liamgalgey reblogged your post and added:
I’d like to point out that green wasn’t the colour of Ireland until very recently, (certainly not ‘over a thousand years ago’), but blue was more associated with Ireland. The fact that our national animal is a stag doesn’t help in any way. But if Slytherin is the upper-class Englishman, then would it not make sense for his opposite (Gryffindor) to be Irish?
Well, I suppose it depends whether you consider Irish to be the opposite of English or not. As a Scottish person I tend to think of Scotland and England more as opposites, but I think our dislike of the idea of England is fairly strong in both countries.
However, the point about green is well made.
funereal-disease reblogged your post and added:
I I think the idea of Slytherin being from Ireland makes sense precisely because of the rumor that the snakes were all driven out. The “snakes” in the story were actually Celtic Pagans, victims of St. Patrick’s pogrom. Suppose Slytherin were descended from the only Irish magical family to survive the genocide. That would explain a lot about Slytherin values, actually: both the ambition (sheer will to survive) and the “stick to your own” mindset (your family was the last of its kind; of course you’re going to hate muggles).
Hmmmm. So you are saying he’s from The Fens, by way of having been kicked out of Ireland? That sounds more convincing than green=ireland, but it raises a number of troubling ideas.
Firstly that Slytherin’s villain origin story involves a genocide that most likely did not happen in the real world, and wasn’t ever brought up in the books. I mean, obviously the cultural genocide of gradually replacing “pagan” religion with Christianity happened, but it had been happening before St Patrick and hadn’t finished happening until long after he died and there was no mass slaughter/expulsion of anyone from Ireland because of St. Patrick’s arrival.
Secondly I’m pretty sure that after the Irish Potato Famine the hordes of migrating Irish people were subjected to enough prejudiced discrimination and villainisation as it is. And to echo that in Slytherin’s departure from Ireland and then to place him in a villain’s role is... Iffy? JK Rowling is an English author after all and I’d rather not think that she used the idea of dispossessed Irish migrants as the basis for her social commentary on the problems of the upper-class English Conservative politics.
No, I’d rather think of him as a privileged, upper-class English wizard. And Hogwarts was founded well ahead of the Norman invasion of England so he’s good and proper Anglo-Saxon too. Probably from some Anglian kingdom, maybe Mercian.
Really enjoying your Harry Potter analysis! I heard (though I don't know how accurate that is) that alongside the leek, the daffodil is also associated with Wales, which would explain yellow, I guess. If it were correct. Anddd... idk, badger hats? Now that's really clutching at straws...
Aha! Daffodils! Of course! That makes perfect sense. Leeks and Daffodils are indeed associated with Wales, to the best of my knowledge. Yes, good. Badgers I think, are still a mystery here though. :P (And thank you! I am glad you are enjoying it.)
