NPPF - Canto One - more notes

[David Morris]

--- Jasper Fidget <jasper at hatguild.org> wrote:
> ln 108: "Twinned Iris": 
> 
> (OED) "A rainbow, esp. (freq. Iris) personified; a many-coloured refraction
of light from drops of water; a rainbow-like or iridescent appearance; a
coloured halo; a combination of brilliant colours."
>
> (OED) "Photography & Cinematography. In full iris diaphragm. An adjustable
diaphragm of thin overlapping plates for regulating the size of a control hole,
esp. for admitting light to a lens or lens system."  (i.e. another spiral....)
>
> Iris, goddess of the rainbow and messenger of Olympus; see Note to 130 for
Iris Acht and a slew of twinning.

http://www.sfheart.com/iris.html
"Among the duties of the Greek Goddess Iris was that of leading the souls of
dead women to the Elysian Fields. In token of that faith the Greeks planted
purple Iris on the graves of women. Iris was the messenger of the gods and the
personification of the Rainbow. The Greek symbolism for the iris comes down to
us by word of mouth in the form of a myth that was old in Homer's day.

[...]

Leaping forward through time we know that the Fleur-de-lis as a conventional
form long predated its association with the Kings of France. There are various
legends of how the iris came to represent the French monarchy but most center
around two historical incidents separated in time by six hundred years. Clovis
who in 496 A.D. is said to have abandoned the three toads on his banner in
favor of the fleur-de-lis. His Christian Queen Clotilda, had long sought to
convert her heathen husband but he always ignored her plea. Then faced with a
formidable army of Alamanni, the Germanic tribe invading his kingdom, he told
his wife that if he won the coming battle he would admit her God was strongest
and be baptized. He did win and the toads whose symbolism would be most
interesting to know disappeared.

    The second incident occurred in 1147. Louis VII of France had a dream that
convinced him to adopt the purple iris as his device shortly before setting out
for his ill-fated crusade. Thus the fleur-de-lis became the symbol on the
banner of France for the next six hundred years. Or twelve hundred years if we
take it from the time of Clovis that the iris became the symbol for a great
nation.

    The iris was so powerful a symbol of the French kings that the
Revolutionaries in 1789 set out to totally obliterate it the symbol of the
hated monarchy. It was chipped off buildings and torn from draperies. Men were
guillotined for wearing a fleur-de-lis on their clothes or as jewelry. The
revolution succeeded and the symbol of the fleur-de-lis is only a memory now
and is considered merely a conventionalized ornament or decoration.

http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--10072169/Iris___Keeper_of_the_Rainbow.htm?RFID=633434

Also:

http://www.stlukeseye.com/anatomy/Iris.asp

"The colored part of the eye is called the iris.  It controls light levels
inside the eye similar to the aperture on a camera.  The round opening in the
center of the iris is called the pupil.  The iris is embedded with tiny muscles
that dilate (widen) and constrict (narrow) the pupil size.  

The sphincter muscle lies around the very edge of the pupil.  In bright light,
the sphincter contracts, causing the pupil to constrict.  The dilator muscle
runs radially through the iris, like spokes on a wheel.  This muscle dilates
the eye in dim lighting.  

The iris is flat and divides the front of the eye (anterior chamber) from the
back of the eye (posterior chamber).  Its color comes from microscopic pigment
cells called melanin.  The color, texture, and patterns of each person's iris
are as unique as a fingerprint."







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