Ravenclaw Mascot-Challenging Lexicon

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 86039

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <christianrooster at h...>
wrote:
> Arya mentioned:
> > I see on the Lexicon that Ravenclaw's house mascot is listed 
> > as the Eagle and not a Raven. 
> 
> I think you got confused by the name.   Note that the mascot of 
> Griffindor is the Lion, and not a Griffin (which has the head of an 
> eagle and the body of a lion).   
> 
> But it still makes sense:  Griffindor is known for bravery, as the 
> lion.  While a Raven is a bird like an Eagle and usually "soars" 
> (reference to intellectual persuits).  Though both are also 
> scavengers, so I don't know how that'd fit.
> 
> Mark


Like poets, heralds and other designers of state, national, or house
emblems have always chosen to ignore the less noble aspects of eagles
in using them as symbols. Look at the ancient Romans or the
eighteenth-century Americans. Ben Franklin wanted a turkey as the
national bird instead of an eagle; he was overruled. No one attributed
nobility or similar virtues to a turkey. I'm not sure how eagles
relate to intelligence, the trait Ravenclaws are most noted for, but
the eagle's soaring flight and bright eyes have always weighed more
heavily than its diet in determining its symbolic value.

Carol, who is glad that we don't eat our national bird on Thanksgiving