Winged Boars

[readerravenclaw]

One of the aspects of the Harry Potter books that most drew me in was the myriad of details that Rowling includes - because it is those details that, at least for me, make the world of Harry Potter feel so real

Comments

[tunxeh]

Apparently King Arthur was called The Boar of Cornwall -- of course Hogwarts is nowhere near Cornwall but there have been some other connections to Arthurian legend in HP: people swear by Merlin, and Arthur, Percy, and Ginevra Weasley have Arthurian names. Not that this explains the wings...

[readerravenclaw]

Yeah, boars were associated with royalty back in those days.... Because back then, the image of the king was the warrior-king image, so kings were associated with the animals that were the feircest.... It's strange to think that male pigs are so incredibly ferocious and dangerous - when I think of pigs, that's certainly not the image that comes to mind! - but apparantly, boars were on all sorts of armor and heralds and used in poetry and stories....

[ap_aelfwine]

It's strange to think that male pigs are so incredibly ferocious and dangerous - when I think of pigs, that's certainly not the image that comes to mind!

That's cos you've never hunted them. :-)

(I've not ever done that, either, but I've got a cousin who thinks them excellent sport; back in the day he'd've been thought a bit the wimp, I expect, for using a bow instead of a spear. :-)

[readerravenclaw]

That's not exactly what I meant. :) It's very true that I've never hunted boars, but I'm a big fantasy reader and medievil historical fiction reader, so I actually do associate the concept of "boar" with feirceness. It's just that I don't associate the concept of pig with "boar". When I say "pig", I mean those big pink (female) pigs that you can find on farms. :)

But wow to your cousin hunting them - I didn't realize people still did, nowadays!

[kelleypen]

Nice catch. I'd never noticed the winged boars--and the when pigs fly joke is obvious. Good thinking.

And to add another visual joke--Near where I teach is a mom and pop cafe called The Satisfied Ewe. Each morning all the farmers meet for coffee and as I drive past I see all the Dodge Rams lined up outside. I really need to take a photograph of it. :)

[gmth]

Eee, that's a beautiful point. I never caught the "when pigs fly" thing before, but you are so right. It's typical of Jo's wit to have included a neat little detail like that. Nice catch. :-)

[readerravenclaw]

Personally, I can't believe that I didn't see it sooner! There was a reference to the winged boars in PoA, two in GoF, two in OotP.... I only discovered the reference about a year and half ago - sometime before Oct 2003, judging by a reference I made to it in a post at the SQ - and I only discovered it then because I was reading through that specific chapter very carefully as part of a chapter-by-chapter discussion. :)

[lingzer0]

Cool! I never noticed that before, and that's a really neat little detail. Sweet :)

[readerravenclaw]

It really is a great detail. :) Like I said, I think it's my very favorite of them all. :) That's what I love so much about the books - it doesn't just include the necessary information, it has so many extraneous details - but included in such a way that you don't feel like you're being info-dumped, it just feels like such an intrinsic and natural part of the setting, and it makes the whole world of Harry Potter seem so much deeper and more authentic.

[prongsrini]

Wow, *blinks* I agree with all of the commenters above. This is beautifully written. Never thought of the boar's connection to everything even though I had wondered why there were so many references to boars. Nice job! Wonder if boars will come into play in the future books? Perhaps not, all of the points you made are simply symbols.

[readerravenclaw]

While I was writing up this essay/discussion, I decided to do a web search of "winged boars" to see what I would come up with, if anyone else had written anything of this sort before. What I did find was a bit of speculation on I think the Mugglenet forum (Chamber of Secrets) that the winged boars were part of some sort of actual guardian system, and would come to life if Hogwarts was threatened. But I really, really, really doubt that'll happen - I think it's just symbolism. (Of course, that doesn't mean that more boar symbolism might not turn up, but I doubt actual boars will start appearing at Hogwarts.) :)