The Yak Shack Forum

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Just in case anyone didn't mention it in the other thread :)

Read the full article on the BBC news website here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6200745.stm)

Yay, a title!  If she's willing to release that, maybe the book will come out in the coming year. :o=

We can only hope...

Anyone want to dissect the title? ;)

hallows:
1. To make or set apart as holy.
2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.

Hmm, "deathly hallows" sounds kind of creepy to me. >:D

deathly=death eeeekk!!!!


im am so stumped by this title, all the others had a lovely little ring but this one just sounds evil, and its the end and has death in the title  :'(

My concern is that this might mean that Harry will, in fact, die in book 7.  Perhaps the "hallows" will be the place where Harry dies killing Voldemort, thus the land will become sacred, honored.  Since book one people have honored Harry Potter as the boy who did away with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named--it wouldn't be a stretch to think that there would be a sacred area where all wizards can honor Harry forever more.   :'( :'( :'(

Unless it means that Harry will be honored after the death of Voldemort.

Here's more info about Hallows:

The Hallows across most legends are seen to represent the royal regalia carried by the King, or the objects sought by someone such as a 'Grail Quester' (See Grail Knights) in both ancient and modern stories.

The sacred vessels, or 'Hallows of Ireland' were believed to have been brought by the 'Tuatha de Danaan' (See Tuatha de Danaan) to Ireland and kept in the 'Crane Bag', visible at high tide only. Four people were responsible for guarding the contents, known as 'Guardians of the Hallows' : 'Manannan' (See Manannan), 'Lugh' (See Lugh), 'Cumhal' (See Cumhal), 'Fionn' (See Fionn). When it was first in Manannan's care it contained:

    Manannan's House;
    Goibniu's shirt, belt, knife and smith's hook;
    King of Lochlann's Helmet;
    King of Alba's Shears;
    A Belt made from fish skin;
    Asal's pig's bones.

Later the Tuatha de Danaan were believed to be a people who were said to have brought sacred treasures from an island near Greece to Ireland from the Otherworld (See Otherworld). There were said to be four treasures:

    1. Shining spear of Lugh (from Gorias), providing victory in any fight;
    2. Stone of Fal (from Falias), kings were crowned on this;
    3. Sword of Nuadu (from Findias), impossible to avoid being struck and wounded by its contact;
    4. Cauldron of Dagda (from Murias), of plenty. (See Dagda), (See Bran the Blessed).

The four hallows of the Tuatha de Danaan were developed in later traditions to be:

    1. The Pole of Combat;
    2. The Sword of Light;
    3. The Cauldron of Cure;
    4. The Stone of Destiny.

These have since been further developed to the four symbols of magical elements, to also be seen on Tarot packs as the four suits:

    1. The Sword;
    2. The Spear;
    3. The Cup;
    4. The Pentacle.

We can see that the sacred vessels influenced the Arthurian legends, Grail legends and the search for the hallowed objects in ancient 'Annwn' (See Annwn) also being associated with those of the Tuatha de Danaan:

    1. The Sword which is Broken;
    2. The Spear of the Dolorous Blow;
    3. The Dish (to process the Head of the Withdrawn Grail Guardian);
    4. The Grail (Sacred Chalice / Cauldron of Plenty & Inspiration).

The Spear has also been referred to as the 'Lance of Longinus', as it is said to be the one which 'Longinus', a Roman centurion, used to pierce Christ's side as He was being crucified.

The Hallows were believed to be shown to the Grail Questers whilst attending a meeting, or in some cases a feast. This meeting has been considered to be a tradition if not a ritual accompaniment to the feast, where the focus of the viewing of The Hallows was considered one to be respected. In some legends the 'Lady of the Lake' (See Lady of the Lake) is referred to as the 'Guardian of the Hallows of Kingship'.

Today The Hallows can be seen to exist in modern regalia.

    1. The Sceptre (Rod of Equity and Mercy);
    2. The Sword of State;
    3. The Ampulla of Holy Oil;
    4. The Crown.

In early Arthurian legend it was said that thirteen treasures existed in the Otherworld, and these were reputed to have been retrieved from Annwn by Arthur. These were collectively known as the 'Thirteen Treasures of Britain' (See Hallows of Britain). The story of their recovery is told in the poems of 'Taliesin' (See Taliesin).

Yes, I'm double posting :o , but there's too much info in the last post to add this.

Someone on a TLC forum found this tidbit, which might have implications for both James and Lily, and Sirius.

