" MBP, High Res, 2GB Ram, 2.4Ghz processor Core 2 Duo	11-01-2007, 11:32 PM I don't have a clue why voldermort, could possibly be just a name she thought of, She did an interview over here in UK on a kids news show, saying she loved making up words, So i guess that =]. Although your ideas are awesome too. P.S. How hot is emma watson iPhone Therefor I Am
	QUOTE Thanks

Thundermoon1994 #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 26, 2006 Location: Kent, OH Posts: 495 Mac Specs: 15" MacBook Pro w/ 2.4 GHz C2D, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB	11-02-2007, 04:16 AM She said in an interview that her meaning behind Voldemort was "flight from death". Anyway, if you eat something, you destroy it or conquer it. Voldemort's goal was to overcome death. -- Unibody 15.4" MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz Core2Duo Penryn, 250 GB HD, 4 GB RAM, nVidia GeForce 9400M & GeForce 9600M GT w/ 256 MB) -- -- 8 GB iPhone 3G -- 30 GB iPod Video --
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ambivalent #13 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 28, 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 687 Mac Specs: Macbook Pro - iPhone	11-03-2007, 07:49 PM im glad you guys brought up this question, I always forget that I have questions like this. Thats why I love you guys. She figured out that the only way to keep from being frozen was to stay in motion, and long ago converted most of her flesh into liquid. Now when she smells danger, she spills herself all over, like gasoline, and lights it.
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Harry Potter: Provenance of "Death Eater"?

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Shannonb #5 (permalink)
Member Since: May 29, 2007 Posts: 748 Mac Specs: 2.16 Core 2 Duo, 160GB HD, 2gb RAM, Black Macbook \| iPhone \| OS X Leopard	11-01-2007, 10:31 PM Well I checked the Harry Potter Lexicon and they didnt have information on it besides that they were once called the Knights of Walpurgis.
	QUOTE Thanks

macjuicy23 #9 (permalink)
Member Since: May 31, 2007 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 972 Mac Specs: IMAC / Powerbook / Ipad 3	11-02-2007, 09:22 AM I asked the father from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and he says it Originated from Greek Language... Oh yeah and Windex cures any skin disorders....
	QUOTE Thanks

Mac_OS #11 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 22, 2007 Location: Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK) Posts: 462 Mac Specs: White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard	11-03-2007, 03:55 PM mort comes form the french infinitive of the verb mourir meaning to die, then the word death is mort, for example to die = pour mourir which literally translated means 'for to die' - the word, i don't know about the eating thing but the infinitive of the verb to eat en francais is manger.
	QUOTE Thanks

Mac_OS #12 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 22, 2007 Location: Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire (UK) Posts: 462 Mac Specs: White Macbook 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb hd,superdrive, OSX Leopard	11-03-2007, 03:58 PM if you were to conjugate the verb manger it would look like this, (excuse the Uk keyboard) je manges tu mange il/elle mange nous mangons vous mangez ils/elles mangent i dont think voldemort is connected to the french for eating i do think however its connected to the latin verb for eating, i believe i read this somewhere.
	QUOTE Thanks

iSebastianGrey #14 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 27, 2007 Location: In your closet, behind the winter coats. Posts: 327 Mac Specs: 13.3" MacBook Intel Core Duo 2GHz, 60GB HD, 512MB DDR2, and the SuperDrive.	11-04-2007, 08:21 AM The term "death eaters" means what Thundermoon said. Now the origin of the term may actually come from what were known as "sin eaters," those who would take upon the sins of the dying through ritual means. Everything popular is wrong. ~Oscar Wilde
	QUOTE Thanks

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