Question

[rosie_rues]

Okay, so I've finally started the next Summer of the Dragon chapter, and I'm tackling mealtimes at Grimmauld Place. I'm using Mrs Beeton for menu ideas (the link is here if anyone thinks it might be useful - it includes suggested menus for each month of the year).

Would the Blacks say grace? If so, would it be in Latin or English? Nothing in canon seems to argue either way, so I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinions.

Comments

[ex-stateline124.livejournal.com]

hm. i would find it extremely odd if they did? granted, they're eccentric enough that it just might work. :-?

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

I just can't work out how the Wizarding World works in relation to things like religion and government. They didn't split off from the Muggle world until 1690-something, so they must have adhered to some form of Christianity before that to survive. Given the date, doctrinal disputes might even have been a factor in the split.

They're not going to be holding hands around the table and singing Johnney Appleseed, but a lot of upper class Muggle families do still say a formal grace, which is where I'm sticking, because the parallel only goes so far. It's very old-fashioned, but the Blacks would be.

[copa-cetic.livejournal.com]

I don't think they would. Would religion be too common for them? Harry celebrates Christmas and Easter, but we never hear anything else about religion in canon.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

I'd imagine they'd be High Anglican, if anything, so it probably wouldn't be seen as common. Religion is very much about respectability.

I can imagine them having something that uses the forms of religion but maybe has a different substance.

Even if Harry and the others were going to chapel every Sunday, they wouldn't talk about it in canon. Talking about religion here is akin to wandering around in public in your underwear - it's very rarely done and it's always greated with immense embarrassment.

Gah. It's only lunch - they could get away with skipping it and then I don't have to worry until I write an evening meal.

[copa-cetic.livejournal.com]

It's just that..well I live in the US, and I can tell you what religion most people I know are. It's not like it's all we talk about, but maybe it's more socially acceptable to talk about it here?

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

It's not something that would come up in conversation. I've certainly been surprised to find out people I know are regular churchgoers. I can place most of my close friends, but it's considered a private matter, and not at all something for public display. A lot of people have strong religious feelings, but you'd no more talk about them in public than you'd talk about your sex life (possibly even less, given our tabloid press).

[missmary.livejournal.com]

I definitely get the impression they would be ABOVE the silly people who are thankful for things.

That said, if they DID say grace, I would totally go with Latin. Just cuz, you know, as a former Latin student, I have allegiances I have to uphold!

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

That's one of the other places I'm sticking. I can imagine them doing it because it's appropriate, rather than because they mean it.

I just have this little image of Orion Black reciting a Latin grace with an expression of boredom, while Walburga smirks away to herself.

Heh. I started writing fic in Latin a few weeks ago when I was really bored at work. haven't studied it since I was 18, but it seemed like a good way to revise. I only managed a couple of paragraphs though.

[nellie-darlin.livejournal.com]

I really doubt it - the position of religion in the wizarding world is a little hazy (i.e. they celebrate Christmas, but there doesn't seem to be any clergy or organised religion elsewhere) but I would be very surprised if grace was said.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's one of those awkward aspects about wizarding seperation that gets more confusing the more you look at it. My feeling was that it went with the whole stifling, high Victorian feel of Grimmauld Place, but I've left it for the moment.

(nice icon, btw)