"Stars and Stones..."

[forumghost]

  Harry says that a lot as we all know...   But in Peace Talks, Eb says on page 31 when Harry says it

So what could it mean?  Why didn't Eb ever teach Harry what it meant?  And why is Eb so uptight?

Harry doesn't know, but it's actually a low-key Tolkien reference. "seven stars and seven stones and one white tree" Eb just doesn't want all his Wizard friends to find out that he's actually a giant nerd.

[vultur]

It always makes me think of Stonehenge, and the idea that it was meant to be a kind of calendar when certain stars line up with certain stones and such.

I think it's either this (with reference to Conjunctions) or an Outsiders thing. In the Lovecraft story "At the Mountains of Madness" the Antarctic Old Ones (enemies of Cthulhu) left behind these five-pointed star stone things, which later Cthulhu Mythos authors made into weapons against Cthulhu-type entities.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Harry doesn't know, but it's actually a low-key Tolkien reference. "seven stars and seven stones and one white tree" Eb just doesn't want all his Wizard friends to find out that he's actually a giant nerd.

Not bad, Jim has retrofitted third party fiction into the Dresden files several times, the Bothers Grimm and their attempt to take down the Faerie Courts, Bram Stoker and the take down of the Black Court, and most recently the Lovecraft Mythos and Corner Hounds, so why not JRR.Tolkein?. I wonder if Eb met Tolkein during the First World War when pursuing Kemmler? If so did he inspire Gandalf? And Kemmler Saruman?
We know Kemmler started WW1 and Eb was the Blackstaff even then, so not impossible.

Eb would definitely be embarrassed if it came out he was the inspiration for Gandalf. Harry would love it, and tease Eb about it endlessly.

[Mira]

 However if it is a Tolkien reference wouldn't Harry get it?  We know he has at least a copy of "The Two Towers."

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The is the trench song “The Bells of Hell Go Ting a Ling a Ling” was current from 1911 onwards it was feature in “Oh, What a Lovely War” and from Wikipedia

“A 1966 Mirisch Productions World War I war film with the title The Bells of Hell go Ting-a-ling-a-ling starring Gregory Peck and Ian McKellen, directed by David Miller and with a screenplay by Roald Dahl, was abandoned after five weeks filming in Switzerland.[4] The film, depicting the air raid on the Zeppelin base at Friedrichshafen, was abandoned after early snow in the Alps.[5]”

Bloody Gandalf no less,  before he became Gandalf, truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction

[magical_liopleurodon]

Well...he lived in a basement for 15+ years. Probably never considered attacks from below.

Jim has also stated that Harry is the incompetent buffoon type of wizard. In WK while fighting Malvora in the deeps, he never considered 3D fighting, only 2D.

Like in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

[Bad Alias]

True true. And with Mabs's training, Harry should have known better.

A wizard should know better.

[JumpyDragon]

When Eb scolded Harry, it mentioned that he did so in his usual grouchy way. Could it maybe be an inside phrasing/joke with Eb and someone else? Maybe even between Eb and Margaret?

[Mira]

A wizard should know better.

Harry's training was never conventional.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Yes, he never actually attended a Convent, though it’s easy to get confused given the long flowing formal robes and lack of sex.

[Bad Alias]

Harry's training was never conventional.

https://youtu.be/v7NzBTRzCkg?t=12

[Mira]

https://youtu.be/v7NzBTRzCkg?t=12

The wizards of the Lord of the Rings are not the wizards of the Dresdenverse, they are neither human nor elf.

[forumghost]

The wizards of the Lord of the Rings are not the wizards of the Dresdenverse, they are neither human nor elf.

No, they're angels cosplaying as Santa. Still doesn't change the fact that Harry is a Wizard that apparently used int as his Dump Stat.

He should know better, but Jim has a much easier time writing the story if Harry is an idiot.

[JumpyDragon]

No, they're angels cosplaying as Santa. Still doesn't change the fact that Harry is a Wizard that apparently used int as his Dump Stat.

He should know better, but Jim has a much easier time writing the story if Harry is an idiot.

This made me almost spew my food. But let's be honest, Harry would have high stats in Intelligence and Charisma (don't get me wrong, he uses wit a lot and is able to get people to follow him into the crazy, scary, frightening situations) but his stats in WISDOM are extremely low. Hence the not warding on the floors and his constant putting of foot in his mouth. He's very smart and can think quickly, but doesn't do so well with common sense and perception.

[Avernite]

This made me almost spew my food. But let's be honest, Harry would have high stats in Intelligence and Charisma (don't get me wrong, he uses wit a lot and is able to get people to follow him into the crazy, scary, frightening situations) but his stats in WISDOM are extremely low. Hence the not warding on the floors and his constant putting of foot in his mouth. He's very smart and can think quickly, but doesn't do so well with common sense and perception.

Not sure I would describe it that way; most Harry plans are pretty good but made up as he goes along, yes, but most of them aren't triggered by Harry messing up - they are triggered by an external crisis.

His skill is going off on a charge BEFORE there's a plan, rather than like other players waiting for the plan to develop and THEN move. He thereby gains crucial time. That, to me, is wisdom too.
Instead I would say his charisma is a dump stat, and he substitutes something like luck; he is always pissing people off by his ways, but somehow gets away with it for other reasons. I mean, he went to a vampire party as a CHEESY vampire.