"kuoleman varjelukset" ?

[kalmisto]

The new Harry Potter movie has got the Finnish title "Harry Potter ja kuoleman varjelukset".
http://www.finnkino.fi/Event/298272/

What is "kuoleman varjelukset" ? It sounds very strange. I would understand "kuoleman vartijat" ( guardians of death ).

Does anybody have an explanation ?

"varjelus" in English : http://www.fincd.com/index.php?txtSearc ... us&lang=fi

"varjelukset" is the nominative plural of "varjelus".

Thus "kuoleman varjelukset" sounds to me like "the protections of death".

[EP]

How about "kuoleman varjelijat"? That has a more biblical tone than "vartijat".

[Jukka Aho]

The new Harry Potter movie has got the Finnish title "Harry Potter ja kuoleman varjelukset".
http://www.finnkino.fi/Event/298272/

What is "kuoleman varjelukset" ? It sounds very strange. I would understand "kuoleman vartijat" ( guardians of death ).

Does anybody have an explanation ?

The original name of the book (which I have not read) and the movie (which I have not seen) is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. According to Wikipedia, the “deathly hallows” are “...the three magical objects that are the focus of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The form, function, and purpose of each of the Hallows are revealed as the plot of the novel progresses.”

It appears the translator of the Finnish edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has chosen to derive a novel Finnish noun, varjelus – presumably from the verb varjella; “to guard”, “preserve”, “protect” – for translating the English word “hallow” in this context.

(The Harry Potter books – both the original English editions and the translated Finnish editions – apparently contain lots of purpose-made vocabulary fabricated for the needs of the fantasy world where the events take place... so this is but one instance of such.)

[j.petsku]

In English, the noun "hallow" means a saint or holy person. Not sure if varjelus has any such connotation...?

[EP]

"Varjelus" has a biblical connotation: Jumalan varjelus.

[Jukka Aho]

"Varjelus" has a biblical connotation: Jumalan varjelus.

Yes, but as I understand it from the Wikipedia article, the varjelukset (“hallows”) in the book are actual physical things (a wand, a stone, and a cape) and this made-up word was needed for referring to that specific category of things purely in the context of that book. In the Bible, an identical word is used for referring to an abstract concept (God’s protection), or more directly as a nomen actionis or nomen acti related to the verb varjella, which is conceptually a bit different thing even though the “shape” of the word remains the same.