Griffonstone

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Griffonstone
Griffonstone Proper in its prime
Place
Location Griffon continent
Type Kingdom
Appearances
First "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone"
Last "A Horse Shoe-In" (mentioned)

Griffonstone was a realm located on a continent away from Greater Equestria. It was a former kingdom ruled by around 14 kings in its entire reign, with their first and most legendary king being King Grover. After the kingdom resolved with the failure of King Guto, the realm became ruled by a series of "Griffon Lords" instead, which seemed to rule simultaneously. The culture of Griffons was starkly different than that of Equestria, instead being a more cold and less friendly society.

History

Ancient past

Little of Griffonstone history before the reign of King Grover is known. During his reign, Grover came across an artifact known as the Idol of Boreas which became a symbol of Griffonstone culture, becoming an identity to its people and brought pride among its many citizens. The idol was safely passed on by the kings until the reign of King Guto. During his reign, the Idol was stolen by the Arimaspi despite Grover's efforts to fight off the creature. Eventually when passing over the Abysmal Abyss, the bridge the creature was standing on broke and the creature fell to its death, with the Idol still in hand, causing the Griffons to lose the artifact they cherished so dearly.[1]

At some point in ancient history, presumably when they spoke Olde Equestrianne or perhaps as a lingua franca, they owned a large portion of what eventually became Equestria and sold the land to the rulers of the time. As this was where Canterlot was eventually built, this was likely far, far in the past, possibly even predating the Age of Heroes period of Equestrian history.[2] The purchase came up at the Convocation of the Creatures when the Bureaucracy Buddies discovered a document writing of it.[3]

At some point, potentially before the unification of Equestria, the Griffons, or at least a large sect of them engaged in war with the pegasi cultures, resulting in a short lived conflict referred to as the "Zephyr War", which was promptly stopped by the Hippogriffs of Mount Aris who peacefully mediated the conflict and had the two found a new kingdom in Eastern Equestria.[4]

Modern eras

Much of Griffonstone history even in the modern eras was unclear. In a political sense, they considered Equestria to be their "great friends", even going as far as to say they would not want to risk that for "ten times the land of Equestria".[3] Indeed, out of any foreign realm, Griffonstone always appeared to be the one Equestria had closest ties to, as Griffons were allowed to attend events in Cloudsdale such as the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp[1] and Griffons were welcomed into Equestria with open arms.[5]

Despite this nice sediment, Griffon society was often characterized by a generally uncaring nature. When Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie traveled to Griffonstone, they were met with constant hostility and selfishness from the locals, though Pinkie witnessed a one-sided act of kindness from Gilda to Greta, a griffon who Gilda cared about. While in the kingdom, Rainbow Dash went to search for the Idol of Boreas in hopes it could restore Griffonstone's pride once again while Pinkie Pie realized the problem lied in their lack of friendliness. After making Gilda realized she cared about Rainbow Dash, they managed to save her after she was trapped in the Abysmal Abyss and Gilda decided to spread friendship around in Griffonstone.[1]

Later, Griffon attitude began to shift slightly, with Grampa Gruff allowing Gallus to attend the School of Friendship,[6] though as seen well over a year later,[7] the attitude of Grampa Gruff did not change at all, and if anything, only got more vile and vitriolic.[8]

Culture

Most Griffon names start with "G", such as Gilda, Greta, Grover, Gestral, Gonestone, etc, though there have been exceptions to thus, such as Klaus, Firegem, Elke, Hilda and Franz.[9]

Even after Gilda began to spread friendship, Griffons were notably a bit brutal in some regards, with many griffons including Gilda overlooking acts of bullying as being par for the course in Griffonstone.[9]

Griffons invoke the name of Grover similarly to how invoke Celestia.[9]

For at least a little while, Griffonstone became "obsessed" with the sport Boffyball.[9]

Aspects of Griffon culture could be seen in posters held up by Coach Klaus, with phrases such as "Part Eagle, Part Awesome and I'm ain't LION" (possibly signaling a dislike of lions), "You can't spell WING without WIN" and "When the going gets tough, the going goes GRIFFON!", possibly signaling an importance on strength, though this does not appear to be a universal aspect of Griffon culture as other griffons such as Firegem seemed more passive and meek.

