Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Mystery behind the title

Trust JK Rowling to come up with a bouncer! The excitement behind the release of the last book, the mystery behind the plot, and the theories swarming all over the place, the title takes the cake! She couldn’t have managed a more mystifying title than this! We know the title today, but that does not bring us any closer to understanding the final plot? I really don’t think so! The title is ambiguous, it mysterious and it’s impactful.

All the titles of the Harry Potter series so far, with an exception of book 5, were definite and indicative.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone indicated that the book was about a thing.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets indicated that the book was about a place.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban indicated that the book was about a person.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire indicated that the book was about a thing.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was as vague as Deathly Hallows. We had no clue that Order of the Phoenix was an association or a group.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince indicated that the book was about a person.

So what exactly does Deathly Hallows mean? What is it trying to communicate? Well, I am going to list a few possibilities that I can think of and then elaborate on the one’s I feel strongly about.

The meaning of the word Hallow: The word deathly is pretty clear… the mystery however, surrounds the word hallow. WordWeb (A software by Microsoft, is a well known dictionary) provides three synonyms for the word Hallows – blesses, consecrates, and sanctifies. Let’s take one word at a time.
If we consider Hallows means blesses, then we can say that deathly hallows can mean something like a deathly blessing. My conclusion on this is that Harry’s connection to Voldemort is a deathly blessing.
If we consider Hallows to mean consecrates (give entirely to a specific person, activity or cause) then we can say that Deathly Hallows means, giving in to a deathly task completely.
If we consider Hallows to mean sanctifies (make pure or free from sin), then we can say that Deathly Hallows might come to mean something like Harry trying to free the magical world from Voldemort in a deathly battle.

The problem with the exact translation theory is that it goes into many tangents. Each word can mean a million things and each meaning can sprout a million other interpretations. So I am not totally convinced that exact translation is the way to demystify this title.

My gut lies strongly with the following theory.
The Halloween theory: The term Halloween, and its older rendering Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening of/before "All Hallows' Day"(also known as "All Saints' Day"). The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although we now consider All Saints' (or Hallows') day to be on the day after Halloween, they were, at that time, considered to be the same day. In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label, albeit somewhat esoteric.

I think Hallows has a direct reference to Halloween for the following reason:
- The story of Harry Potter began on a dark night on Halloween, when Voldemort entered the Potter house and killed Harry parents. It would be a fitting conclusion to the series to conclude the series on a deathly Halloween night.
- The entire Harry Potter series has given tremendous importance to Halloween, especially the 1st four books. A number of things have happened before/during/after the Halloween fest. For example:
o In the 1st book, the troll enters the Hogwarts castle during the Halloween festivities. It is during this time that JK gives various clues about Snape and Quirrell.
o In the 2nd book, the first attack happens during the Halloween celebrations, when Harry finds Mrs. Norris petrified.
o In the 3rd book, Sirius Black enters the castle and attacks the fat lady.
o In the 4th book, the Triwizard’s Tournament officially begins on Halloween, when the names of 4 champions is announced.

With so much importance given to Halloween, I have a feeling that the Deathly Hallows refers directly to a deadly Halloween! Hence, I go with this theory.

What do you think??