Did you know that in the Harry Potter saga, the name worn by the director of Hogwarts referred to a bumblebee?
Hogwarts, Muggles, Gryffindor, Slytherin or Hagrid…
These names and words that fans of the Harry Potter saga have used since they discovered the works of JK Rowling, or their adaptations on the big screen in the early 2000s, often have a very specific origin and meaning.
Albus Dumbledore, for example, eminent headmaster of the Hogwarts school in which the young wizard studied, is a character that we know by heart. But if we remember perfectly his reassuring voice, his long silver hair, his white beard and his half-moon glasses, perhaps we never took the time to be interested to his surname.
However, as we learn in a fascinating interview with Jean-François Ménard, French translator of the saga, JK Rowling did not choose the name of her character at random. The word “dumbledore”, like several other names in the saga, is taken from a novel by Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridgepublished in 1886.
Warner Bros.
“Dumbledore means ‘a bumblebee’, but it’s a dialect word”explained Jean-François Ménard at the microphone of Gallimard Youth.
“In Thomas Hardy’s book, [il y a] a female character who lives in the countryside and who uses somewhat local words. This really annoys her father who tells her that she could speak in a more civilized manner. And “dumbledore” is the word used – already in the time of Thomas Hardy – in certain regions, for “bumblebee”, which means the bumblebee.
Warner Bros.
At first glance, one might wonder what the relationship is between an old school principal and a foraging insect. However, there is indeed a justification for this surprising choice, as the translator also explains:
“In the spirit of JK Rowling (…)Dumbledore is the bumblebee which goes from flower to flower, which is always awake, which always flutters everywhere, that is to say a very lively character, who is interested in everything.”
Indeed, in the magic saga, despite his advanced age, Albus Dumbledore is a deep but joyful character, wise but often sparkling, and sometimes even facetious, always concerned with the daily lives of his students.
(Re)discover all the hidden details of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”…