Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, I’m going to be discussing
one of the Deathly Hallows, in fact- I’m going to be discussing what is arguably the
most important of the Hallows - at least in terms of the Harry Potter story. I am of course
talking about the Elder Wand.
The elder wand is undeniably the most powerful wand in the Harry Potter universe. It was
the first Hallow created, made by Death himself, and no other wand is its equal. The Elder
Wand is made of elder wood, and it’s core is the tail hair of a Thestral. It’s 15”
long and has carvings down its length that resemble clusters of elderberries. With the
elder wand, witches and wizards are able to effortlessly produce intensely powerful magic
that others could only dream of. Possession of the wand also meant that you could produce
magic which was not otherwise possible, including things like mending other wands- something
that could not normally be achieved through magic.
The elder wand, being one of the deathly hallows, is commonly associated with the tale of three
brothers- Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus.
The brothers were all members of the famous Peverell family. The plot surrounds the three
wizard brothers and their ability to cheat death for a short period of time. After conquering
death, a personification of death, under the guise of congratulating them, told each of
the brothers that he would award them a gift of their choosing:
“The eldest brother, a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence.
Death granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree
standing on the banks of the river. The second brother, an arrogant man, chose to further
humiliate death, and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Death
granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank.
The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, did not trust Death
and asked for something to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow.
A reluctant Death, most unwillingly, handed over a part his own Invisibility cloak. The
three brothers took their prizes and soon went on their separate ways.”
And that was how the Deathly Hallows were born- however, this was not the last time
that death and the three brothers would meet. Each brother, under their own unique circumstances,
ended up losing their life and met death once more.
“The eldest brother travelled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarrelled lived.
He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter.
Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from
the duelling site and spent the night there. Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder
Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by Death and his own invincibility.
That very night, Death transfigured to a murderous wizard. The unknown murderous wizard crept
to the inn as the eldest brother slept, drunk from wine. The wizard slit the oldest brother’s
throat for good measure and stole the wand. That was when Death took the first brother.”
So the oldest brother Antioch died, and death (assuming the form of a murderous wizard)
stole the wand back. We know that Dumbledore later becomes owner of the elder wand- as
it plays an integral part in the Harry Potter story. However, what I want to do in this
video, is fill in the gaps- and discuss WHO owned the elder wand before Dumbledore? Throughout
history, who were the owners of the elder wand? Let’s get started
So, Antioch was the first owner- but one thing that I thought was worth mentioning is that
Albus Dumbledore never believed that the wand was actually made by Death. Dumbledore always
assumed that the wand was in fact created by the eldest of the Peverell brothers, Antioch
himself. However, regardless of who created the fabled wand - the fact remains- Antioch
was killed and the wand no longer belonged to him. So, where did the wand go next?
According to Xenophilius Lovegood- "The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across
the pages of Wizarding history."
After Antioch died- the wand was passed around from wizard to wizard-usually by violent means-
which led to the wand acquiring a few different names “the deathstick” and “the wand
of destiny”- an omen of death that alludes to the ‘bloody trail’ mentioned by Lovegood.
The first official KNOWN historical owner of the elder wand is a wizard who went by
the name ‘Emeric the Evil’. Though the wand may have been in the hands of other wizards
before Emeric and after Antioch- Emeric is the first wizard on RECORD to have possessed
it. Emeric has been described as a ‘short-lived but exceptionally aggressive wizard’ that
terrorized the south of England in the early Middle ages. It has been expressed that Emeric
eventually died after losing a duel to a rival wizard- Egbert the Egregious.
Egbert the Egregious of course became the new Master of the Elder Wand after defeating
and killing Emeric the Evil, its previous owner, in a duel. Besting the previous owner
in some way is thought to be how the wand is passed on- and where previously it was
thought that MURDER was necessary- this was later disproved, as in some cases disarming
the current owner is enough. Noone knows what happened to Egbert after defeating Emeric-
or how long he possessed the wand for, however- the next known owner of the wand came about
a CENTURY later.
The next known owner of the Elder Wand was a wizard by the name of ‘Godelot’. If
this name sounds familiar to you, it may be because Godelet wrote the famous dark magic
textbook ‘Magicke Moste Evile’- a book containing information on Dark magic (including
a passing reference to Horcruxes in its introduction).
Godelot used the Elder Wand to push the boundaries of magic- and considered it to be his ‘teacher’-
allowing the wand to help him write the book. Godelot was killed by his own son who locked
him in the cellar in order to gain ownership of the wand.
The next owner was a wizard by the name of Hereward- who was of course Godelot’s son.
Little is known about Hereward, but we do know that he ultimately lost possession of
the wand as it went on to a new owner.
The next known Master of the Elder Wand was a wizard by the name of Barnabas Deverill.
In the early eighteenth century, utilizing the wand Deverill earned quite the reputation
as a fearsome warlock. Deverill certainly didn’t use the wand for good, and eventually
his reign of terror ended when he was defeated by a rival wizard.
The next owner of the elder wand, the wizard who defeated Barnabas, was a man by the name
of Loxias. Loxias is the man who famously gave the elder wand the name ‘the deathstick’-
and ruthlessly murdered many people utilizing the wand. Loxias was a truly evil dark wizard
that many wanted dead, and according to Dumbledore- many claimed to have been the one to finish
him off- even his own mother. Because noone knew who killed him- this point in history
is a bit blurry with regards to who became the next owner of the wand. However, from
Xenophilius Lovegood's understanding of history, he believed that it was one of two wizards:
Arcus or Livius - two wizards that we don’t know very much about.
After this point in history, things are a bit blurry- and the next known owner of the
wand was wand shop owner Mykew Gregorovitch- who you’ve probably heard of before. This
is the point at which the history of the wand enters familiar territory- as after Mykew
gained the wands possession, he bragged about it in order to promote his shop. The wand
was then subsequently stolen by none other than Gellert Grindelwald- a man you’ve probably
heard of before.
Grindelwald held the elder wand for many years- and used it to tyrannize the wizarding world.
However, when he was eventually defeated in 1945 by Albus Dumbledore- Dumbledore became
the wands new owner- and he held on to it for quite some time.
The next owner of the wand was Draco Malfoy, who, during the battle of the astronomy tower-
disarmed Dumbledore. Noone knew that he had become the wands rightful owner at that point,
particularly as Snape was the one to end Dumbledore’s life. Everyone previously thought that defeat
was necessary for the wand to change hands- however, nonetheless, Draco Malfoy was the
wands new owner through disarming alone. Our very own Harry Potter becomes the next
and the final owner of the elder wand almost a year after Draco becomes its owner when
he takes Draco’s wand by force during the skirmish at the Malfoy Manor.
Shortly after Harry becomes the wands new owner, however, he puts an end to the ‘bloody
trail of the elder wand’.
"I'm putting the Elder Wand back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural
death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have
been defeated. That'll be the end of it."
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoyed it please like the video and subscribe to
the channel.
Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live