Fantastic creature, with the appearance of a
horse, but with the the head, fore claws, and the
wings of an eagle, the wings enabled it to travel
faster than lightning. And was said to live in the
Rhiphaean Mountains.
It was once thought to have been the
invention of
Ludovico Ariosto. It was mentioned in his epic "
Orlando Furioso".
Hippogryph means "horse gryphon" and can be traced back to this quote from Vergil
"...soon shall we see mate Gryphons with mares, and in the coming age shy deer and hounds together come to drink..."
Gryphons and horses had a huge animosity between them, and so the Hippogryph symbolizes an impossible thing - Vergil was discussing love in the above quote.
Speaking of mating I should point out that Hippogryphs are born of an egg
Persian mythology calls them Simoorgh, Simurgh or Senmurv, where they are sometimes dogs or lions instead of horses.