Editing Hippogriff

{{Short description|Legendary creature}}
[[File:Roger délivrant Angélique by Louis-Édouard Rioult.jpg|thumb|''Roger délivrant Angélique'' (1824) by [[Louis-Édouard Rioult]] depicts the scene of ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' where Ruggiero ({{langx|fr|Roger}}) rescues Angelica ({{langx|fr|Angélique}}) while riding on a hippogriff.]]
The '''hippogriff''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: {{lang|it|ippogrifo}}) or '''hippogryph''' is a [[legendary creature]] with the front half of an [[eagle]] and the hind half of a [[horse]].

It was invented at the beginning of the 16th century by [[Ludovico Ariosto]] in his ''[[Orlando Furioso]]''. Within the poem, the hippogriff is a steed born of a [[mare]] and a [[griffin]]—something considered impossible.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hippogriff {{!}} legendary animal|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/hippogriff|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> It is extremely fast and is presented as being able to fly around the world and to the [[Moon]]. It is ridden by [[Magic (paranormal)|magicians]] and the wandering knight [[Ruggiero (character)|Ruggiero]], who, from the creature's back, frees the beautiful [[Angelica (character)|Angelica]]. [[Astolfo]] also borrows the hippogriff from [[Bradamante]] to go search for [[Roland]]'s wits.

The hippogriff became a subject of visual art in the 19th century, when it was often drawn by [[Gustave Doré]].

==Etymology==
The word ''hippogriff'', also spelled ''hippogryph'',<ref name="Complement du Dictionnaire de l'Académie française">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nks_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA478 |title=Complément du Diction sire de l'Académie française|language=fr|last1=Française|first1=Académie|year=1843}}</ref> is derived from the {{langx|grc|ἵππος}} {{grc-transl|ἵππος}}, meaning "horse", and the Italian ''grifo'' meaning "[[griffin]]" (from [[Latin]]: ''gryp'' or ''grypus'' from {{langx|grc|γρύψ|grýps|link=no}}), which denotes another mythical creature, with the head of an eagle and body of a lion, that is purported to be the father of the hippogriff.<ref name="Larousse">{{harvsp|Sevestre|Rosier|1983|pp=16–17}}</ref><ref name="Wagner124">{{harvsp|Wagner|2006|p=124}}</ref> The word ''hippogriff'' was adopted into English shortly before 1615;<ref name="Websteren">{{cite web|url=http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/hippogriff?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=hippogriff&sa=Search#906|title=Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228193149/http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Hippogriff?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=Hippogriff&sa=Search#906|archive-date=2011-02-28}}</ref> prior to this, John Harington's 1591 translation of ''Orlando furioso'' called the creature a "Griffith horse."

The Hippogypians mentioned in ''Vera Historia'', a fantastic travelogue written by the Roman author [[Lucian of Samosata]] in the Second Century A.D. suggest another likely source for the word. However, in that text, the term is used to refer to a race of moon-dwelling riders that employ gigantic three-headed vultures as steeds.

==Description==
{{primary sources|section|date=May 2015}}
Of the heraldic representations of the hippogriff, [[Arthur Charles Fox-Davies]] states that hybrid fantastical creatures' depictions are "ugly, inartistic, and unnecessary. Their representation leaves one with a disappointed feeling of crudity of draughtsmanship."<ref name="Fox-Davies2007">{{cite book|last=Fox-Davies|first=Arthur Charles|title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSeEWjQCTIAC&pg=PA232|access-date=31 May 2015|year=2007|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc.|isbn=9781602390010|pages=232–}}</ref> [[John Vinycomb]] states that the hippogriff is not used in the British heraldic tradition.<ref name="Vinycomb1969">{{cite book|last=Vinycomb|first=John|title=Fictitious and Symbolic Creatures in Art With Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8jTz8spvjoC&pg=PT123|access-date=31 May 2015|year=1969|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=9781465552556|pages=123–}}</ref>[[File:Orlando Furioso 9.jpg|thumb|200px|Hippogriff, illustration by [[Gustave Doré]] for ''Orlando furioso''.]]
[[Ludovico Ariosto]]'s poem, ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' (1516) contains the following description (canto IV):

{{poemquote|
'''XVIII'''
No fiction wrought magic lore,
But natural was the steed the wizard pressed;
For him a filly to griffin bore;
Hight hippogryph. In wings and beak and crest,
Formed like his sire, as in the feet before;
But like the mare, his dam, in all the rest.
Such on Riphaean hills, though rarely found,
Are bred, beyond the frozen ocean's bound.

'''XIX'''
Drawn by enchantment from his distant lair,
The wizard thought but how to tame the foal;
And, in a month, instructed him to bear
Saddle and bit, and gallop to the goal;
And execute on earth or in mid air,
All shifts of manege, course and caracole;
He with such labour wrought. This only real,
Where all the rest was hollow and ideal.
}}

According to [[Thomas Bulfinch]]'s ''Legends of Charlemagne'':
{{quote|text=Like a griffin, it has the head of an eagle, claws armed with talons, and wings covered with feathers, the rest of its body being that of a horse. This strange animal is called a Hippogriff. The hippogriff is said to be an evil spirit resting and possessing its soul in that of a horse and griffon.<ref>[[Thomas Bulfinch]], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4927 ''Legends of Charlemagne''], 1863.</ref>}}

==Beliefs and symbolism==
According to Vidal, a Spanish historian, this creature was supposed to live near Céret, in the [[County of Roussillon]] of modern-day France, during the Middle Ages. Claw marks were found on a rock near Mas Carol.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} {{harvsp|Bo i Montégut|1978|p=219}}</ref> The belief in the existence of the hippogriff, such as [[Ludovico Ariosto|Ariosto]] describes, is fiercely attacked in a scientific essay on religion in 1862, which argues that such an animal can neither be a divine creation, nor truly exist. The Book of Enoch quite clearly details how Satan and his fallen angels created various hybrids by admixture. The Sphinx is the best known such hybrid. The hippogriff is supposed to be a mixture of several animals and the author notes that in order to support its weight, the wings would be so heavy that flight would be impossible, which proves—without question—that it does not exist.<ref name =Poulin/>

In some traditions, the hippogriff is said to be the symbol of love, as its parents, the mare and griffin, are natural enemies.<ref name =Poulin>{{cite book|first1=Paulin|last1=Poulin|title=Qu'est-ce que l'homme ? Qu'est-ce que Dieu ? Solution scientifique du problème religieux|editor=A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven|year=1862|page=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRvMTx9wTukC&q=Hippogriffe&pg=PA223|language=fr|display-editors=etal}}</ref> In other traditions, the hippogriff represents Christ's dual nature as both human and divine.<ref name="Sax2013">{{cite book|last=Sax|first=Boria|title=Imaginary Animals: The Monstrous, the Wondrous and the Human|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JdWRAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA195|access-date=31 May 2015|date=2013-10-15|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=9781780232133|pages=195–}}</ref>

==Modern representations==
[[File:Flight of the Hippogriff at Islands of Adventure.jpg|thumb|189px|An [[animatronic]] Hippogriff in the nest on the left side of the lift hill of the roller coaster ''Flight of the Hippogriff'' in Orlando, Florida]]

