keythong

plural keythongs

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

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

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

   5 more examples

   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.

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

   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.

   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

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

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

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

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

   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.”

   [2009 June, The Celator, volume 23, number 6

   Synonyms: alce