The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Do you know what the following symbol represents?



This symbol represents the "Deathly Hallows," the unification of 3 powerful magical objects. In chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, one of the characters is wearing the symbol which brings up the legend of the Deathly Hallows. The triangle represents an invisibility cloak that never fades, the circle represents the Resurrection Stone with which one could communicate with the dead, and the straight line represents the Elder Wand-the most powerful unbeatable magical wand in existence. These objects together are the Deathly Hallows.

In Chapter 21 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the symbol of the Hallows appears and of course Ron and Hermione have heard of them. To them the legend of the Deathly Hallows obviously comes from the bedtime story called the "Tale of the Three Brothers," from the book, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard,' a book all magical parents read at bedtime to their young children, like a bedtime book muggle parents read from such as Mother Goose or Grimm's Fairy Tales. Harry Potter, since he was raised by Muggles, had never heard of 'Tales of Beedle the Bard.'

In the short story called "Tales of Three Brothers," three brothers start walking over a bridge when they meet the personification of Death-Death takes on a physical form like the Grim Reaper. Death grants each of them a wish in order to trick them. He will grant their wish, but use the wish against them in order to kill them. The first brother asks for an unbeatable wand. The second asks for the ability to bring the dead back to life. The Third asks for an invisbility cloak. Death is later able to take all three of them, but I won't say how.

For most in the magical world, these were considered just bedtime stories, except by three characters in the seventh Harry Potter book who eventually took the story literally, and very seriously. The Tale of the Three Brothers predicts the nature of all three of their deaths.

I don't want to tell you any more-I've probably said too much already. If you want to have some fun back-tracking through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I would recommend, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J. K. Rowling, translated by Hermione Granger, with notes from Albus Dumbledore.


*Seven original handwritten copies of this book were published this past summer, six of them going to people that J. K. Rowling felt were important to her and the success of the Harry Potter series. Each book was made unique with a different precious stone inlaid on each book's cover. The seventh one was auctioned off to raise funds for Children's High Level Group, a charity that helps abandoned children. Can you guess how much the winning bid was?