With ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald’ opening in theaters this weekend, fans are busy asking the important questions. How will Credence fit into the plot? How does the story fit into the bigger picture of the ‘Harry Potter’ universe? How do you pronounce the name Grindelwald!?
The trailers that have been released for the film have done little to clear up the confusion, as the name is said in different ways. Jude Law, who portrays young Albus Dumbledore in the film, emphasizes the hard V-sound in place of the W. While on ‘The Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert, Law explained that his pronunciation of the name comes from Dumbledore’s different relationship with Gellert Grindelwald. Law said:
“It’s a very good question. I dived straight in calling him ‘Grindlevald’, assuming that because I have this very good friendship with him that I got it right. Eddie Redmayne, who plays the great Newt Scamander, pointed out halfway through the film, ‘I don’t call him that. I call him Grindelwald.’ But it was too late. I think it’s because, you know, Albus knows him well and at some point, Gellert said, ‘Can you please call me ‘Grindelvald.’ I’m sticking to that.”
The name Grindelwald is historically German, so pronouncing the name with a V-sound would be correct. However, it is not unusual for names to change over time, along with their pronunciation. Meaning that it is also not incorrect to pronounce the name with a W.
According to Law’s explanation, he feels that Grindelwald would have asked his closest friends to pronounce his name in the traditional way. While it sounds like a reasonable explanation, could it be Law was just covering for his mistake? Though, one would think that in such a huge franchise, it would have been someone’s job to make sure everyone said the name Grindelwald correctly!
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald’ opens in theaters Friday!