Artwork and architecture

Griffons were famous for their carving artwork[2] and built many impressive statues, castles and other structures.[1]

Cuisine

Griffon Scones was an iconic part of griffon diet, with Twilight Sparkle wanting a taste of them when she sent off Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to Griffonstone. They were originally awful tasting, but after Pinkie Pie added Baking Soda, they became much more desirable, causing other Griffons to call them "good".[1]

A popular drink appeared to be Griffonade.[9]

Government

According to Gallus, the Crown of Grover was essential to King Grover's ascension to rule over the Griffons[10], while Bygone Griffons of Greatness, a book owned by Twilight Sparkle, indicated that Grover united his subjects using the Idol of Boreas. However, the last event recorded in the book was the coronation of King Guto, the fourteenth king of Griffonstone. As a result of this, and apparently lacking any more recent information, Twilight was under the impression that Griffonstone was still ruled by a king. In fact, Guto was the last to reign, the monarchy coming to an end after an Arimsapi stole the Idol of Boreas and both were lost in the Abysmal Abyss. Griffonstone Castle was left vacant after Guto's reign ended.[11]

At the Convocation of the Creatures, Griffonstone was revealed to Twilight to now be ruled by the Council of Griffon Lords[12], which presumably formed sometime after the end of the monarchy.

Insults

Aside from insults such as "dweeb", Griffon-exclusive insults seemed to include Birdbeak, Lamer-Brainer.[9]

Places of interest

Natural geography

Settlements

Historical structures

Entertainment

Behind the scenes

Inspirations

Many of the locales and creatures in Griffonstone take after Eurasian Steppe and Greek mythology and culture. Creatures such as Arimapsi, which was directly lifted from Scythian religion. Names such as the "North Wind", "Hyperborea" and "Boreas" are taken from Greek Mythology and are used to describe the race of Hyperborea, which were giants who lived beyond the North Wind. In addition, it's possible it may be based off the Conan the Barbarian mythos, which used the places of Hyperborea and North Wind as major locations.

Appearances

References


 V - E - H - DGriffons
Females Gabby • Galena • Gertie • Gigi • Gilda • Gilda's daughter • Gimmie Moore • Giselle • Glenda • Gracie • Greta (Boffyball player) • Gretchen • Griselda • Hilda • "Rockin' Griffon Friendship Student" • "Rookie Griffon Racer" • "Sporty Griffon Racer" • Vermouth Roux
Males Blackbeak • Firegem • Franz • Gallus • Garner • Gaston • Gavin • Gerard • Gestal • Goldstone • Gregor • Grover • Grampa Gruff • Gunter • Gustave le Grand • Guto • Klaus • Li'l Griffon • "Prideful Griffon Racer" • Rinehart • "Tiny Griffon Friendship Student"
Unspecified Elke
Places Settlements and realms Griffonstone • Griffonstone Proper • Beakwick • Eastern Equestrian Kingdom
Notable structures Griffonstone castle • Griffonstone Train Station • Gateway of Griffonstone
Notable geography Abysmal Abyss • Griffonstone Mountain Trail • Guto River • Hyperborean Mountains • North Wind
Culture Zephyr War • King of Griffonstone • Griffon Scones • Griffonade • Boffyball • Blue Moon Festival
 V - E - H - DFriendship is Magic places
Countries Abyssinia • Dragon Lands • Equestria • Griffonstone • Mount Aris • Saddle Arabia • more
Settlements Appleloosa • Canterlot • Cloudsdale • Dodge Junction • Fillydelphia • Manehattan • Our Town • Ponyville • Seaward Shoals • more
Establishments Carousel Boutique • Golden Oak Library • Ponyville Schoolhouse • Rainbow Factory • School of Friendship • Sugarcube Corner • more
Landmarks Canterlot Castle • Castle of Friendship • Castle of Two Sisters • Changeling Hive • Crystal Castle • Grogar's lair • more
Landforms Canterlot Mountain • Celestial Sea • Everfree Forest • Frozen North • Greater Equestria • Mount Aris • more
Cosmology Planets • Stars • Universes • Other
 V - E - H - DArticle comments (0)
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