Heraldry Class/Bad Amy! was Another motto question

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 21134

Amy Z wrote:

> Now I have a motto question.  Who drew the crest?  JKR herself?  The
> book covers don't say.

Amy, for shame. You have sat through Amanda Binns' Lectures on Heraldry.
Fifty points from your house. (1) This is not a motto question, it asks
nothing about the motto. (2) :::more attentive students chorus:::"Nor is
it a CREST. It is a coat of arms."

No really interesting heraldic threads have come up in a bit, and I had
a really, really stressful day, so I did a little therapeutic escapism.
Rather than cast the "Archivus Referendum" spell at you all, I dug
through and found some highlights. Sooo, you new folks interested in a
dry, dusty discourse or two on Hogwarts heraldry, please refer to the
following. Message numbers are listed, followed by a brief summary often
noted for piquancy or superb choice of words.

6929 -- a forwarded comment from my heraldry group, discussing the movie
heraldry a bit
7078 -- Catlady inserting her opinion on the forwarded commentary
7192 -- my discussion of the arms of the four Houses, non-movie
7528 -- Christian's discussion of hatchings and how those illustrated on
Hogwarts arms are not correct
11399 -- heidi tandy asking a question incorrectly using the term
"crest" destined to ignite my never-too-low-burning fires of desire to
educate the world about heraldry
11458 -- Amanda's huge, long, grandmother of all heraldry posts
"Clarification of Hogwarts Heraldry." Not to be missed by the nitpicky
or the insomniac.
13539 -- prince_galrion's discussion of the House arms, interestingly
using the terminology correctly, containing much wailing and gnashing of
teeth
13799 -- my lengthy, long, very verbose response to the wailing and
gnashing of teeth (did I mention it's kind of long?)
13809 -- pengolodh's response (I think he's also prince_galrion? sounds
like it)
13831 -- My venerable opinions on why Ravenclaw bears an eagle and not a
raven (at least in the books)
13839 -- yet another commentary on the minutiae of the book versions of
the House arms, on the thread begun by the wailing and gnashing
13844 -- response by me to Amy Z, speculating on why Gryffindor bears a
lion and not a griffin
13852 -- Wildly OT discussion of the genders of griffins. Really.
13866 -- Discussion by Kelley on why each House's symbol is what it is,
edging into the "four elements" speculation
14028 -- Many topics touched by Catlady, among them our four elements
thing.

Have fun. I'm off! to continue my work, pontificating, edifying, and
generally shining the light of heraldic knowledge into the narrow,
frightening world of mall heraldry kiosks.

--Amanda (who, to answer the original question, dimly remembers hearing
that yes, JKR drew the Hogwarts arms, but I've honestly no idea where at
all. I didn't want to put this tidbit too high in the message, having
just fussed at everyone for saying similar unsubstantiated things.)


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