Series - Elysium: The Retelling of Nielliun Morne

Appendices - Translations and Name Interpretations

In Order of Appearance.

Elysium - the classical perception of the heavenly afterlife; the Romans' ideal of wide fragrant plains and sun that greets fallen heroes.

Nielliun Morne - "sirius black" in Quenya, one of J.R.R. Tolkien's ingenious Elven languages and one which, in the realm of fantasy lovers, rivals the importance of Latin or Greek.

Sirius - name given to a cluster of three stars, Sirius A, B, and C, Sirius A being the closest star to planet Earth other than the Sun; the constellation has been christened "the dog star".

Remus - twin brother of Romulus, legendary founder of Rome and supposedly raised by wild wolves.

Lupin - "relating to the wolf" in Latin.

Bellatrix - "female warrior" in Latin.

Albus - "white" in Latin; Albion was an archaic, personifying name for the island of Britain.

Dumbledore - "bumblebee" in Old English; refers to J.K.R.'s envisioning of the Headmaster wandering about humming to himself.

Chepstow - upon geographical study, the fictitious village of Godric's Hollow appears to be near the real town of Chepstow in eastern Wales; interestingly, J.K.R. grew up in Chepstow.

Voldemort - "flight of death" in French; more than just a convenient anagram of "Tom Marvolo Riddle".

La Valse Fatigante - "the arduous waltz" in French.

Kreacher - a play on "creature", of course.

Regulus - "little king" in Latin; a historic Roman emperor, rather naive, who was taken captive during the Carthaginian Wars and died in prison, tortured to death; the brightest star within the constellation Leo, "the lion".

Barkwith - according to the collectible Chocolate Frog cards, Musidora Barkwith was a 17th Century wizarding composer.

Mnemosyne - "memory" in Greek; one of the original Elder Gods in the Greek Pantheon.

Tesiphone - Tisiphone was the first of the three Furies or Erinyes, in Greek mythology, that resided in the underworld, where they took their satisfaction in torturing souls.

Janus - the (literally) two-faced Roman god of the month January; technically it alludes to "fresh beginnings" in the Roman ideology, but I'm employing it to mean "cold beginnings"-- referring to the nature of Sirius' father's personality.

Phineas - a king of Thrace, in Greek mythology, who was continually plagued with hardship; refers to Phineas Nigellus, Sirius' great-great-grandfather, a Slytherin who became one of the most ineffective and disliked Headmasters Hogwarts has ever known.

Andromeda - "ruler of men" in Greek; a legendary princess of Ethiopia who married a god and who's blood gave life to the Persian civilization; her story appears in the Roman writer Ovid's account Metamorphoses IV.

Alecto - the third of the three Furies or Erinyes (see "Tesiphone").

Megaera - the second the three Furies or Erinyes (see "Tesiphone").

Toujours Pur - "forever pure" in French.

Chimaera - "a rare, vicious, bloodthirsty Greek monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail" according to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

Ignigena - "born of fire" in Latin.

Fetialia - "mediator between war and peace" in Latin.

Peculiar Institution - a historical euphemism for slavery in the 18th and 19th Century United States, making it seem acceptable as a tradition and "institution; here refers to house elves.

"Allez-vous, garçon" - "out with you, boy" in French.

Jarvey - "an overgrown ferret capable of witless speech" according to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".