[HPforGrownups] Significance of Ginny

[Vivamus]

No: HPFGUIDX 124259

> Vivamus:
> I  recognize this pattern (the archetypal trio of women who 
> make the  hero
> complete) from the wonderful Childe Cycle of Gordon Dickson; 
> but he  may have gotten it from earlier literature.  (He 
> wrote the first book  using it [Dorsai!] in 1960 or thereabouts.)  
> 
> Sherrie here:
>  
> Indeed he did - from the Triple Goddess of ancient lore.  The 
> Fates,  the Norns, the Erinyes - sets of trifold Goddesses, 
> which many simply define as Maiden, Mother & Crone.  
> (Lily/Molly/Minerva; I haven't quite defined  the roles in 
> the second triad, except that I rather think that Hermione is 
> the  Crone.)
>  
> Sherrie

Vivamus:

You are right, of course, about the goddess trio application in ancient
literature.  The only problem with the Maiden/Mother/Crone model with
respect to the trios in Potterverse, however, is that it doesn't seem to fit
as well.  Molly is so strongly a mother figure, it is hard to imagine her
fitting any of the other roles -- yet Lily is Harry's mother.   Minerva is
certainly older, and her role is somewhat that of the crone, but she really
*isn't* the crone.  She doesn't provide him with the information or answers
he needs to fulfill his quest, and she is not ancient.  None of the three
women fulfill the role of maiden -- unless Lily is the maiden, in an odd
reversal.

Instead of the goddess trio being the assistants of the hero on his journey,
or the givers of gifts that make the journey possible, the trios in the
Childe Cycle perform a quite different function.  The trio as used by Gordon
Dickson is that of body/mind/spirit.  The two trios used are each centered
around that pattern, but one trio is maternal and the other is
complementary.  The older trio nurtures or matures the body/mind/spirit.
The younger trio completes the body/mind/spirit.  It is this pattern I've
not seen before Dickson's work, although I would not be surprised at all to
find it in older literature.

So the older trio of Lily/Molly/Minerva provide the
nurturing/maturing/protection Harry needs to be ready for his journey, and
the younger trio of Hermione/Ginny/Luna provide the missing elements Harry
needs to not only accomplish his journey, but to be himself complete at the
end of it.

I'm afraid my classical education is fairly weak; is there an early example
of the above pattern anyone can remember?

Vivamus