Hippogriff

The Hippogryph (re - Latinized form of the Italian Ippogrifo, composition of ancient Greek ἵππος hippos "horse" and Italian grifo "Greif", this is from Latin gryphus, this in turn from ancient Greek γρύψ gryps ) is a mythical creature, probably an invention of the Italian Renaissance poet Ludovico Ariosto. The earliest known occurrence of a Hippogryph takes place ( to German Orlando Furioso ) in its epic Orlando Furioso. In later stories, for example in the German poet Christoph Martin Wieland ( Oberon ), the Hippogryph often appears as a synonym for Pegasus.

The hippogriff has the head, wings and front legs of an eagle and the abdomen of a horse, while the grip is a hybrid of eagle and lion. To this extent, the Hippogryph not a combination of horse and gripping, as the name suggests, but a combination of horse and birds of prey. The Pegasus is a winged horse again (that has a horse's head and four horses legs).

JK Rowling has used the Hippogryphe as Hippogriffs in her Harry Potter novels.

In Greek mythology, there is a similar hybrid creatures, the Hippalektrion whose front part comes off the horse and its rear part comes from the tap. The Hippalektrion has four legs and wings.

• Fabeltier
• Horse in mythology