Harry Potter and the Supplemental Mythological Material

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

By J.K. Rowling
p. 2008

It took me an awful long time to get around to picking this book up, even after my roommate lent it to me and it sat on my dresser for months. I needn’t have put off J.K. Rowling’s supplemental addition to her famous Harry Potter series, seeing as it took me about 45 minutes to read the entire thing. I guess it could have been my way of prolonging the magic of Harry Potter by putting it off as long as possible... but more likely it’s because I had no idea what to expect from this book.

Picking up on a pretty important plot point from the final book in her series, Rowling’s small collection of witch and wizard fairy tales is a reflection of Grimm fairy tales in the human world, with the centerpiece tale being that of the three brothers, as told in The Deathly Hallows. The fable recounts an encounter that three brothers had with Death after avoiding him while crossing a river. Death coyly offers them gifts for besting him and they respectively request a wand that can win any duel (the Elder wand that appears in the series), a stone that can bring anyone back from the dead, and a cloak of invisibility which one can use to hide from Death. The first two backfire, naturally, and Death claims his victims anyway, but the third brother manages to evade Death until old age when he joins him willingly in peace. This tale, like the others in the collection, offer up not-so-foreign ideals and lessons applicable to more than just a wizard, despite its ‘target audience.’

Supposedly the collection is a new translation by our very own Hermione Granger, but following each selection is a lengthy (and a tad boastful) interpretation of the fable by none other than Albus Dumbledore (supposedly his notes were found posthumously by Headmistress McGonagall and allowed to be published alongside his pupil’s translations). The tales themselves read as fables do, but it’s the discussion material by Dumbledore that offers new insight into the world Rowling painstakingly crafted. Connections are made between ‘wizarding history’ and our history, making the whole thing feel relevant and relatable.

I found it rather refreshing and commendable that Rowling made sure to add a footnote about the difference between heroines in wizarding mythology versus "Muggle" mythology. Whereas the women in our fairy tales often need princes to save them while they lie down and allow things to happen, the women in this collection are much more active about controlling their own fates. It's been a constant disappointment growing up with so few female role models in popular legend. Even these days it's a struggle for girls to find a positive role and it will continue to be until the day when we no longer have to point out the inequality.

Unless you’re a rabid fan of fables and myths, this book is not for people who aren’t fans of Harry Potter. There’s just not enough substance there for it to be a worthy read without the context of the seven books that precede it. The best reason I saw for enjoying this little slice of world-building mythology is that it was nice to feel like the legendary Albus Dumbledore was alive and with us once more, if only for a little while.