A 12th-century bestiary in the British Library shows a griffin tearing apart a horse with its beak, its lion hindquarters braced for the kill. The monk who painted it believed this creature was real. He also believed it was a symbol of Christ. The relationship between griffins and Christianity is not a conversion story. It is a deliberate act of theological repurposing. Early and medieval Christians did not reject the griffin as pagan. They absorbed it, rewrote its meaning, and placed it on churches, tombs, and altars as a guardian of the divine. The griffin entered Christian symbolism through bestiaries, heraldry, and church architecture, where its dual nature (lion and eagle) was interpreted as an allegory for Christ’s dual nature (human and divine).
What Is a Griffin, Exactly?
A griffin has the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion and the head, wings, and talons of an eagle. Sometimes it has pointed ears or a crest. Sometimes it is horned. The earliest known griffin imagery appears in Minoan Crete around 1450 BCE, carved into the walls of the Throne Room at Knossos. The Greeks called it gryps, from grypos meaning “curved” or “hooked,” a reference to its beak. The creature was not native to Greek imagination. It likely arrived via trade routes from the Middle East, where similar lion-bird hybrids guarded the thrones of Persian kings. The historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BCE) wrote that griffins lived in the far north of Scythia, guarding gold deposits from the one-eyed Arimaspi. This was geography as mythology: the griffin marked the edge of the known world. By the time Christianity became the state religion of Rome in the 4th century, the griffin had already been a symbol of power, vigilance, and treasure for over a thousand years. The Church had a decision to make. ---
How the Church Read a Pagan Beast
The early Church Fathers did not uniformly condemn griffins. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE), in The City of God, argued that creatures described in pagan texts might be real but that their existence did not threaten Christian truth. He did not mention griffins specifically, but his logic opened the door. If griffins existed, they were part of God’s creation. If they did not, they could still serve as useful metaphors. The real transformation happened in the Physiologus, a Greek text written in Alexandria around the 2nd century CE. This was the first Christian bestiary. It took pagan animal lore and assigned each creature a moral or theological meaning. The Physiologus did not include griffins, but its method set the pattern. Medieval bestiaries, which flourished from the 12th to the 15th centuries, picked up where the Physiologus left off. The griffin entered these manuscripts as a symbol of Christ. The reasoning was specific: - The lion half represented Christ’s kingship and his human nature.
- The eagle half represented his divinity and his ascension into heaven.
- The griffin’s role as a guardian of gold was reinterpreted: the gold was not literal treasure but divine wisdom, and the griffin was Christ guarding the Church. The Aberdeen Bestiary (c. 1200), held at the University of Aberdeen, states this plainly: “The griffin signifies Christ. He is a lion because he reigns, an eagle because he rises again.” The monk who wrote those words was not being poetic. He was being doctrinal. ---
Where You Find Griffins in Christian Art
The griffin did not stay in manuscripts. It moved into stone. Pisa Cathedral, consecrated in 1118, has two bronze griffins on its roof. One was cast in the 11th century, probably in the Islamic world, and was later installed on the cathedral as a symbol of victory over evil. The cathedral’s builders did not see a contradiction in using a Muslim-made griffin to guard a Christian church. They saw a universal symbol of vigilance. The Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna has a griffin carved into its main portal, dating to the late 14th century. It sits alongside biblical figures. The sculptor was not confused. He was following a tradition that placed griffins at the thresholds of sacred spaces, where their dual nature mirrored the boundary between earth and heaven. Griffins also appear on tombs. The Tomb of Pope Clement II (1047) in Bamberg Cathedral has griffins carved into its sides. The meaning was eschatological: the griffin guarded the soul in death as it guarded gold in life. The dead needed a guardian who could see both worlds. ---
The Griffin in Dante’s Divine Comedy
The most sophisticated Christian use of the griffin appears in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, completed in 1320. In the Purgatorio, Dante sees a griffin pulling a chariot in the Earthly Paradise. The griffin’s reflection in Beatrice’s eyes shifts between lion and eagle, never showing both forms at once. Dante was exploiting the griffin’s dual nature to make a theological point about the Incarnation. Christ’s human and divine natures are distinct but inseparable. The griffin, which is both lion and eagle without being a mixture of the two, was the perfect vehicle for this argument. No other creature could have served. Dante did not invent this reading. He inherited it from the bestiary tradition and elevated it into poetry. The griffin in the Commedia is not a monster. It is a theological diagram. ---
What the Griffin Meant for Christian Kings
The griffin also entered Christian heraldry, where its meaning shifted from theology to authority. King Edward III of England (1312–1377) used griffins as supporters on his royal arms. The message was clear: the king’s power was both earthly (lion) and spiritual (eagle). The griffin became a symbol of the divine right of kings. The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250) kept griffins in his menagerie. He wrote about them in his treatise De Arte Venandi cum Avibus (The Art of Hunting with Birds), insisting they were real animals. Frederick was not a theologian, but he understood the political value of the griffin. If the emperor could command a creature that symbolized Christ, his authority was beyond question. This heraldic tradition survived into the modern era. The griffin is the official emblem of the Republic of Genoa and appears on the coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. The Christian meaning has faded, but the shape remains. ---
Common Misconceptions
The griffin was never a demon. Some modern occult sources claim that the Church demonized griffins as pagan monsters. The historical record does not support this. The Church absorbed the griffin. It did not exorcise it. The griffin is not a chimera. In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing hybrid of lion, goat, and serpent. The griffin was a separate creature with its own lineage. Medieval bestiaries kept them distinct. The griffin was not always a Christian symbol. It was a Minoan, Greek, Persian, and Roman symbol first. The Christian interpretation was a late addition, not an original meaning. ---
FAQ
Did medieval Christians believe griffins were real? Yes. Most educated Christians from the 5th to the 15th centuries accepted griffins as real animals, based on the authority of Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and the bestiaries. Why did the Church accept a pagan creature? The Church did not see the griffin as pagan. It saw a creature whose dual nature could be reinterpreted as a symbol of Christ. This was standard practice: pagan temples became churches, pagan festivals became saints’ days, and pagan symbols became Christian allegories. Are griffins mentioned in the Bible? No. The griffin does not appear in any canonical biblical text. Its Christian meaning was developed entirely through medieval commentary and bestiary literature. What is the difference between a griffin and a hippogriff? A griffin is the offspring of a lion and an eagle. A hippogriff, invented by the poet Ludovico Ariosto in his 1516 epic Orlando Furioso, is the offspring of a griffin and a horse. The hippogriff has no Christian symbolism. ---
The Griffin Still Guards
The griffin did not disappear with the Reformation. It survived in heraldry, in literature, and in the margins of occult texts, where its dual nature was reclaimed by esoteric traditions as a symbol of spiritual integration. The Christian reading is not the only one, but it is the one that kept the griffin alive through the Middle Ages. If you want to understand how the griffin moved from pagan guardian to Christian allegory, start with the bestiaries. The mythical creatures hub collects the major sources. The griffin glossary entry gives the full etymology. And the guide to medieval bestiaries shows how the Church read the animal kingdom as a moral text. The griffin on the cathedral roof is not a decoration. It is a statement about what the Church thought it was guarding.