* Artist [[Max Klinger]] used the hippogriff amongst other objects in his drawing ''Fantasy and the Artist'' to note his disparagement for artistic work that relies on out-worn and clichéd symbolism.<ref name="Morton2014">{{cite book|last=Morton|first=Dr Marsha|title=Max Klinger and Wilhelmine Culture: On the Threshold of German Modernism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uX_fBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|access-date=31 May 2015|date=2014-07-28|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=9781409467588|pages=34–}}</ref>
* In a [[hoax]] initially perpetrated in 1904 in [[Lake George (town), New York|Lake George]], [[New York State]], tricksters used a fake "monster" which became known as "The Hippogriff". The creation had a head of a bird of prey, teeth, and two large horse ears, which could be controlled from below. The pranks and sightings faded until 1999 when several people staying at the Island Harbour House Hotel stated they had seen a sea monster at night. The old hoax was uncovered by the ''Daily News'' and the Lake George Historical Association Museum, which created a copy of the original wooden monster to display to the public in August 2002.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Radford|first1=Benjamin| last2=Nickell| first2=Joe|title=Lake monster mysteries: investigating the world's most elusive creatures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8psW1D7DV0C&q=hippogriff&pg=PA104 |year=2006 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=101–109 |isbn=9780813123943}}</ref>
* The hippogriff appears in various works of fantasy, such as works of [[E. Nesbit]],<ref name="Briggs2000">{{cite book|last=Briggs|first=Julia|title=A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRS_AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA220|access-date=31 May 2015|date=2000-11-07|publisher=New Amsterdam Books|isbn=9781461636229|pages=220–}}</ref> [[E. R. Eddison]]'s ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'' (1922)<ref name="Weinstock2014">{{cite book|last=Weinstock|first=Professor Jeffrey|title=The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NI1zBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA329|access-date=31 May 2015|date=2014-01-08|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=9781409425625|pages=329–}}</ref> and a poem written for Mrs Angie Dyson by [[C. S. Lewis]] (between 1932 and 1936).<ref name="Lewis-Collected">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=C. S.|title=Collected letters of C. S. Lewis|section=Bodleian MS Eng. Lett. 220/7 fols 1-3}}</ref> It's also regularly alluded to as a fearsome monster by [[Bertie Wooster]] in [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s [[Jeeves]] stories.
* The fantasy role-playing game ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' includes a version of the creature, which is described as having a horse's "ears, neck, mane, torso, and hind legs" and an eagle's "wings, forelegs, and face". According to the game's rules, the creatures are closely related to [[griffin]]s and [[pegasus|pegasi]]. Hippogriffs, pegasi, and horses are all hunted by griffins as the latter have a strong attraction to the flesh of horses.<ref>{{cite book | title=[[Monstrous Manual]] | editor=Doug Stewart | editor-link=Doug Stewart (game designer) | page=190 | publisher=[[TSR, Inc]] | year=1993}}</ref> An artistic representation of the hippogriff drawing inspiration from real eagles and horses was used for the cover of the third booklet of the original [[Dungeons & Dragons (1974)|''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974)]] edition.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: a visual history |last1=Witwer |first1=Michael |last2=Newman |first2=Kyle |last3=Peterson |first3=Jonathan |last4=Witwer |first4=Sam |last5=Manganiello |first5=Joe |date=October 2018 |isbn=9780399580949 |publisher=[[Ten Speed Press]] |oclc=1033548473 |pages=20–21, 27}}</ref>
* As with many ancient mythical beasts, a hippogriff named [[Rubeus Hagrid#Buckbeak|Buckbeak]] (subsequently "Witherwings") features prominently in ''[[Harry Potter (series)|Harry Potter]]''.<ref name =NBC>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5182794|title=Behind the Magic of 'Harry Potter'|last=Roker|first=Al|work=[[NBC News]]|date=2004-06-11|access-date=2013-10-24}}</ref> Buckbeak first appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and appears in later books as well. Peter Dendle says that the portrayal of the treatment of Buckbeak in the novels is one example that demonstrates "[t]he emotional need to express domination symbolically"<ref name="Heilman2008">{{cite book|last=Heilman|first=Elizabeth E.|title=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltSc0DZNlBwC&pg=PA201|access-date=1 November 2013|date=2008-08-05|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780203892817|pages=201–}}</ref> as well as being one of the episodes that allows Harry to be shown as the "perennial liberator of all manner of creatures."<ref name="Heilman2008"/> [[Al Roker]] calls the creation of Buckbeak in the film ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' "one of the most magnificent and realistic creatures in film history."<ref name =NBC/> The character was used to create the theme for a roller coaster called [[Flight of the Hippogriff]] at the Florida amusement park [[The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Orlando Resort)|The Wizarding World of Harry Potter]] in which the cars are wicker covered and pass by a statue of a hippogriff in a nest.<ref name="Miller2011">{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Laura Lea|title=Frommer's Walt Disney World and Orlando 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j98A46F-yzcC&pg=PA273|access-date=1 November 2013|date=2011-10-20|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118168042|pages=273–}}</ref> Stefano Jossa has reconstructed the web of relations of Rowling's hippogriff.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/ariosto-harry-potter-and-hippogriffs-weaving-textual-webs/ | title=Ariosto, Harry Potter and Hippogriffs: Weaving textual webs }}</ref>
* In the ''[[Digimon]]'' franchise, there is a Digimon called Hippogriffomon.
* Hippogriffs appeared in the 2017 film ''[[My Little Pony: The Movie (2017 film)|My Little Pony: The Movie]]'', where they were transformed into [[Hippocampus (mythology)|seaponies]]. They were also featured in the season 8 premiere of the show, with the reoccurring character being Silverstream.
* In the anime ''[[Fate/Apocrypha]]'', the Servant Astolfo, also known as Rider of Black, is able to summon a hippogriff that they use a mount with their Noble Phantasm Hippogriff. The hippogriff is considered to be a Phantasmal Species.
* Hippogriffs are ridden by the Knights of Bretonnia from the tabletop game ''[[Warhammer (game)|Warhammer Fantasy]]'', and also appear in the video game adaptation ''[[Total War: Warhammer]]''.
* In the 11th book of the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]] ''gamebook series,''[[Talisman of Death]]'', the adventurer enjoys a plate of hippogriff in creamy sauce in one of Greyguilds-on-the-moor's many inns.

==See also==
* [[Griffin]]
* [[Hippalectryon]]
* [[Pegasus]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
*{{cite book |language=fr |first1=Georges Dominique |last1=Bo i Montégut |title=Légendes populaires des villages du Roussillon |publisher=l'Horta del monastir |date=1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ-BAAAAMAAJ |access-date=12 June 2009}}
*{{cite book |first1=Dr Jacques |last1=Sevestre |first2=Nicole Agathe |last2=Rosier |title=Le Cheval |publisher=Larousse |date=1983 |isbn=978-2-03-517118-4}}
*{{cite book |first1=Marc-André |last1=Wagner |title=Dictionnaire mythologique et historique du cheval |publisher=Éditions du Rocher |series=Cheval chevaux |date=2006 |isbn=978-2-268-05996-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

{{Matter of France}}

[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in the 16th century]]
[[Category:Characters in Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso]]
[[Category:Fictional hybrid species and races]]
[[Category:Griffins]]
[[Category:Matter of France]]
[[Category:Mythological birds of prey]]
[[Category:Horses in mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological hybrids]]