Harry Potter and The Stolen Plot...

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by alatar

Grima Wormtongue is called thus as no one, with the exception of the bewitched Theoden, likes his slithering ways and constant lying. Peter Pettigrew Wormtail, a rat in more ways than one, is named thus as...

One nick seems natural; the other forced.

And I'm not even going to mention anything about a certain person going into hiding after losing a finger.

Okay, that's a point. "Wormtail" is an obvious... er... reference, let us say. And as you say, it doesn't quite work.

Not sure about the missing finger. It may be simply that Rowling wanted to include the old tradition that a shapeshifter's injuries persist from one form to another, and just happened to pick "missing digit" as the telltale mutilation, when it could as easily have been a torn ear, or something.