The Gryffindor Coat-of-Arms

[jkusalavagemd]

No: HPFGUIDX 42484

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amanda Geist" <editor at t...> wrote:
> Haggridd said
The
> > Gryffindor coat-of-arms is the reverse of Scotland's, much as the
> > "Red Cross" is the reverse of the Swiss flag, and for the same
> > reason:  to give honor by imitating.
> 
> From the author's perspective, I think JKR may well have done this 
on
> purpose. Although the lion is the noblest of heraldic beasts, the 
griffin is
> right up there too for good connotations, it would have been a 
perfectly
> good (and more logical) charge for Gryffindor (given the obvious 
cant).

Precisely!  The lion must have been chosen for another purpose.

> However, England is rather lion-heavy, too--lions are *the* top-of-
the-line
> charge, and I doubt that Scotland's having a lion is anything 
besides one
> thing on a long list of reasons she had.
>
Ah, but England's arms have three lions which are passant regardant.
The Gryffindor arms are reversed spatially as well as tincturally.

> 
> ANYway, the point being, Gryffindor's lion may well have been 
established
> before Scotland's was. How far back does the usage of the red lion
> go?Scotland may be the one extending the honor. The differences are
> small--Gryffindor's lion faces sinister, Scotland's faces dexter; 
the colors
> have been flipped, and Scotland has the tressure.
> 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the usual way for these heraldic 
charges to face "dexter", to the right?  Having the Gryffindor lion 
face left is another signal that something unusual is happening here.

> >  I have to think that this was
> > done consciously by JKR.
> 
> I agree and I don't. I think much thought went into what she does, 
very,
> very, very much, but I also think part of her genius is that she 
manages to
> get these details *right* on a very subliminal level. I don't think 
she had
> any idea of all the resonances of the names she's chosen (although 
she
> clearly knew some), and look how applicable and correct the stuff 
that we
> find turns out to be. So I'm sure that the connection was there, but
> possibly not consciously, possibly just a factor in how the colors 
and
> animal "fit." She does that "fit" thing so very well.
>

Well, it may have been subliminal.  I would like to think otherwise.
 
> > Well, that's all.  I hope nobody thinks this is too trivial an
> observation.
> 
> Heraldry is never trivial.
> 
> --Amanda

Amen!
Haggridd