Norbert

Norbert is a Germanic given name, from nord "north" and berht "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname.

People with the given name

Sports

Norbert of Xanten

Norbert of Xanten (c. 1080 – 6 June 1134), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a bishop of the Catholic Church, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint.

Life and work

Saint Norbert was born in Xanten on the left bank of the Rhine, near Wesel, in the Electorate of Cologne. He grew up there and was also educated there. His father, Heribert, Count of Gennep, was related to the imperial house of Germany and the House of Lorraine. His mother was Hedwig of Guise. Through the influence of his family he obtained a financial subsidy from the parish church of St. Victor at Xanten when he accepted ordination to the subdeaconate. His only task was to chant the Divine Office at the Church, but he apparently paid someone a small fee to take his place in the choir, because he gained an appointment as a chaplain (religious counselor) to the emperor, Henry V in Cologne. The salaries from the Xanten fund and the royal treasury were enough to equip him to live in the style of the nobility of the times.

Rubeus Hagrid

Rubeus Hagrid is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. Hagrid is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as a half-giant and half-human who is the gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, the primary setting for the first six novels. In the third novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hagrid is promoted to Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and is later revealed to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Character development

Hagrid was among the characters that Rowling says she created "the very first day". She has explained the source of his name as "another old English word, meaning – if you were hagrid – it’s a dialect word – you’d had a bad night. Hagrid is a big drinker – he has a lot of bad nights." In her article "Harry’s Fame", Rosemary Goring notes the Forest of Dean is an influence on Rowling’s work, and Hagrid is the only character that is "directly drawn from the Forest of Dean". According to Goring, Hagrid’s "dropped word-endings are a Chepstow speciality." She also claims that Hagrid is physically "modeled on the Welsh chapter of Hells Angels who’d swoop down on the town and hog the bar, 'huge mountains of leather and hair".