Hallows - ("holy" or "holy night") the Oct. 31 Greater Sabbat, also called November Eve, the Celtic Samhain ("sow-en"); the beginning of the Celtic winter, and of the Celtic year; the beginning of the Witches' Year, when the Veil Between the Worlds grows thin and the spirits of the dead may return to Earth; the Descent of the Goddess to the Underworld; the final Harvest festival.

We know Sirius fell through the Veil and also that the Potters were killed on the night of Oct. 31 (although, that could have happened in the wee hours of Nov. 1).

Well well well - so it's come to a Tolkien-esque Army of the Dead after all?

What say you?


Which somehow preceeds the American harvest festival in the year...  :-\ I never quite understand why American harvest festival is so late in the year - anyone got any ideas?


It sounds very plausible though, and intreguing.. only time will tell :)

I wonder if JKR knows of all this when she plans her book titles? It would make for a fascinating research project (much more interesting than the ones I've had to do :P). The veil theory and All Hallows Eve is the most exciting bit for me so far... will we see more contact between Harry and his parents/Sirius? Or perhaps even Dumbledore (if he really is dead)?

I agree with Cindy, the timing of the title release bodes well for a late 2007 book release - I can't wait! ;D

interesting how deathly and hallows both have seven letters in them.  seven seems to be in a lot of places in the books, maybe a coincidence though

Maybe we need to change Godric's Hollow to Godric's Hallow?  ;D

Remember the seven things that Voldemort is looking for? Horcruxes.
He considers them to be treasures. And they are definitly deadly.
Didn't he have to kill to make them work?
So, could these seven items be the "Deathly Hallows?
Just a thought. ---- You heard it hear first.  ;D

JKR knows exactly what she's doing when she uses all these references in her books -  she went to as much trouble when choosing the type of woods that Harry, Ron and Hermione's wands were made from remember!  ;)
She leaves nothing to chance ...

I also believe that Harry will only be able to 'talk' to Dumbledore's portrait rather than by any other medium, although it's an interesting theory regarding the Potters & Sirius and the thinness of The Veil at Halloween.
Oh and don't forget that Hermione is studying Ancient Runes - who better to 'discover' all this wealth of information and pass it on to Harry and Ron, eh?!  ;)

I agree with your assumptions too John ...  ;)

I thought that the idea naturally followed kbmum's post, too.  ;)

Y'know, with Jo's predilection to borrow from mythos, I've started looking for Horcrux clues from the list of those four!  Gryffindor's sword is back in the running.

Could the basilisk have been a horcrux?
I know Tom's diary was one, but I wondered if the timing would've been right for Tom to have made another whilst still at Hogwarts?

We've no idea on what object/thing of magical value belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw might have been used either.
Anyone any thoughts/suggestions?

I agree, she's a smart one and everything seems to have a hidden meaning, but at the moment it's quite hard to decipher everything without the final piece of the puzzle.

According to TLC, a company that provides materials to libraries and retailers is listing the book's release date as July 31, 2007 with an estimated price of $35 US.  This has not been confirmed, but some online retailers have already begun taking pre-orders.

The Royal Mail is already organising its delivery plan.

LOL! I've just placed my order from Amazon:

Child edition (yak links):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000818XA0/theyakshack-21

Adult edition:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000M2DJQI/theyakshack-21

I think it will be much less than £13.99 nearer the time or else I'll cancel my order as it won't be that much in Sainsburys/Tesco etc. If it is, I'll just go and support a local book shop instead :) besides they tend to get cool promo items such as posh bags etc, If it's official Bloomsbury then I collect that kind of stuff too ::)

The amazon.com site isn't taking pre-orders yet, but you can sign up for an email when they are taking pre-orders.

I suppose I hardly need mention that Deathly Hallows is amazon.co.uk's #1 best seller at the mo ::) ... it also holds second place in the 'adult' form.

...and by the way, I thoroughly recommend the book "Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions" (currently #4 in the chart). Just £3.99 and endlessly entertaining and interesting.

yippee i want it now

This is very very interesting....to be honest, JKR was a bit secretive in OOTP about the veil that Sirius fell through, it was never really explained to us which made me at the time of reading, and even more so now, feel like it had a further part to play in future books.

