Stefano -Narni, Perugia e il Grifone(Narni, Perugia and the Griffin)
Today,
I would like to tell you about the most famous legend in my home town Narni, a
small castle-town in central Italy. Narni is located in the region of Umbria,
whose capital is Perugia, a city similarly structured around a fortress but
much much larger. Both Narni and Perugia have a rampant griffin as their city
crest, the only difference is that Perugia's is white, while Narni's is red.
There is an interesting explanation behind this aesthetic choice, but before
diving into the past, we need to explain what a griffin is and what it
represents.
The
Griffin (or Gryphon) is a chimera, or a creature, in this case an animal,
having the parts of different animals. The griffin has the head, front legs and
wings of an eagle; the belly and hind legs of a lion; and the ears of a horse.
It was said that the griffin could only be female and that it represented
qualities such as cunning, strength and protection.
At
the beginning of the Middle Ages, Narni and Perugia were in constant conflict
with each other. Wars and battles had almost irreparably separated the two
cities, until one day, out of nowhere, a fearsome griffin appeared in the
Umbrian skies, terrifying the inhabitants of the two cities. And in that moment
both royal families of the time decided to become allies and form a single army
in order to face the new common threat. Eventually the combined strength of the
two kingdoms succeeded in defeating the indomitable beast.
The
two cities decided to keep the remains of the griffin as a trophy and divide
the carcass: the bones (white) went to Perugia while the skin (red) went to
Narni.
The
Narni-Perugian griffin is therefore a symbol of the resilience of the two
cities, which decided to put aside their differences and help each other in a
moment of crisis.
hind legs:後ろ足
defeating the indomitable beast.:不屈の獣を倒す
remains of the griffin:グリフィンの残骸
divide:分割する
carcass:死骸
therefore:したがって
resilience :回復
crisis:危機
