keythong

English

“Male Griffin.”

Etymology

Unclear. From Middle English keythong: attested in one medieval document describing Edward IV’s French Expedition of 1475, which records that the badge of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond, featured a "peyr [pair] keythongs". Later writers including Colin Cole (The Coat of Arms 98, 1976) argued this denoted "male griffins" and that these were definitely separate monsters from "griffins" in the medieval period (although both the animals termed male griffins and those termed griffins are depicted with penises in medieval art), while Roger Barnes argues it referred to the two interlinked thongs of an Ormond knot.

Noun

keythong (plural keythongs)

1. A mythical beast resembling a griffin with no wings, often classified as a male griffin.

   Synonym: alce

   • 1852, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Badges”, in The Pursuivant of Arms, or Heraldry Founded upon Facts, London: W. N. Wright, […], page 183:

     The Earl of Ormonde,—a pair of keythongs. (?) * […] * The word is certainly so written, and I have never seen it elsewhere. The figure resembles the Male Griffin, which has no wings, but rays or spikes of gold proceeding from several parts of his body, and sometimes with two long strait horns.—Vide Parker’s Glossary, under Griffin.

   • 1870, [Fanny] Bury Palliser, “Badges”, in Historic Devices, Badges, and War-Cries, London: Sampson Low, Son & Marston, […], page 317:

     Ormond. Earl of Ormond. Temp. Edward. IV. A pair of keythongs.

   • 1904, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, “Beasts”, in The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory, London: T. C. & E. C. Jack […] and Edinburgh, page 136, column 2:

     English armory knows an animal which it terms the male griffin, which has no wings, but which has gold rays issuing from its body in all directions. [Hugo Gerard] Ströhl terms the badge of the Earls of Ormonde, which from his description are plainly male griffins, keythongs, which he classes with the panther; and probably he is correct in looking upon our male griffin as merely one form of the heraldic panther.

   • [2001, Osita Iroku, A Day in the Life of God, →ISBN, page 85:

     Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings; in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an ‘alce’ or a ‘keythong.’]

   • [2009, Benjamin Towe, The First Wandmaker (Elfdreams of Parallan; II), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 20:

     Folks gave the beast many names. Griffin, griffon, gryphon, alce, keythong, gryphen, griffen, gryphen, and opinicus…]

   • [2009 June, The Celator‎^[1], volume 23, number 6:

     The more common representation of the griffin is the female griffin, a creature with wings. Male griffins do NOT have wings and are termed “alces” or “keythongs.”]

   • 2010, Shirin Dubbin, Dreams’ Dark Kiss, Carina Press, Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN:

     They’d befriended him because he fed them the tastiest morsels, Alce, the gilded griffin, preferred Marvel while Keythong, the agate stone one, craved DC Comics.

   • 2011, Laura L. Sullivan, Guardian of the Green Hill, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 287:

     There were griffins in all their variety—the standard winged, lion-rumped, eagle-headed; the wingless keythong; the opinicus, with a lion’s forelegs; and the hippogriff, with its horse parts thrown in for good measure. They all looked more or less the same to Meg, and she was surprised to see each kind grouped in its own offish little clique, the keythongs eyeing the hippogriffs with dark suspicion, who in turn raised their hackles at the traditional griffins.

   • [2011, Marc Michael Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 58:

     figure 11 Cloven-hoofed, wingless griffin (also called an alce or a keythong in later heraldry) symbolizing the sun, and two-legged dragon (wyvern) symbolizing the moon.]

   • 2012, Timothy Groves, “[The Creatures] Keythong”, in The Book of Creatures, →ISBN, page 115:

     Gryphons are egg-layers, though it is the Keythong who guards the nest and warms the eggs. Keythongs are somewhat larger, considerably faster and far more vicious than their female counterparts.

   • 2015, D.R. Ranshaw, “Allies and Foes”, in Gryphon’s Heir (The Annals of Arrinor; I), FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 45:

     He didn’t even know the animal’s gender. But most gryphons were supposed to be female. Male gryphons were quite rare — what were they called in heraldry? Keythongs, that was it.

   • 2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 22, column 1:

     Alce / Variations: Anthalops, Alcida, Calopus, Keythong, Panthalops, Tapopus / In heraldic symbology the alce is a wingless, male griffin with rays or spikes of gold protruding from several parts of its body; on occasion it also sports two long straight horns atop its head. A pair of such creatures is present on the coat of arms of the Earl of Ormande.

   • 2017, David A Wilson, “This Quest Thing”, in Aaron Gray and the Dragon War, →ISBN, page 23:

     "Wait, I thought griffins had wings," said Julia. "Why don't you just fly up and we'll meet you at the top?" "For the last time, I am a keythong. Female griffins have the wings and the grace and all that nonsense. Keythongs have spikes on their back and the balance of a drunken hobgoblin. […]"

   • 2019, Paula Grover, The Gryphon, FriesenPress, →ISBN, pages 4 (Opinicus) and 237 (The Quest Begins):

     The live-born gryphlets and opiniclets are revered as prophets and leaders of the future, primarily because they will soar high above their wingless brothers and sisters, that subset of gryphonic beings known as keythongs and kryphons. […] “Jo and Roonen, there is a group of wingless gryphons ahead of you in a clearing. They have some sort of encampment there.” “Those are what the gryphons call ‘keythongs,’ Warford,” Jophriel responds, “They are part of a ground squadron. Don’t do anything. Let us talk to them first.” Warford grumbles about it being dangerous to try to communicate with the keythongs but does not try to dissuade them.

   • 2021, Austin Dragon, Kingdom at Titan’s End (The Fabled Quest Chronicles; 6), California: Well-Tailored Books, →ISBN:

     They had the opportunity to secure animals for their treasure hunting—griffins (fore-half of an eagle with wings and hind-half of a lion), griffinoids like opinicuses (full lion's body with eagle head and wings), keythongs (fore-half of a giant eagle, hind-half of a lion and spiky protrusions on its back and head), axex (peacock-like head, wings, wild cat-like body), hieracosphinxes (strong lion body with an eagle head, larger than all). […] Also, the hall was a menagerie of beasts. Noble keythongs (wingless griffinoid with the body of a lion and the head and forelegs of an eagle), axex (head of a hawk and a body of a very slim, sleek lion), and opinicuses (often mistaken for griffins — all four of its legs are those of a lion with a giant eagle head with or without wings).

Middle English

The sketch of the badge of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond, that appears near the caption containing this word

Etymology

Unclear; see the Modern English entry.

Noun

keythong (plural keythongs)

1. (hapax) keythong
   • 1475, manuscript in the College of Arms collection describing Edward IV’s French Expedition of 1475 (Coll. Arms ms. 2nd M.16, f. xvi):

     peyr keythongs

     pair keythongs

Descendants

• English: keythong