J.K. Rowling 'borrowed' He Who Must Not Be Named

J.K. Rowling is globally praised for her originality. But, while she invented an entire new magical world when writing her adventures of the boy-wizard Harry Potter, she freely made use of existing myths, legends and even rumours. In fact, she is part of a fine classical tradition of mimesis. The term mimesis derives from the ancient Greek word μιμεῖσθαι (mīmeisthai), which means 'to imitate' and it can be translated as borrowing, adapting, personalising.

So, where did the name Voldemort originate? Voldemort is obviously French in origin and can be traced back to voleur de mort ('stealer of death' or 'deathstealer') or vol de mort ('flight from death' or 'escaper from death'). Both solutions seem very plausible and maybe Rowling did intentionally use this ambiguous play of words. Remember that Rowling studied French at the University of Exeter.

But some claim there was another mythical Voldemort. He was presumably named Voldermortist and reportedly appeared in the Arthurian legends. Well, I own a copy of 'The Arthurian Legends: An Illustrated Anthology' and no evil wizard called Voldermortist appears in its pages.

Then there's the question of 'He Who Must Not Be Named', one of the phrases people used because they were too afraid to mention the Voldemort's name. Rowling must have been a huge fan of the late Terry Pratchett, because in his very first novel, 'The Colour of Magic' (1983), a goddess is presented to the reader. She was the Goddess Who Must Not Be Named. If you don't believe me, simply buy a paperback copy of that brilliant book and turn to page 214. 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' was released 14 years later in 1997.

Like I said before, J.K. Rowling is one of my favourite writers and she is part of a fine tradition that harks back to classical Greek times.