gryphon (variant of griffin)

noun

1. mythical animal typically having the head, forepart and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs and tail of a lion.

The griffin originated in ancient Middle Eastern legend and is often found in Persian sculpture and the decorative arts. Although its significance is obscure, it is often thought to have been a protective symbol, representing strength and vigilance.

[origin: 14th century; Middle English griffon, from Anglo-French grif, griffun, from Latin Gryphus, from Greek gryp-, gryps]

HOWARD’S USAGE

I swam below the surface of a lake
And found myself within a curious hall,
Lined with bronze columns, somber-black and tall;
On them I heard the evil gray waves break.
Sudden the granite floor began to shake;
A monster strode from out an iron stall;
Before his gryphon feet I reeled, to fall
As one who, dreaming, struggles to awake.

Upon my lips he set his grisly mouth
As to allay some fierce, demoniac drouth.
A broken shell, I tread the earth in vain;
My comrades are the goblin and the troll,
Since One in that forgotten, sunken fane
In evil hunger sucked from me my soul.

[from “The Soul-Eater”; for the complete poem see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 239 and Always Comes Evening, p. 57]