The griffin, gryfin, or gryphon, as it is variously termed by old writers,
is best known as one of the chimerical monsters of heraldry--the mediæval
representative of the ancient symbolic creature of Assyria and the East.
It may be classed with the dragon, wyvern, phœnix, sphynx, "gorgons and
hydras and chimeras dire," and other imaginary beings, that world of
unreality grown up in the mind of man from the earliest times, the
influence of whose terrors have exercised no little power in the progress
of humanity.
[Illustration: A Griffin statant, wings endorsed.]
This favourite bearing was very early adopted in English armory. So early
indeed as 1167 A.D. we find it on a seal of Richard de Redvers, Earl of
Exeter, attached to a charter at Newport, Isle of Wight. It also appears
on a seal of Simon de Montacute (_temp._ Henry III. and Edward I.). It is
one of the principal bearings in heraldry, either charged upon the shield,
as the arms, or as the crest placed upon the helm, also as supporters to
the shield of arms of many noble and eminent families in this country and
the continent.
The _griffin_, "sacred to the sun," combines the bodily attributes of the
"cloud-cleaving eagle" and the "king of beasts," that is, it has the head,
neck, wings, and talons of an eagle, conjoined to the hinder parts of a
lion. It is usually represented with projecting ears, indicating an acute
sense of hearing, in addition to its other supposed extraordinary
qualities.
[Illustration: A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English.)]
[Illustration: A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German.)]
The griffin is rarely borne in other than two positions, viz., _passant_
and _segreant_. The latter term is peculiar to the griffin, and seems to
refer to the expanded wings. When called _segreant_ only, it means the
same as rampant applied to a lion. As a crest, it is not unfrequently
borne _sejant_, _i.e._, sitting. Parts of the creature, as a
_demi-griffin_, a _griffin's head_, &c., are also of common use.
The arms of _Trafford_, Lancashire, are: _Argent a griffin segreant
gules_. Motto: _Gripe griffin hold fast_. The supporters of the arms of
Viscount Halifax are two griffins.
[Illustration: Sleeping Griffin, by John Tenniel, from "Alice in
Wonderland." (By permission of Macmillan & Co., Limited, proprietors of
the copyright.)]
Old heralds gravely relate of this creature that when he attains his full
growth he will never be taken, hence he is a fit emblem of a valiant hero,
who, rather than yield himself to his enemy, exposes himself to the worst
of dangers. As a general symbol in heraldry the griffin expresses strength
and vigilance.
Sir Thomas Browne says it is emblematical of watchfulness, courage,
perseverance and rapidity of execution.
The description of the griffin by the old traveller, Sir John Mandeville,
is a wonderful record of credulity and belief in the marvellous; he states
it to be a native of "Bacharie, where ben many griffones, more plentee
than in any other countree. Sum men seyn that they have the body upwards
of an egle and benethe as a lyonn, and truly they seyne soethe that thei
ben of that schapp. But one griffoun hath the body more great and stronger
than one hundred egles, such as we have amonges us. For one griffoun there
will be flynge to his nest a great hors, or two oxen yoked togidre, as
thei gon to the plowghe. For he hath his talouns so longe and so grete and
large upon his feet as though thei were hornes of grete oxen, or of bugles
(bulls), or of kygn, so that men maken cuppes of hem to drynke of, and of
hire (their) ribbes and of the pennes of hire wenges men maken bowes fulle
stronge to schote with arrews and quarell." Gerard Leigh, an old heraldic
writer, discoursing of the griffin, gives his reason for belief, he says,
"I thinke they are of a great hugeness, for I have _a clawe_ of one of
their pawes, whiche should shewe them to be as bigge as two lyons."
[Illustration: Griffin segreant, German version.]
In the cathedral of Brunswick there is still preserved the horn of some
kind of antelope, brought from the Holy Land as "a griffin's claw," by
Henry the Lion. Three talons of the griffin were preserved at Bayeux, and
fastened on high festival days to the altar, and there seems to be some
curious legend concerning a cup formed of a gryphon's claw dedicated to
St. Cuthbert A gryphon's egg was also considered a valuable curiosity,
being used as a goblet in old times when natural history was greatly
misunderstood and grossly exaggerated. As an example of the absurd
misstatements of the earlier writers and naturalists who so delighted our
wonder-loving forefathers, a writer in the "Museum of Animated Nature"
refers to a large species of vulture, the Condor (_Sarcoramphus Gryphus_),
which was painted as rivalling the Rukh of Oriental fable. He adds that
"such descriptions have given place to the moderate details of
sober-minded observers, and we no longer look upon this creature as the
winged guardian of mountain mines within whose depths were entombed 'gems
and barbaric gold,' we no longer imagine it the giant of the winged race,
dimming the light of the sun by its widespread pinions, and by the mighty
rushing sound as it sweeps down from some lofty pinnacle or the upper
regions of the sky deafening and stupefying the terror-stricken
beholders."
As the stern avenger of human crimes, the dreaded Nemesis appears in Roman
Art, as a young woman with wings, in a chariot drawn by griffins, with a
whip or sword in her hand.[12]
Smith's "Classical Dictionary" gives the following: "Gryps or gryphus, a
fabulous monster dwelling in the Rhiphæan mountains between the
Hyperboreans and the one-eyed Arimaspians, and guarding the treasures of
the north. The Arimaspians mounted on horseback attempted to steal the
gold, and hence arose the hostility between the horse and the griffin. The
body of the griffin was that of a lion, while the head, fore-feet and
wings were those of an eagle. It is probable that the origin of the belief
in griffins must be looked for in the East, where it seems they have been
very ancient. They are also mentioned among the fabulous beasts which
guarded the gold of India."
