Hippogriff

Origin and myth

The hippogriff is one of the few legendary creatures with a known author. Ludovico Ariosto introduced it in Orlando Furioso, the Italian epic first printed in 1516, as the offspring of a griffin and a mare. Ariosto was making a joke: the Roman poet Virgil had used "griffins mating with horses" as a proverb for something impossible, because griffins were the horse's natural enemy. Ariosto took the impossible thing and made it real, then gave it to his knights to ride.

In the poem the hippogriff is first tamed by the wizard Atlante, who uses it to carry off knights and ladies to his enchanted castle. The English knight Astolfo later rides it around the world and up to the Moon to recover Orlando's lost wits, and the paladin Ruggiero rides it to rescue Angelica from a sea monster. Ariosto describes it as a real animal, not a magical one, born in the Rhiphaean mountains beyond the icy seas - a location the poet borrowed from classical geography of the far north.

The hippogriff spread through European art and literature over the following centuries, appearing in Renaissance engravings, Baroque opera and 19th-century illustration, most famously in Gustave Doré's plates for Orlando Furioso.

Appearance

Ariosto is specific: the hippogriff has the wings, head, talons and forelegs of a griffin - that is, an eagle's - and everything else from a horse. A sculptor should start with a horse, then replace the front of the animal from the withers forward.

The head is an eagle's, with a strong hooked beak, forward-facing eyes and, in most depictions, feathered ears or a crest. The neck is feathered and thicker than a horse's, curving into a feathered chest. The forelegs are an eagle's, scaled with four talons, and somewhat longer than an eagle's proportion to match the horse's stride. The hindquarters, tail and hind legs are entirely equine, with hooves, a flowing tail and a horse's muscular croup.

The wings are feathered and very large, rooted at the shoulders. Colouring is left open by Ariosto; illustrators usually choose a bay or grey horse body with eagle plumage in brown or white, the white version being popular for its heroic look.

In modern fantasy

The hippogriff is best known today from the Harry Potter books and films, but it also serves as a flying mount in Dungeons & Dragons, Warcraft, Heroes of Might and Magic and many tabletop settings. It usually sits just below the griffin in status: a swift, proud but tameable steed for rangers and elves.

3D printing notes

A hippogriff combines two difficult things: a horse's slim legs and a bird's broad wings. At 28-32 mm, print in resin with the wings as separate parts or folded, and use a tilt of 25-35 degrees with supports under the belly, the hooves, the beak and the wing edges. Slender horse legs are prone to breaking; make sure supports touch them at the hoof, not mid-leg, and consider a base that connects the tail or a hind hoof to a rock for strength.

At 75 mm, resin still gives the best feathers, but FDM with a 0.4 mm nozzle handles the horse body well if printed standing with the wings and head as separate pieces. Print wings flat, feathered side up, with a shoulder peg.

For a 150 mm or larger centrepiece, split into body, head and neck, two wings and possibly the tail. FDM is fine for the body; resin for the head. A rearing pose with the tail touching a rock and both hind hooves on the ground is dramatic but stable. Wing pins with a friction fit let the wings be posed or removed for transport.

Painting and display

For the classic look, paint the horse body in a warm bay or dapple grey and blend the feathers of the chest and neck from the coat colour into a paler cream. A white hippogriff - white feathers, grey-white coat, black beak - is easy to highlight and reads clearly on the table: use a grey-blue wash in the feather recesses and a pure white dry-brush on the tips. Talons and hooves in dark grey with a light edge.

A mountain ledge or a cloud-topped crag suits the creature's origin, and a saddle or reins on the model tell the story of its taming.

Related creatures

The Griffin is the hippogriff's parent and the source of its front half. The Pegasus is the other great winged horse of European legend, and the Kazakh Tulpar is its Central Asian counterpart.

If you would like a hippogriff with or without a rider, ask Fantasy Lab 3D for a custom print through the contact form.