Griffin

The griffin (also spelled gryphon, gryphen, griffon or gryphin) is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle with the addition of prominent ears. The female has the wings of an eagle. The griffin is generally represented with four legs, wings and a beak, with eagle-like talons in place of a lion's forelegs and equine ears jutting from its skull. Some writers describe the tail as a serpent. See the entry European dragon for a 19th century painting of St George and the dragon, showing a dragon very like a classically-conceived griffin.

Griffins in Literature

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (see reference in summary above)
• The "Crossroads" series by Nick O'Donohoe, including "The Magic and the Healing", "Under the Healing Sign", and "The Healing of Crossroads". Griffins play a significant role.
• Harry Potter's house (i.e. grouping of pupils) at Hogwarts is called Gryffindor but, oddly, its coat of arms is illustrated as a golden lion and not a golden griffin ("Gryffin d'or") as that name would suggest.
• The Griffin and the Minor Canon by Frank R Stockton, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1968)