Everything about Griffins totally explained
The
gryphon, is a
legendary creature with the body of a
lion and the head and wings of an
eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the gryphon was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Gryphons are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a
symbol of
divine power and a guardian of the divine.
Most contemporary illustrations give the gryphon the forelegs of an eagle, with an eagle's legs and
talons, although in some older illustrations it has a lion's forelimbs; it generally has a lion's hindquarters. Its eagle's head is conventionally given prominent
ears; these are sometimes described as the lion's ears, but are often elongated (more like a
horse's), and are sometimes feathered.
Infrequently, a gryphon is portrayed without wings (or a wingless eagle-headed lion is identified as a gryphon); in 15th-century and later
heraldry such a beast may be called a
male gryphon, an
alce or a
keythong. In heraldry, a gryphon always has aquiline forelimbs; the beast with leonine forelimbs is distinguished as the
opinicus.
Early civilizations
Several gryphon-like creatures - beasts with the head of an eagle or some other
bird of prey - occur in art, architecture and mythology of many early civilizations.
In
Minoan Crete, such creatures were royal animals and guardians of throne rooms.
In
Ancient Egypt, a similar creature was depicted with a slender, feline body and the head of a
falcon; this is tentatively identified as an
axex. Early statuary depicts them with wings that are horizontal and parallel along the back of the body. During the
New Kingdom, depictions of gryphons included hunting scenes.
Of the two sacred "birds" of
Persian mythology, the
homa and the
simurgh, the homa is often described as gryphon-like. Ancient
Elamites used such a creature extensively in their architecture. During the
Achaemenid Empire, homa were used widely as statues and symbols in palaces. Homa also had a special place in
Persian literature as guardians of light.
Scythia
The gryphon was a common feature of "animal style"
Scythian gold. It was said to inhabit the Scythian
steppes that reached from the modern
Ukraine to central
Asia; there gold and precious stones were abundant and when strangers approached to gather the stones, the creatures would leap on them and tear them to pieces. The Scythians used giant
petrified bones found in this area as proof of the existence of these gryphons and thus keep outsiders away from the gold and precious stones.
Adrienne Mayor, a classical
folklorist, has recently suggested that these "gryphon bones" were actually
dinosaur fossils, which are common in this part of the world. In
The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times, she makes tentative connections between the rich fossil beds around the
Mediterranean and across the steppes to the
Gobi Desert and the myths of gryphons,
centaurs and archaic giants originating in the Classical world. Mayor draws upon similarities that exist between the
prehistoric Protoceratops skeletons of the steppes leading to the Gobi Desert, and the legends of the gold-hoarding gryphon told by nomadic Scythians of the region.
Ancient Greece
In
archaic Greek art bronze cauldrons fitted with
apotropaic bronze griffon heads ("
protomes") with gaping beaks, prominent upstanding ears and often a finial knop on the skull appear with such regularity that they're considered a genre, the
Griefenkessel, by specialists. The "griffin cauldrons" are discussed by Ulf Jantzen,
Griechische Griefenkessel (Berlin) 1955. Based on
Anatolian prototypes for bronze cauldrons with animal heads, Jantzen concluded that the griffon cauldron was a Greek invention of c.700 BC, the earliest examples hammered over moulds rather than cast. Such griffon cauldrons were developed simultaneously in
Samos and in
Etruscan territories from the earliest 7th through the 6th centuries BC. The earliest Etruscan example is the famous griffon protomes from the Barberini Tomb.
In Greek literature,
Scythian mythology is reflected by Hellenic writers' tales of griffins and the
Arimaspi of distant
Scythia near the cave of
Boreas, the North Wind (
Geskleithron), such as were elaborated in the lost archaic poem of
Aristeas of Proconnesus (7th century BC),
Arimaspea. Bedingfeld and Gwynn-Jones infer that Aristeas's griffin was,
"the bearded vulture or lammergeyer, a huge bird with a wingspan of nearly three metres (ten feet), which nests in inaccessible cliffs in the Asiatic mountains. ... The gold of the region is real enough and is still mined today." They also suggest that Aristeas conflated the Scythian griffin with a similar creature - a composite of lion and eagle or lion and
griffon vulture - already known to Greek culture.
In any case, Aristeas's tales were eagerly reported by
Herodotus (484 BC–c.425 BC) and in
Pliny the Elder's
Natural History (77 AD), among others.
