Harry's doorstep ... basket or blankets - Swaddled

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 115487


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tenou" <Tenou0 at g...> wrote:
> 
> 
> DuffyPoo thus spoke:
> <snip>
> > Just to question...several have mentioned Harry in a basket when
> > he was placed on the doorstep.  My version has no basket just a 
> > bundle of blankets.


> Ten'ou:
> 
> PS does say that Harry was wrapped in blankets: ...edited..
> 
> But ... Because have you ever left a baby, not just a baby, but a 
> year  old baby rapped in blankets? If you haven't, I'll tell you from 
> personal experience that that baby won't stay like that for long, 
> even if it is sleeping.
> 
> Ten'ou

bboyminn:

To some extent you are correct, but I think you are basing your
opinion on a very modern image of a baby wrapped or covered in a
common modern baby's blanket which would be about the size of one of
Hagrid's handkechiefs. 

But I would like to introduce the ancient (sort of) concept of
/swaddling/. It means to wrap a baby in a blanket, but it also means
more than that.

swaddle - 1. To wrap or bind in bandages; swathe. 2. To wrap (a baby)
in swaddling clothes. 3. To restrain or restrict.

A baby who is sufficiently /swaddled/ is a baby wrapped in a full
adult sized blanket to the extent that they are in the equivalent of a
straight jacket. They aren't just wrapped, they are bound by the
blankets. 

In modern times if a baby kicks off a blanket they are just likely to
become annoyingly chilly; in more ancient times, losing a blanket
during the night would mean freezing to death. So, the ancient
practice of swaddling involves a experienced technique of strategic
twists, tucks, folds, and ties applied for the specific purpose of
keeping the baby in the blanket. 

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)