What is the correct spelling and pronunciation of Grindelwald's name?

Question

Krum calls Grindelwald "Grindelvald" in the books. This is usually done in the books to indicate an accent (eg, Hagrid and Madam Maxim). However, Krum is presumably from Grindelwald's own country so shouldn't the accented pronunciation be the correct one? What is his name's correct spelling and pronunciation? Is Grindelwald even a real name, or is it something made up, like Dean Thomas or Harry Potter?

Answer 1

In a 2005 interview, JK Rowling pronounced it with a "v" sound. This was novel enough to warrant an aside from the transcriber:

ES: Our other “Ask Jo” question (the one about James and Lily’s sacrifices), was from Maria Vlasiou, who is 25, of the Netherlands. And then the third is from Helen Poole, 18, from Thirsk, Yorkshire – also one of the “Plot Thickens” fan book authors. It’s the one about Grindelwald, which I’m sure you’ve been gearing up for us to ask.

JKR: Uh huh.

ES: Clearly -

JKR: Come on then, remind me. Is he dead?

ES: Yeah, is he dead?

JKR: Yeah, he is.

ES: Is he important?

JKR: [regretful] Ohhh...

ES: You don’t have to answer but can you give us some backstory on him?

JKR: I'm going to tell you as much as I told someone earlier who asked me. You know Owen who won the [UK television] competition to interview me? He asked about Grindelwald [pronounced "Grindelvald" HMM…]. He said, “Is it coincidence that he died in 1945,” and I said no. It amuses me to make allusions to things that were happening in the Muggle world, so my feeling would be that while there's a global Muggle war going on, there's also a global wizarding war going on.

ES: Does he have any connection to --

JKR: I have no comment to make on that subject.

[Laughter.]

So from its conception, it was "vald." But one interesting note here is the interview predates Deathly Hallows and Rowling also says Grindelwald is dead. She obviously changed her mind on that aspect of his character, so it's possible she just changed her mind about the pronunciation as well.

There are a few other things to note:

• It is not uncommon for the "incorrect" pronunciation of a name to supplant the formal one. You almost certainly pronounce Ariana Grande's name incorrectly for example (she pronounces it so it rhymes with "brandy.")
• It is also not at all uncommon for a proper name to be pronounced differently across different languages. Get a Dutchman, American, and Brit in the same room and ask them to pronounce Van Gogh, and they'll all give a different answer.
• Rowling also pronounced Voldemort with a silent t in early interviews (in line with the name's French origins). That seems to have been dropped around the time of the movies, probably because it was a losing battle with how so many readers read it in their minds.

I think the cleanest explanation taking into account textual evidence is that the British speakers are using the common usage but Krum is using the "correct" usage. All of which is to say, if you were to ask Grindelwald himself, he would have said "vald."

Answer 2

The car manufacturer Volkswagen is German - and should properly be pronounced as Volks vagen (as it is in German and by speakers of various eastern European languages).

However, many English speakers pronounce it with a double-u, as in wag.

This is pretty much the same thing happening with Grindelwald's name.

Answer 3

The internet and the stories always call him "Grindewald", but theoretically it should be pronounced as "Grindelvald".

According to Harry potter.fandom:

It says, "pr. Grindelvald". But if this is true, for what reason is Viktor Krum transcribed as making his usual "w" to "v" substitution when saying that name ("Grindelvald")?

The answer to that question is, I believe, that Grindelwald was of Eastern European descent, and his name is pronounced "Grindelvald" in his native language. So, basically, Victor Krum was the only one who pronounced it properly.

And according to wikipedia:

Gellert Grindelwald (/ˈɡrɪndəlˌvɔːld, -ˌwɔːld/)