Aeschylus (525–456 BC), in
Prometheus Bound (804), has
Prometheus warn
Io:
"Beware of the sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that don't bark, the gryphons..." In his
Description of Greece (1.24.6),
Pausanias (2nd century AD) says,
"griffins are beasts like lions, but with the beak and wings of an eagle." It isn't yet clear if its forelimbs are those of an eagle or of a lion. Although the description implies the latter, the accompanying illustration is ambiguous. It was left to the heralds to clarify that.
In heraldry
The griffin is often seen as a
charge in
heraldry. According to the
Tractatus de armis of
John de Bado Aureo (late fourteenth century),
"A griffin borne in arms signifies that the first to bear it was a strong pugnacious man in whom were found two distinct natures and qualities, those of the eagle and the lion." Since the lion and the eagle were both important charges in heraldry, it's perhaps surprising that their combination, the griffin, was also a frequent choice.
Bedingfeld and Gwynn-Jones suggest a far more bellicose reason for its choice as a charge: That because of the bitter antipathy between griffins and horses, a griffin borne on a shield would instill fear in the horses of his opponents. They also note the first appearance of the griffin in English heraldry, in a 1167 seal of Richard de Redvers,
Earl of Essex. (The variant with the forelimbs of a lion is distinguished as the opinicus, described below.)
Heraldic griffins are usually shown rearing up, facing
dexter (to the right of the bearer of the shield)*, standing on one hind leg with the other hind leg and both forelegs raised (as shown in the image on the right and those in the gallery below). This posture is described in the Norman-French heraldic
blazon as
segreant, a term usually applied only to griffins (but sometimes also to dragons In the late 19th century, Sir Henry William Dashwood was granted supporters:
two male griffins Argent [white] gorged with a collar flory counter flory. One was also recently granted as a crest in the arms of the City of
Melfort, Saskatchewan (
image
).
The term
keythong is rarer still. The definitive instance comes from
James Planché, who notes, under the badge of the
Earl of Ormonde (first creation) as recorded in a
College of Arms manuscript from the reign of
Edward IV, the single contemporary reference:
"A pair of keythongs." Planche's footnote:
"The word is certainly so written, and I've never seen it elsewhere. The figure resembles the Male Griffin, which has no wings, but rays or spikes of gold proceeding from several parts of his body, and sometimes with two long straight horns. Vade [see] Parker's Glossary, under Griffin."
At the end of the 20th century the term
keythong began to be taken up enthusiastically among adherents of heraldry - at least, among members of the
Society for Creative Anachronism.
Opinicus
The
opinicus is a heraldic beast that differs from the griffin principally in that all four of its legs are those of a lion., but is otherwise rare in British heraldry. A modern example can be found in the arms of Jonathan Munday:
Azure an opinicus rampant Or armed Gules.
(Note that it's described as
rampant rather than
segreant.)
Other oddities
Image:Östergötland_coat_of_arms.png|Arms of Östergötland, Sweden
Image:Pommern_1563.jpg |Arms of the Duchy of Pomerania
- The "griffin" in the arms of Östergötland has dragon's wings. This is essentially a composite of two older arms, one charged with a lion, the other a dragon.
- The arms of the Duchy of Pomerania features several typical griffins. However, the white "griffin" in the gules (red) sinister fess (middle right) piece has a fish's tail - only its lion's ears confirm that it's a fish-tailed griffin rather than a fish-tailed eagle.
Similar heraldic beasts
The following heraldic beasts are not griffins, but might be mistaken for them.
Image:citylondonarms.jpg|Dragon supporters of the arms of the City of London
Image:Lostallo wappen.svg|A winged lion in the arms of Lostallo, Switzerland
Image:Provincia di Grosseto-Stemma.png|A winged lion in the arms of the Province of Grosseto, Italy
The cockatrice, the king of the serpents, has a rooster's head, only two legs (rather like an eagle's or dragon's), dragon's wings, and a serpent's tail.
In literature
» For fictional characters named Griffin, see Griffin (surname)
John Milton, in Book II of Paradise Lost, refers to the legend of the griffin in describing Satan:
Griffins are used widely in Persian poetry. Rumi is one such poet who writes in reference to griffins (for example, in The Essential Rumi, translated from Persian by Coleman Barks, p 257).
In Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, a griffin pulls the chariot which brings Beatrice to Dante in Canto XXIX of the Purgatory.
In Voltaire's La Princesse de Babylone (The Princess of Babylon; 1768), two griffins transport princess Formosante.
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), the Queen of Hearts orders the Gryphon to take Alice to see the Mock Turtle and hear its story.
In L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) the evil witch Old Mombi transforms herself into a griffin to escape from the good witch Glenda.
Although no Gryphons are referenced in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, the movie, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" portrays a griffin,
Gryphon
In T. H. White's The Once and Future King (1958), young Arthur and his stepbrother Kay battle a fierce griffin with aid from Robin Wood A.K.A. Robin Hood soon after freeing captives of Morgan le Fay.
In Geoff Ryman's The Warrior Who Carried Life (1980), a huge, white griffin know as "The Beast Who Talks to God" is one of the major characters.
In the Dragonlance series (1984 onwards), griffins are under the command of Elves.
In Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book series (1988-1996), a griffin is one of three guardians of Morpheus's palace in The Dreaming.
In Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon's The Mage Wars Trilogy - The Black Gryphon (1994), The White Gryphon (1995) and The Silver Gryphon (1996) - gryphons known as Skandranon, and, later, his son Tadrith are among the lead characters. In this series gryphons have human level intelligence and can use magic.
Griffins are among the magical creatures in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997-2007). Harry Potter's house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is called Gryffindor after its founder Godric Gryffindor. Fans have speculated that "Gryffindor" may come from the French gryffon d'or (golden griffin), but, oddly, its emblem isn't a griffin, but a lion - which represents the supposed courageous nature of a true Gryffindor. In the movie versions, the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office is depicted as a half-phoenix, half-lion griffin and the door-knocker is a griffin.
In Tamora Pierce's Squire, part of the Protector of the Small quaret, the main character Kel stumbles upon a baby griffin kidnapped from his parents and is forced to care for him until they can be found.
In Patricia McKillip's Song for the Basilisk (1998), a griffin is one of the book's main characters and appears as a symbol of the ruling house.
In Bruce Coville's Song of the Wanderer (1999), the second book of The Unicorn Chronicles series, a gryphon named Medafil is a character.
In Wilanne Schneider Belden's Frankie! (1987), a human baby turns into a griffin.
In Collinsfort Village by Joe Ekaitis (2005), a gentlemanly griffin resides on a mountain overlooking an imaginary Colorado suburb.
In Bill Peet's The Pinkish Purplish Bluish Egg (1984) a dove finds an odd egg, and raises the griffin that hatches from it. The griffin has the head of a bald eagle rather than the more usual golden eagle.
In Katherine Robert's "The Amazon Temple Quest" a gryphon is connected with the Amazons and it's the one to give them power and to give them the ability to reproduce without men.
(unknown dates)
In Nick O'Donohoe's Crossroads series (including The Magic and the Healing, Under the Healing Sign, and Healing of Crossroads) about veterinary students called upon to help mythological creatures, griffins play a significant role.
In James C. Christianson's Voyage of the Basset, a griffon saves Casandra from the trolls.
In The Spiderwick Chronicles, Simon Grace, Jared Grace's twin brother, befriends a wounded Griffin and names it Byron.
In natural history
Some large species of Old World vultures are called gryphons, including the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), as are some breeds of dog (griffons).
The scientific species name for the Andean Condor is Vultur gryphus; Latin for "griffin-vulture".
The name of an oviraptoran dinosaur Hagryphus giganteus is Latin for "gigantic Ha's Griffin".
As a first name and surname
In the mid-1990s, "Griffin" steadily became more popular as a baby name for boys in the U.S. In 1990, it was ranked 629th. In 2006, it was ranked 254th. Also rising in popularity is the various other spellings of the name such as Griffen or Gryphon.
"Griffin" occurs as a surname in English-speaking countries. It has its origins as an anglicised form of the Irish "Ó Gríobhtha" and "Ó Griffín".
Welsh people who were anglicised, changed the name to "Griffith" and similar names. This shift is reinforced where the family has taken canting arms charged with a griffin.
"Griffin" (and variants in other languages) may also have been adopted as a surname by other families who used arms charged with a
Further Information
Get more info on 'Griffins'.
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