My theory is, that Harry kills Voldy on the 31 Oct this 'holy night' and something happens with the veil and everyone that Voldy has killed comes back to earth  ;D Well maybe that is wishful thinking but I can only hope.

mmmm i  would love that to happen and harry to get some of his family back  but it  seems  to much of a happy ending if  you know what i mean

Well to be honest, at this point in time everyone is expecting Harry to die, its been on the net, even in newspaper articles... and I think JKR may do the opposite. At first I thought Harry would die too, but im not so sure now, I think she could surprise us and give us a happy ending  :o=

WH Smith and ottackers had really nice official bags last year

has anyone been to a midnight release? i went to WH Smith last year at 7am and the only excited person was me and someone told me to shut up  :o i thought everyone was going to be buzzing with excitment, hoping to go to london for the 7th one

Well it would be nice to see that Harry wins over Voldemort.... Ya know, in kids books and the movies, good always wins over bad. I know that it would be nice for the kids to see Harry win, but in my head its a little too predictible. Also, if Harry's Parents can come back from the dead, why cant Dumbledoor?  ??? JKR is going to add a huge twist in to it.... so we'll see what happens  ;)

I don't think anyone will come back from the dead.  Here are a couple of quotes from JK:

"Magic cannot bring dead people back to life…. Once you’re dead, you’re dead." (WBUR interview 1999)

"We've had petrified people, and we've had what would have been fatal injuries, but once you're dead you're dead. No magic power can resurrect a truly dead person." (The Guardian, 2000)

I'm not ordering mine until we have a date ::)

Yes I'm with you, what every body thinks isn't what J K tends to. If we've guessed she's failed.

Pink, I went to a Midnight release party for Half-Blood Prince here in the US and had an amazing time. I am so sorry you had a negative experience because of some people.  Definitely go again for the final book--it'll probably be better--I hope.  :o= The midnight party was so great to see--people of all ages, religions, races, all coming together to celebrate something fun--it was a really great escape from reality.  I hope to go to the midnight part for Deathly Hallows too!

As for the meaning of "Deathly Hallows," I just don't think I can analyze it any more.  I am so concerned Harry is going to die, and I would just hate to see the series end like that. Even in adult films, it's just horrible when a main character dies (Anyone cry at Titanic?).  I loved the way Lord of the Rings ended, with everyone living and Frodo choosing to go with Gandalf. It was, for all intents and purposes, a happy ending. 

I understand that there will be death (I'm thinking Hagrid or Neville might die...maybe Snape?), which will be heart-wrenching enough, but not Harry, Ron or Hermione--not the main three who have had to battle through so much.  Maybe, if Harry dies, it will be this grand re-connecting with his parents and godfather or something...I don't know, I just don't want him to die.  :'(

Bookies are taking bets already and most are betting on Harry's demise. I don't know, even Daniel R. and Evanna L. want that to actually happen. Many are betting on Snape, Draco, Hagrid, Ginny and even Ron dying. I see the point on killing Harry, brings the whole series to a real closure, no more Harry, no more books. But even then it would feel empty to me, like he survived years 1-6 and a childhood of living in a cupboard and all that suffering and then he dies..because he's pretty much forced to kill Voldemort, nevermind that he hates him, he must kill him. And that's it, "SCAR", the end, fin, owari :-\?

Who knows, Snape might die, protecting Harry or Draco (unbreakable and all), after all he's served his purpose like Dumbledore did I guess, though i wouldn't like to see him dead. Hagrid, who knows. Ron and Ginny, that's a bit too tragic but she might go and kill someone very close to Harry to make him have even more purpose. Draco, I don't see the point on killing him after showing us he's not a killer, his parents? yes, he might end up alone but i don't think she'd kill him (or that's wishful thinking here ::)).

I think Harry won't die.  I can't see Hagrid dying, either.  He's one of the last older people left who truly loves Harry -- JK just can't kill off everyone who means something to Harry.  At least one of the Weasleys probably will die, since there are so many of them.  Maybe Percy will die while trying to redeem himself?

Oh, and I think Remus and Tonks will survive and live happily ever after. ;)

i hope your right :) i love tonks and lupin, its so sweet. and the whole killing harry after such a wasted life is such a good point, it would be too evil to kil him, he needs to go marry ginny and become an auror


i hope its better this time, we're planning to drive to london and go to Oxford Street (i think theres a WH Smith there)at midnight so even if its not as cool, we'll be in london lol and i get to read the book at my sister as she drives home  :rofl:

Hey Sam - I might join you (depending on final release date :))

I hope Harry will survive - after all, it leaves the world in a gloom and darkness and with nothing to stop Lord Voldermort... (no Dumbledore, no Harry).

In Jackie's (especially written) version of the book Fred and George will turn out to be the heros of the tale killing Voldermort with bad jokes and pranks from their shop :D

Jackie don't read any further, you have been warned.



I have an awful feeling that one of the twins will be a casualty of the last book.  Other than one of the main three ,could you imagine a character that would evoke more emotion.  I am betting on George to be the one, not sure why  :-\

that would b fab!!!  :)
  i am really excited about this book, but so worried about who dies...hopefully not a twin, i reckon a weasley will die but i dont want to think who