The Irony of Parseltongue

[readerravenclaw]

Despite the fact that they have no outer ears, and contrary to the old myth that snakes are completely deaf, snakes can actually hear. For those of you who will recognize these terms, a snake's hearing range is about 50 - 1,000 hz. (1,000 hz is about mid-range for humans.) That is, a snake generally hears only the lower-to-mid frequencies, and

Comments

[conuly]

Snakes also can't, apparently, blink. That whole scene irritiates me because of that detail.

[readerravenclaw]

That I would classify as a real mistake, because the blink is so insignificant that there's no reason for the anatomy to be wrong.

Parseltongue is a bit of a different issue, because hissing is linked so strongly to snakes that the effect and the "sound" of it is right, even if physiologically speaking, it doesn't make sense. But then, snakes understanding such complex language, equivalent to a human language, doesn't make physiological sense either, given their intelligence, so I'm willing to group the whole hearing high-frequency sounds with the rest of the magical modifications.

[cavalaxis]

I would argue (as a writer and creator of fantasy creatures) that this would be your first clue that you're not dealing with an ordinary snake. :)

[pitchblackrose]

Ah, but the snake is completely normal - it's the boy that isn't ;)

[dawn_m]

I would have to say that Parseltongue is a magical gift. Being as it is the world of magic, where anything and everything can (and DOES!) happen, I'd say that it's more than language and sounds. There's probably some sort of preternatural link between the Parselmouth and snakes.

[readerravenclaw]

Like I said, I'm not faulting JKR for Parseltongue - the impression that it gives is more important than technicalities, I think, and magic can explain the divide between the physiological reality and the actual abilities of HP world snakes. I just think it's very ironic. :)

[draloreshimare]

As far as I know, yes, snakes can detect basic human emotions because when you have these emotions, such as fear, your body gives off chemicals which snakes can pick up with their tongues.

[readerravenclaw]

I wrote out a whole long response to this, but I somehow lost it. :) To summarize, I do know that about body chemicals and so forth, but I'm wondering if snakes can smell the sort of smell that is generated by emotion. That is, I'm wondering if perhaps there are different kinds of smells, the way there are different kinds of sounds (frequencies) and different kinds of wavelengths and vision. In other words, can certain kinds of animals only smell certain smells? Not depending on how strong the smells are, but on what kind of smells they are?

The reason why I'm curious about this is that I'm writing a fanfic about - well, to put it very briefly, about Voldemort being defeated by being turned into a baby, and what happens to young Tom as he gets a second chance at life, and I've given Tom a pet/friend snake who plays a not-insignificant role in the story. I've had her smell his emotions once or twice, and I'm wondering if there's evidence that would show that that's impossible. :)

[draloreshimare]

There's no evidence against it, that I know of. :)

[alchemia]

given that this is all "Magic" i think for the average reader it will be no less believable than parseltongue.

personally, having/workign with many kinds of animals (snake included), I would say that yes, they can pick up some emotions, but i don't feel scientific proof is needed for that.

[readerravenclaw]

Yeah, I've been wondering about that too. *g* I've actually just submitted the question to one of those "ask the experts" sites, and I'll report back here with the answer, assuming I get one. (My exact question was: "I've read that snakes can only hear low-frequency sounds. Does that mean they can't hear their own hissing?")

And by the way, the rattle of a rattlesnake is also a very high-pitched noise....