riffin

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

As part of his early education the Baron often visited London and also Cambridge University where Professor Hamblin, now chief advisor to the mature Baron, was a teacher. Professor Hamblin was in charge of preparing the young Baron for his responsibilities when he became the head of Lilliland.

As the head of Lilliland, the Baron often talked about his younger years in London with Professor Hamblin. The Professor would take the young Baron to visit the city of London in the Temple area. The area was so named in the 12th century for the crusading Knights Templar.

The symbol of the City of London was a Griffin statue. It was a foreboding figure in the combination of lion and eagle. It had the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. The Baron did not think highly of this symbol of the city of London, so he told the Professor.

When the Baron became head of Lilliland he said that the symbol of his country would continue to be the beautiful swans of Castle Lake.

The Professor had to spend some time convincing the Baron to keep his point of view to himself regarding the Griffin and hoped that visitors to Lilliland would be respectful of the country’s symbol of the swan. Every country was entitled to its own symbol, the Baron offered.

The mature Baron said that if the people of London liked the Griffin, that was fine with him. “But I still prefer our swans,” the Baron concluded.