crumpets & muffins

[Baker, John]

        In the Harry Potter books, men and boys with magical ability,
including Harry, are called wizards, while magical women and girls are
called witches.  Non-magical people are called muggles.  The original book,
published in the UK, was entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,
in reference to the mythical substance that alchemists believed would
transmute base metals into gold.  When the American publisher, Scholastic,
brought the book out in the U.S., it changed the book's name to Harry Potter
and the Sorceror's Stone in the belief that American children would be
confused by the apparent reference to philosophy.

        The controversy over the Harry Potter books is a bit bizarre,
considering that the books are simple fantasies that have nothing to say
about Christianity, pro or con.  Religion plays little role in the books and
the characters do not seem to be particularly observant, but the wizards and
witches do celebrate Christmas.  Other children's fantasies take
non-Christian or even anti-Christian approaches (notably Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials trilogy), but those somehow attract little attention.

John Baker


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Your Name [SMTP:Lina.Hawkins at BERLITZGLOBALNET.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 1:42 PM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: crumpets & muffins
>
> I am astonished to find out that the UK edition calls Harry Potter a
> philosopher and the US edition calls him a sorcerer.
>
> Not too long ago, I received a letter from a Christian Orthodox priest
> saying not to buy Harry Potter's books because they are evil and they
> promote Satanism.
>
> There have been a lot of arguments on this issue!
>
>
>
> Lina Barbara Hawkins
> Project Coordinator
> Berlitz GlobalNET
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tony Glaser [mailto:tonyglaser at MINDSPRING.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 7:03 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: crumpets & muffins
>
>
> >I was in the train station today, reading my US-bought Harry Potter and
> >came across Harry and Ron eating English muffins.  I thought "I wonder
> >whether the original version had 'muffins' or 'crumpets'."  So, went to
> the
> >newstand, picked up the UK edition, and found the answer:  crumpets.
>
>
> Train station? So you must have been in the US, surely! :)
>
> >
> >Now, why the editors at Scholastic Books think that "sorcerer" is the US
> >translation of "philosopher"...well, that's another matter.
>
> I read somewhere (Newsweek or Time, I think) that this was done to
> defuse potential protests from Christian fundamentalists and others
> who would perceive "sorcerer" as suggestive of Satanism etc. etc.
>
> Tony Glaser