The Blond Gene!

[Vigilias]

...I know for a fact that someone in your lineage was from Scandinavia. Hehe, I just did a history lesson for y'all.

I'm able to trace my Paternal family back to the 11th Century, after that it becomes a matter of relying on verbal and anecdotal evidence.

One of my ancestors, according to legend, took on and killed a Griffin (Half Eagle half Lion) and the Griffin rampant proper (standing upright and depicted in its natural colours) features in the coat of arms from that time onwards.

Two common pub names in these parts are "The Griffin" and "The Eagle And Child" It seems this creature made such a damn nuisance of its self, taking live-stock and the odd child that enough really was enough. It had to go!

Legend and myth aside, the truth is probably that the griffin represents a much more ancient symbol which has been corrupted over time by various artistic interpretations. One theory is that it probably started off as the Raven, much venerated by the Norse people you speak of.

Such artistic interpretations of the original have given us the Liverbird the emblem of the city of Liverpool and Liverpool F.C.

When King John gave Liverpool its first charter in 1207 a lot of references were made to St John in the new market town. King John's dynasty was the Plantaganets whose fifteen monarchs ruled England from 1154 until 1485. Their patron saint was St John the evangelist whose symbol is a souring eagle (Alluding to the word of God being carried to his people as swiftly as though by an eagle) In many churches in England the lectern which holds the Bible is carved in to the image of an eagle.

St John was adopted as the patron saint of Liverpool and the eagle as its heraldic device. The original seal of the City of Liverpool depicted the eagle of St John with a sprig of Plantaganista sea weed its beak, another reference to King John and his dynasty. The seal was supposedly kept in a tower in the long since demolished Liverpool castle but was either lost or destroyed in a fire.

The artist who fashioned the replacement seal, pressed in wax to attach the authority of the City to its documents, didn't do a very good job and so we ended up with a bird that looks like a cormorant. The seaweed is still there though.

Maybe the artist was blond!:biggrin: