Hippogriff

The word hippogriff, also spelled hippogryph,[2] is derived from the Ancient Greek: ἵππος híppos, meaning "horse", and the Italian grifo meaning "griffin" (from Latin: gryp or grypus from Ancient Greek: γρύψ, romanized: grýps), 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.

[5] 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.

Of the heraldic representations of the hippogriff, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies states that hybrid fantastical creatures' depictions are "ugly, inartistic, and unnecessary.

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.

According to Thomas Bulfinch's Legends of Charlemagne: 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.

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.