Hippogriff

Today is the eight day of the A to Z April Challenge. This is a blog hop where participants post each day, except Sundays. We have over 1600 participants, so I hope you meet some new friends. To visit the main web page and visit other bloggers in this challenge click HERE.

I chose Fantasy for my theme and today is Hippogriff.


Hippogriff (aka: Hippogriffin) 

The hippogriff was the offspring of a gryphon - a half eagle/half lion - and a mare, and was considered by medieval writers to be a natural, nonmagical beast. It had the body of a horse and the forelegs, claws, wings and beak of a griffin, which were basically identical to those of an eagle. The hippogriff is often associated with the sun, the gryphons and horses of Apollo's chariot, and the Pegasus. The hippogriff's story is told in Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, most episodes of which are derived from Greek and other legends.

The hippogriff was originally tamed by a magician named Atlantes who lived in a castle in the Pyrenees where Rogero, the magician's foster son, was kept prisoner. Eventually Rogero escaped and took the hippogriff as his mount. In one adventure, it was ridden by Rogero as he tried to save a damsel from sacrifice to a sea beast, an episode that greatly resembled one of Perseus's adventures.

The hippogriff eventually passed into the hands of one of Charlemagne's knights, who then learned from Saint John how to defeat the pagan Africans. In the end, the hippogriff was set free into the mountains and never seen again. Until it was revived in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling. The hippogriff, named Buckbeak, was rescued from execution and flew away with Harry's uncle, never to be reappear again in the story.

J. K. Rowling's use a this mythical creature is an excellent example of how writers incorporate beasts in their stories.