The Griffin, king of the beasts and birds...

I always wondered how come we don't see mythical creatures today if people could actually describe them in the past. They even had stories about them! The picture you see here is of the Griffin. You might have heard about it from ancient folklores. Well, the Griffin is half lion, half eagle. The king of the beasts and the king of the birds combined. That makes it doubly powerful.

Although you don't hear about the Griffin in Chinese mythology (or maybe it's in a different name), it exists in western mythology. There is a story about Alexander the great whose army was attacked by a pack of griffins. A few of his men died from the attack, but Alexander thought greatly of the Griffins. He derived a plan. Using meat as bait, he managed to capture a Griffin and tied the reigns from his chariot onto it. He then hung a piece of meat in front of the Griffin and of course the Griffin, seeing a piece of meat a few inches away, flew off to 'catch' the uncatchable steak. Alexander rose with the Griffin into the air, and he could see the entire land below him from a bird's eye view.

The Griffin is also seen on many coat of arms today. Sketches and paintings of it can also be found, like the one showed here. The artist named this "Celtic Griffin". I guess that's because there is a Celtic emblem in the background. Well, so much for the Griffin. I dare say this second blog of mine will be devoted mainly to mythology. Blimey, I never knew I had such an interest...