Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter ANNOTATION
Explores the true history, folklore, and mythology behind the magical practices, creatures, and personalities that appear in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did?
Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion, those without access to the Hogwarts library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J.K. Rowling’s world of magic.
The Sorcerer’s Companion allows curious readers to look up anything magical from the Harry Potter books and discover a wealth of entertaining, unexpected information. Wands and wizards, boggarts and broomsticks, hippogriffs and herbology, all have astonishing histories rooted in legend, literature, or real-life events dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Magic wands, like those sold in Rowling’s Diagon Alley, were once fashioned by Druid sorcerers out of their sacred yew trees. Love potions were first concocted in ancient Greece and Egypt. And books of spells and curses were highly popular during the Middle Ages. From Amulets to Zombies, you’ll also learn:
• how to read tea leaves
• where to find a basilisk today
• how King Frederick II of Denmark financed a war with a unicorn horn
• who the real Merlin was
• how to safely harvest mandrake root
• who wore the first invisibility cloak
• how to get rid of a goblin
• why owls were feared in the ancient world
• the origins of our modern-day “bogeyman,” and more.
SYNOPSIS
The New York Times bestseller, now fully updated to include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did?
Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion, those without access to the Hogwarts Library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J. K. Rowling’s world of magic.
Newly updated to include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Sorcerer’s Companion allows curious readers to look up anything magical from the Harry Potter books and discover a wealth of entertaining, unexpected information. Wands and wizards, boggarts and broomsticks, hippogriffs and herbology, all have astonishing histories rooted in legend, literature, or real-life events dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Magic wands, like those sold in Rowling’s Diagon Alley, were once fashioned by Druid sorcerers out of their sacred yew trees. Love potions were first concocted in ancient Greece and Egypt. And books of spells and curses were highly popular during the Middle Ages. From Amulets to Zombies, you’ll also learn:
•how to read tea leaves
•where to find a basilisktoday
•how King Frederick II of Denmark financed a war with a unicorn horn
•who the real Merlin was
•how to safely harvest mandrake root
•who wore the first invisibility cloak
•how to get rid of a goblin
•why owls were feared in the ancient world
•what really lies beyond the Veil
•the origins of our modern-day “bogeyman,” and more.
A spellbinding tour of Harry’s captivating world, The Sorcerer’s Companion is a must for every Potter aficionado’s bookshelf.
The Sorcerer's Companion has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any person or entity that created, published, or produced the Harry Potter books or related properties.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Father/daughter team Allan Zola Kronzek and Elizabeth Kronzek target the wizard's mature fans with The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter. Each alphabetically organized entry contains a potent blend of fact, fiction and folklore. The "Broomstick" entry, for instance, details the effects of a purported "flying ointment" that witches rub into their brooms to prepare for takeoff. The section on "The Sorcerer's Stone" explains the ancient Egyptian art of alchemy. A note at the end of each section shows readers where to find the reference in the Harry Potter books. Thorough research and period prints combine to create a memorable book.
Publishers Weekly
Father/daughter team Allan Zola Kronzek and Elizabeth Kronzek target the wizard's mature fans with The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter. Each alphabetically organized entry contains a potent blend of fact, fiction and folklore. The "Broomstick" entry, for instance, details the effects of a purported "flying ointment" that witches rub into their brooms to prepare for takeoff. The section on "The Sorcerer's Stone" explains the ancient Egyptian art of alchemy. A note at the end of each section shows readers where to find the reference in the Harry Potter books. Thorough research and period prints combine to create a memorable book. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA
This literary guide explores the history behind all of the fantastic and mystical elements mentioned in the four Harry Potter novels. Alphabetical and encyclopedic in its design, it should be browsed randomly, rather than read straight through. Typical entries include objects (talismans and charms), lots of magic (hexes, curses, spells, and potions), crafts (astrology, rune casting, palmistry), and a full zoo of creatures (dragons, giants, grindylows, balilisks, and veelas). These features only scratch the surface of what is covered in the book. All subjects are briefly compared and contrasted as the history of each is traced. Helpful to Potter-philes is a code at the end of each entry that directs the reader to the particular Rowling novel and exact page number wherein the subject is mentioned. The elder Kronzek in this father/daughter team is a frequent lecturer on the elementary school circuit, and together they produce an attractive text, easily accessible to the young reader. The layout of the book is enhanced with illustrations and woodcuts, many dating back to sixteenth-century works. Its bibliography is equally impressive, citing more than one hundred sources from historical to Web based. The guide is an entertaining overview of European lore and mythology. One cannot help but appreciate the extensive research that J. K. Rowling delved into to incorporate such a variety of creatures and crafts into her work. Some parents, however, might have reservations about the easy manner in which this book instructs and perhaps legitimizes some of the crafts it explores, such as reading tea leaves, doing numerology, and casting spells. Nevertheless this book is a match for circulatingcollections in which the Potter books are popular. Illus. Biblio. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Broadway Press, 286p, $15 Trade pb. Ages 11 to 18. Reviewer: Kevin Beach SOURCE: VOYA, February 2002 (Vol. 24, No.6)
School Library Journal
Gr 4 Up-Anyone who thinks that grims, grindylows, hinkypunks, and hippogriffs were invented by J. K. Rowling will be surprised by this offering. Each of the 84 alphabetical entries describes a subject studied (arithmancy, divination), an object used (wand, cauldron), or a creature that appears in at least one of the Potter books, including a specific reference to the title, chapter, and page number. Then, using references from ancient, medieval, and modern literature, legend, mythology, and religion (almost 100 sources are listed in the extensive bibliography), each entry goes on to describe where, when, and how that subject, object, or creature has also been part of Western history, literature, or oral tradition. Most entries are from one to three pages long, with some notable exceptions-12 pages on magic and 14 on magicians throughout history. A fascinating history of the uses and abuses of medieval alchemy is buried within the article on the sorcerer's stone, but most subjects are easy to find. Sidebars highlight specific aspects in detail-the mummy's curse, alchemical frauds, animals on trial. More than half of the entries are illustrated with black-and-white drawings, woodcuts, or reproductions. The material is interesting and informative, easy to read, and fairly wide-ranging. The same readers who can't get enough of Harry Potter will enjoy learning about arithmancy, spell casting, and much more here, while waiting anxiously for the next Rowling novel to appear.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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