Talk:Hippogriff
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I wonder if anyone can produce a genuine medieval quote mentioning horses and griffons in the same line. A quote would be a welcome addition, unless this is in the "as legend has it..." category. User:Wetman
Not medieval, but close: Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, canto IV, stanzas 18-19:
XVIII
No empty fiction wrought by magic lore, But natural was the steed the wizard pressed; For him a filly to griffin bore; Hight hippogryph. In wings and beak and crest, Formed like his sire, as in the feet before; But like the mare, his dam, in all the rest. Such on Riphaean hills, though rarely found, Are bred, beyond the frozen ocean's bound.
XIX
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. This only real, Where all the rest was hollow and ideal.
This was supposedly inspired by Virgil's Ecologues version of the lion and the lamb lying together -- ...soon shall we see mate Gryphons with mares, and in the coming age shy deer and hounds together come to drink.., which would also be the source for the reputed medieval expression, if indeed it was one...
Orlando Furioso is at various points on the Internet said to be the first appearance of the hippogriff in literature (and also not<G>). -- Someone else 06:58, 22 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Totally excellent! Some of this should be excerpted for the main page. Wetman 10:52, 21 Nov 2003 (UTC)
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[edit] Description
Shouldn't there be a description of the Hippogriff in the article text? Aliter 12:12, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Noah and the Hippogryphs
Were there any on Noah's Ark ?
If not, maybe that's why none are observed any more. Or else there was just one and they can't "do" parthenogenesis (or maybe any kind of Genesis?) Carrionluggage 02:10, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Real Hippogriffs
Aren't any sort of bird that due to some sort of malforming or genetic disease can be born with four legs? Like there are some people with less/more limbs... Or there aren't? Dunno... Also, would it be too cruel to try producing this disease and an hippogriff in laboratory?
[edit] "Dogs and Cats"?
From the article: "The reason for its great rarity is that griffins despise horses, which they regard with the same feelings a dog has about a cat."
The thing is, a lot of dogs don't actually have any problems at all with cats. This is misinformation, and the sentence doesn't flow properly anyway. Stars in the Night Sky 20:44, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Copyright Issue
The main page quotes Arnold Sundgaard's poem "The Hippogriff" in full as it appears in a currently copyrighted work ("Eric Carle's Dragons, Dragons." copyright 1991). I think this exceeds fair use.
I can't find any other reference to that poem. Even if the Carle book's version is excerpted from a longer one, I believe that fully quoting it is problematic. Orbert 17:05, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
