David Colbert

Explores the sources and meanings of aspects of the literary world of Harry Potter within myths, legends, and history.

A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts

The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books have entranced millions of people all over the world. Her hero Harry Potter and the magical world she created is so artful and complete that a reader is able to lose themselves in an alternative reality of hippogriffs, dementors and blast-ended skrewts. You may, however, be surprised to learn that many of the names and references in the novels have origins in classical mythology, history and literature. Rowling lays clever clues in the names of her characters from Draco Malfoy to Sirius Black and her playful references to history and mythology add colour and depth to the narratives, characters and creatures. Ever wondered why chocolate is a good cure for a Dementor attack? Or maybe why Voldermort puts the 'Dark Mark' on Death Eaters? An entertaining, and yet authoritative investigation of J.K. Rowling's work, The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter will fascinate any reader and only add to their appreciation and enjoyment of the world of Harry Potter.

A Treasury Myths, Legends and Fascinating Facts

Nessa Luna

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

I really like non-fiction books about my favourite stories; like a Lexicon about Harry Potter, and the 3-Minute J.R.R. Tolkien biography that I read a couple of days ago. I don’t really remember how I found out about this book, but I bought it immediately because it interested me a lot.

This book answers a lot of questions that you might have asked yourself while reading Harry Potter.

Though personally I didn’t really feel like all the questions had been answered in my opinion, I liked it very much. All the questions were explained and ‘answered’ as good as they could, but I guess sometimes you just can’t give a good answer to a question. It might have also been that I read over the actual answer because there was just so much text and so much to learn, that I was eager to move on and read the next ‘chapter’.

This writer also refers a lot to other works, I have seen a lot of references to the Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis), the Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) and His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman), but that’s probably because this author has written similar books on those three works (and I am very curious about his Tolkien book). I also liked reading how J.K. Rowling was inspired by mythology (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse); for example, there is a goblin called Ragnok in Order of the Phoenix who was named after Ragnarok, the Norse apocalypse.

This book answers questions like: “Why is the number seven considered a magical number?”, “Who were the first British wizards?”, “Why would Sirius Black become a black dog?”, and all kinds of questions like that. This book was published long before the series was finished, and has been edited and republished a lot since. I read the complete version, the one that was published in 2007 after Deathly Hallows was published.

I did have the feeling a lot was missing though, the majority of the book only refered to the first five books (and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, and Quidditch Through the Ages), but then I found out why. The questions about Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows were in a special section of the book, about forty pages before the book ends. There was a warning before it, in case someone hadn’t read the last two books in the series.

Though I like that warning, I did found it a bit of a shame that the last two books weren’t added to the rest of the book. That is also probably why some questions felt incomplete/unanswered.

Kirsten Simkiss

It's like an encyclopedia of the magical, but with less about Harry Potter and more about the mythology behind it. I have the unrevised version - obviously made before the books were finished and before Pottermore existed - but I did learn a thing or two from reading it. It's obviously very much aimed at children and it's very informative on a myriad of topics, though never terribly in depth. 

A few of the entries seemed to segway into completely unrelated information almost. For example, the entry on McGonagall, rather than talking about her skills or her personality, focused ENTIRELY on the fact that she turned into a cat. Literally almost the entire entry is about cats. Personally, I would have put it under the Animagus category more and maybe spoken about the course she teaches or her role as a mentor to the Gryffindor students.

I also didn't care for Slytherins being generalized as a group of people plainly grouped because they're evil in the Hogwarts entry. Literally, the headline reads, "Why would anyone go to school with a Slytherin?" That makes me want to scream. It's ambition that groups them, not the potential to turn bad. It continues on to say that "one has to wonder what the Slytherins are doing there" because "every bit of trouble seems to start with a Slytherin" and that there "doesn't seem to be a decent student in that house." As a Pottermore confirmed Slytherin and an intelligent human being, I'm smart enough to know that not all Slytherin students could possibly be evil when we only really ever interact with about five actual Slytherin students in the books and a handful of Slytherin adults who turned out to be bad eggs. To write every student in the house off based on those individuals seems absurd. The author later goes on to say it's Rowling's way of telling her readers that evil must be met with compassion, but it's just really a very shallow reading of the Slytherin house. He also says roughly nothing about Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Meanwhile, Gryffindor has it's own description of all things good and regal in the section about gryphons. Personally, it just seemed a bit scattered that way.

Here's to hoping the revised version looks a little deeper than skin deep. Avoid the Hogwarts section if you've any fondness for Slytherin as a house.

Ash Dhaliwal 

A fantastic read that allows the reader to gain unparalleled background knowledge of the ideas behind J. K. Rowling’s world-famous Harry Potter (HP) series. Although this is not an official publication, Colbert’s extensive prior experience writing historical books has put him in the exclusive position where he is able to decipher all of the mythical mentionings in the HP series. Re reading this as an adult it is clear to me why I enjoyed this so much the first time I read it as a child and why I was always drawn back to it. I would recommend this to anyone with a passion for magical realm whether they have already read the HP series or even before they delve in. For me this is a well deserved 5/5

The indispensable source guide to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels—the perfect gift for Harry Potter fans! What was the model for The Order of the Phoenix? Where do those names come from? What is the real-life legend behind Voldemort’s Dark Mark? Could Snape’s potions actually work? J.K. Rowling’s young heroic wizard, Harry Potter, lives in a world populated by dragons, centaurs, trolls, giants—and a three-headed dog named Fluffy—among other creatures from ancient myths and legends. Discover the astonishing origins of supernatural beasts, clues to hidden meanings in names, and amazing facts about real-life wizards and magic spells. From Alchemists to Unicorns, Basilisks to Veela, this fascinating compendium brings another dimension to Harry’s adventures—from The Sorcerer’s Stone to The Deathly Hallows. This book was not authorized, prepared, approved, licensed or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any other individual or entity associated with the HARRY POTTER books or movie.

The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts

Reviews