Raven vs. Eagle

[Kelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 13866

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> Kelley wrote:
> > Did we ever learn why Ravenclaw's mascot is an eagle rather than a
> > raven?
> Amanda:
> Easiest answer--because it is. Same reason Gryffindor's is a golden 
lion and not a golden griffin (gryffin of gold = gryffin d'or).<<<<<<

Well, yes.  I know what Gryffindor means, I guess I was figuring that 
kids would understand 'lion' better than gryphon, so that's why she 
went with that.  As for the Ravenclaw mascot, it seems less likely 
(to me) that a raven would be that unfamiliar to kids so why change 
it?  Suppose JKR liked the 'eagle' and wanted to keep it in there.  
Aren't ravens 'familiars' though, like cats?  

> > Kelley:
> > I  thought this was a bit strange, and would assume this was
> > deliberately changed for the movie ("why not have a raven as the
> > mascot for Ravenclaw?").
> 
> Amanda:
> Yeah, when things in a coat of arms have the same sound as the name 
of the bearer, it's called a "cant" (like my name in my medieval 
society is Oliphant, and I have an elephant on my arms). Cants are 
fun and instinctive, and I figured they changed it for that, and 
because it seemed to make more sense. <<<<<<<

Haha, I like that.  You're probably right, about this being the 
reason it was changed.  I have no knowledge about this, and have 
found your comments on all of it quite interesting.  

> Amanda:
> <lecture mode/ON> Medievally, though, which is technically when the
> symbols of the houses would have solidified into tradition, the 
eagle was the lord of the birds, as the lion was the lord of beasts. 
They had some tremendously heavy positive symbolism about power and 
virture and stuff like that, hence their frequent use in actual 
heraldry. <lecture
> mode/OFF>
> By the way, I haven't had time to look into it, but the badger's a
> pretty respected creature of the earth. I haven't had time to 
research the badger's and snake's heraldic histories, but it'd be fun 
if I could tie them to the four elements, eh?. <<<<<<<<<<

Yeah, I think it'd be fun.  I'd love to hear more on this.
 
> Amanda:
> ANYway, it's also been postulated (by others) that an eagle was 
Rowena's animagus form, and postulated (by me) that said eagle had 
black claws (most of them do), hence Raven-claw for her name.  But 
this is way too complicated for a movie audience, so they made it a 
raven. Because it seemed logical. I bet. <<<<<<<<<<

I can understand this, but it even seems a complicated stretch for 
JKR, to me.  Occham's razor and all that.  

> > Kelley:
> >  Has JKR ever commented on this?
>
> Amanda:
> Dunno, but she must have okayed it, because there it is, and if it 
were vital to the plot that Ravenclaw bear an eagle, she'd have 
fussed about it. <<<<<<<<<<<

Yeah, I was thinking that as well, that she must have okayed it.  
Perhaps she went with eagle and lion in the books to have a better 
variety of animals as mascots, and eagle is perceived as a 'cooler' 
bird than the raven.  (This way, there wouldn't be two animals 
with "bird-heads" on the crest, and so forth.)  Thanks for the 
clarification, Amanda.

Kelley