The griffin (also spelled gryphon or griffon) is one of the oldest and most widespread creatures of legend. It combines the king of the beasts and the king of the birds: the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion and the head, wings, and front talons of an eagle. Ancient writers described griffins guarding hoards of gold in the mountains at the edge of the world, fighting one-eyed horsemen who tried to steal their treasure. In the Middle Ages, the griffin became a symbol of Christ, of divine power, and of noble strength, and it spread across the coats of arms of Europe.
Ancient Origins
Images of creatures combining lions and birds of prey appear in the art of the ancient Near East as early as the fourth millennium BCE, in Elam (south-west Iran) and Mesopotamia. In Egypt, a winged, falcon-headed lion appears on ceremonial palettes from before 3000 BCE, and later represented the pharaoh’s power to destroy his enemies.
In the Bronze Age Minoan civilization of Crete, griffins appear in the famous frescoes of the Throne Room at Knossos (c. 1400 BCE), where two wingless griffins flank the throne, perhaps as guardians of a priestess or goddess. Mycenaean Greece adopted the image, and griffins appear on seals, ivories, and gold jewellery.
Guardians of Gold
The Greek tradition of griffins as guardians of gold begins with the poet Aristeas of Proconnesus (seventh century BCE), whose lost poem Arimaspea described his journey to the far north-east. The historian Herodotus (fifth century BCE) summarized it: in the far north, beyond the Scythians, lived the Issedones, and beyond them the Arimaspians, a race of one-eyed men, and beyond them the “gold-guarding griffins.” The Arimaspians constantly tried to steal the griffins’ gold.
Herodotus himself was sceptical. Later writers added details. Ctesias (fourth century BCE) placed griffins in India and said they were four-footed birds, the size of wolves, with legs and claws like lions, red breast feathers, black wings, and blue necks. Pliny the Elder reported that griffins dug gold out of burrows in the ground.
The Roman writer Aelian said that griffins did not guard the gold because they wanted it, but to protect their young, which they hatched in nests of gold in the mountains.
Scythian Gold and the Protoceratops Theory
The griffin was a favourite image of the Scythians and other nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe. Their spectacular gold work — belt plaques, horse trappings, and jewellery found in burial mounds from Ukraine to the Altai mountains — often shows griffins attacking deer, horses, and other animals.
In 2000, the historian Adrienne Mayor proposed a fascinating theory in The First Fossil Hunters: that the legend of the gold-guarding griffin was inspired by fossils of the dinosaur Protoceratops, found in the Gobi Desert and the region of the gold-bearing Altai and Tian Shan mountains. Protoceratops was about the size of a large dog, had a beak, four legs, and a bony frill behind its skull that might have been imagined as wings or ears. Nomadic gold prospectors, finding these skeletons, might have explained them as the bones of a beaked, four-legged guardian of the gold. The theory is intriguing but debated; some palaeontologists point out that Protoceratops fossils are not found in the main gold-mining areas.
The Chariot of Alexander
A famous medieval legend tells how Alexander the Great, having conquered the world, wished to explore the heavens. He had a basket or chariot built and harnessed two (or four) griffins to it. He held a piece of meat on a spear above their heads, and the griffins flew upward, trying to reach it. Alexander rose so high that the earth looked like a threshing floor surrounded by the sea like a serpent. Then an angel (or God) warned him to return, and he lowered the meat to bring the griffins down.
The Ascent of Alexander was carved in cathedrals and churches across medieval Europe and Byzantium, as a warning against pride — or as a celebration of human ambition.
The Griffin in Medieval Symbolism
In the Middle Ages, the griffin carried different meanings:
- A symbol of Christ. Because it combined the eagle (lord of the sky) and the lion (lord of the earth), the griffin was seen as a symbol of Christ’s dual nature, divine and human. In Dante’s Purgatorio (Canto 29), a griffin draws the chariot of the Church in a great procession, its golden limbs representing Christ’s divinity and its white and red parts his humanity.
- Vigilance and guardianship. Griffins were believed to guard treasures, and so became symbols of protection.
- Hostility to horses. Medieval bestiaries claimed that griffins hated horses and would tear them apart. This led to the later creation of the hippogriff, a creature half-griffin and half-horse, as a symbol of the impossible — introduced by Ludovico Ariosto in Orlando Furioso (1516).
- Marital fidelity. Griffins were said to mate for life, and if one partner died, the other would never take another.
Griffin Claws and Eggs
Medieval churches and royal treasuries prized “griffin claws” and “griffin eggs” as marvels. The claws were usually the horns of ibexes, antelopes, or buffalo, mounted in silver and gold as drinking horns. The eggs were ostrich eggs. A griffin claw was believed to change colour in the presence of poison. Several examples survive in European museums, including the “griffin claw” of Saint Cuthbert at Durham.
The Griffin in Heraldry
The griffin became one of the most popular creatures in heraldry, representing courage, strength, and vigilance. It is usually shown “segreant,” rearing on its hind legs with wings raised. A male griffin in heraldry is shown without wings but with spikes on its body.
The griffin appears on the arms of many cities and families, including Perugia in Italy, Greifswald in Germany (whose name means “griffin forest”), and the Dukes of Pomerania. It is a symbol of the City of London, whose boundary markers bear a dragon often mistaken for a griffin. Griffins also appear in the logos of companies, universities, and sports teams, and as supporters of coats of arms.
Griffins in Modern Culture
Griffins appear throughout modern fantasy: in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), where the Gryphon dozes in the sun and introduces Alice to the Mock Turtle; in C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books; in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, where Godric Gryffindor founded the house whose name recalls the griffin, and where Hagrid’s hippogriff Buckbeak plays a central role; and in countless games and films.
The griffin endures because of its striking combination of power and nobility — the strongest creature of the land joined with the swiftest of the sky, guarding treasure at the edge of the world.
Last reviewed: September 2026.