A creature with the body of a horse and the head, wings, and front legs of a griffin.

Since its father is a griffin, which is part lion and part eagle, the hippogriff sometimes has the claws of a lion instead of the talons of an eagle, it may also have the tail of a lion. Its mother is a horse which makes the hippogriff extremely rare because griffins customarily regard horses as prey rather than mates.

The hippogriff is a symbol of love, and is the steed of the muses who rode him into the realm of romance - Pegasus was the original steed of the muses and is the prototype for the hippogriff.

The hippogriff may have originally been a symbol of Apollo, the god of the sun.

Also known as hippogrif, hippogryph, and hippogryphe, also simoorgh may be a kind of hippogriff or griffin.

References

Encyclopaedia Americana. Boston: BB Mussey and Co., 1851.

Encyclopedia Americana. New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919.

Vinycomb, John. Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art. London: Chapman & Hall, 1906.

This page was last modified on August 22, 2008 at 06:42 PM.

See Also: Creatures by Type: Horses, Hybrids