The Arimaspians were a one-eyed people of Scythia who adorned their hair
with gold. They were constantly at war with the Gryphons who guarded the
gold mines.
"As when a gryphon, through the wilderness ...
Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful custody purloined
The guarded gold."
_Paradise Lost_, ii.
[Illustration: Gold Flying Griffin, found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ.]
That the form of the griffin must have been a well understood symbol is
evident from the frequency with which it is met in ancient art. Dr.
Schliemann, in his explorations of the ancient city of Mycenæ, among other
treasures found a gold-winged griffin, about two inches in length, in one
of the sepulchres of the kings (Figure No. 272 in his book), which in
every particular as to shape is identical with the heraldic griffin of
to-day; the same may be said of a coin of Abdera, a city in Thrace, which
bears the device of a griffin. Abdera was a place of importance when
Xerxes invaded Greece B.C. 554.
Herodotus relates that the Teians, dreading the encroachments of the
Persians in Ionia, abandoned their city and founded Abdera in Thrace. The
coinage of the latter place bears the same type (the griffin) as the
parent city, but with a slight difference in treatment. This consists in
the form of the wings of the griffin, which are pointed on the coins of
Abdera, while in those of Teos they are rounded. The griffin was sacred to
Apollo, to whom an especial worship was devoted in most of the Ionian
cities, but more particularly in Teos.[13]
[Illustration: Colossal Griffins, Burmah.]
In the _Illustrated London News_ of October 21, 1876, is an engraving of
two gigantic wingless griffons, and also a description by the traveller
who visited that strange place. "At Thyetmo, 250 miles up the river
Irrawaddy from Rangoon in British Burmah, are two colossal 'chin thay' or
figures of sacred griffins, standing at the entrance to one of the great
pagodas dedicated to the worship of Gautama Buddha; the outer terraces and
steps of these temples are frequently adorned with such mythical monsters.
Near the ancient ruined city of Paghan, which flourished a thousand years
ago, the bank of the river for a length of eight miles is lined with the
remains of this quaint architecture and sculpture, covering a space of two
miles in breadth from the water's edge. It is not known by what nation of
old times they were constructed, for Burmese history is apocryphal or at
least very obscure."
The symbolic use of images of living creatures was in the instance of the
cherubim permitted under the Mosaic dispensation, and on this will be
found to turn the distinction between the symbolic use and its forbidden
and dangerous use as a supposed means of assisting devotion. Mr. Henry
Hayman in "Smith's Dictionary," _s.v._, "cherub," as quoted by Tyrwhit,
says: "On the whole it seems likely that the word 'cherub' meant not only
the composite creature-form of which the man, lion, ox, and eagle were the
elements, but further, some peculiar and mystical form which Ezekiel,
being a priest, would know and recognise as 'the face of a cherub,' κατ'
εξοχήν, but which was kept secret from all others.... Such were probably
those on the ark, which when moved was always covered, though those on the
hangings and panels might be of the popular device. The griffin of
northern fable, watching the gold in the wilderness, has been compared
with the cherub both as regards his composite form and his functions as
guardian of a treasure. He goes on to point out the possible affinity
between the Greek root γρυπ (γρυψ, gryps, griffin), and the Hebrew and
Arabic derivation of the word 'cherub,' which gives it the original
meaning of 'carved image,' and says that though the exact form is
uncertain, it must have borne a general resemblance to the composite
religious figures found upon the monuments of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia
and Persia."
Mr. Ruskin,[14] describing the emblematical griffins on the front of the
Duomo of Verona, points out that the Lombard carver was enabled to form so
intense a conception, mainly by the fact that his griffin is a great and
profoundly felt symbolism. Two wheels are under its eagle's wings, which
connect it with the living creatures of the vision of Ezekiel, "where they
went the wheels went by them, and whithersoever the spirit was to go, they
went, and the wheels were lifted up over against them, for the spirit of
the living creatures was in the wheels." The winged shape thus became at
once one of the acknowledged symbols of the divine nature. Elsewhere, we
think in the "Stones of Venice," the connection is pointed out between the
Assyrian and Gothic personations.
Gian-Paolo Baglione (+ 1520), who usurped the sovereignty of Perugia,
bore a _silver griffin_ on a red field with the motto, "_Unguibus et
rostro atque alis armatus in hostem_" ("Armed against the enemy with
talons and beak and wings"), which means of defence proved of no avail
when he was seized by Pope Leo X., who, pretending to consult Baglione on
affairs of importance, sent him a safe conduct to Rome, but when he
arrived, he caused him to be tortured and beheaded, and afterwards took
possession of his states. This gave occasion to his enemies to say, "This
ugly bird has not used his wings as at other times, to flee from the snare
which has been laid for him."[15]
In Dante's description of the triumph of the Church, in the "Purgatorio,"
we have the mediæval conception of this wondrous creature, the gryphon.
"The mystic shape that joins two natures in one form"--as he is called by
the noble Italian poet--draws the car to which he is harnessed, and
"He above
Stretched either wing uplifted 'tween the midst
* * * * *
And out of sight they rode. The members, far
As he was bird, were golden; white the rest,
With vermeil interveined."