Refractive Analysis: The Tale of the Hippogriff · 1:32am Sep 23rd, 2018
When it comes to adventure stories, there are certain qualities you look for. Compelling characters with goals to strive towards, tight pacing, a plot with multiple twists and turns, and an ending which leaves the reader wholly satisfied. OleGrayMane’s The Tale of the Hippogriff has all of these and more. Its main protagonist, the titular hippogriff, Celia, flies off to parts unknown in an effort to locate her long-lost father and mend her mother’s fragile heart. Along the way, she discovers aspects of herself she never knew as well as the true natures of war, magic, and the hearts of men (er, ponies and griffons). Emotions run strong, from love and hate to tragedy and triumph. A relatively compact read at less than 65,000 words, OleGrayMane crams in more depth than most authors can in four times that length, creating a mythical story of manageable proportions.
If you aren’t sold on it yet from that summary, allow me to just tell you outright: please go read the story first, then come back here. It’s criminally underread and I very much recommend it. Also, the rest of this review, which I am writing as requested, will contain some fairly significant spoilers. In the future, I’m probably not going to make a habit of these, as Fimfic is already dense with reviews. Besides a traditional critique, this will also be an analysis of the tale’s underlying meaning, since nobody else seems to be doing that. Not every story, especially fanfiction, even has such a high density of thematic throughlines, so that alone should be telling of its quality. Therefore, if you found high school English class traumatizing, turn away now. Otherwise, I will continue with the proceedings after the break.
First things first: the framing. OleGrayMane elects to frame the story as an ancient myth, encapsulating the events by means of a storyteller gracing an aristocratic party in old Unicornia. Not only does having the storyteller indicate some of the themes from the beginning give the reader some signposts of things to look for, but also indicates that the author had a clear focus from the start. The prose also contributes to this, with on-point old timey dialogue and evocative descriptions. While that approach makes perfect sense in this context, it does introduce a significant downside. As the reader is aware of the legendary status of the events, some of the dramatic tension which would otherwise be present in the story proper is lost. IE: we know that Celia’s journey will be remembered for generations to come, so the odds of her, say, dying of starvation in the mountains before she gets to the griffon city is very low, because that would make for a terribly anticlimactic ending.
Fortunately, there is plenty of tension still to be found, much of which can be attributed to fear. All of the major players encounter their own unique demons, and watching the methods by which each character tackles their emotional hangups is the crux of the story. The ostensible takeaway is that not giving in to despair and maintaining hope, however little there is to be had, is the key to success and change. Even if it’s the safer route, allowing your fears to control you never works out in the end. There are plenty of examples of this throughout The Tale of the Hippogriff, exploring and showcasing this concept from different angles.
At first, Meadow serves as a shining beacon of bravery in her home village. She carries on after her father’s death, daring to fall for a wandering griffon. Even though she is shunned as a result, she perseveres, determined to raise her daughter with love. Only when Celia leaves for the foreseeable future as well does she collapse under the weight of her loneliness, becoming totally dependent on conjured memories. After seeing all that she’d been through, Celia’s main fear is disappointing her mother, and heroically presses onwards through far more overt horrors for Meadow’s sake. It works out, but Meadow was left hanging by a thread for some time.
Essentially everyone, from Lodema to Ahren, shared the fear of losing those they cared about. Love is a powerful thing, overriding the more primal instinct that fear represents. Warrik’s function in the story is to serve as the counterexample, his own epiphany being that he’s been focusing on the wrong thing the whole time. Murron is the extreme example, his spirit having long since been broken trying to protect as many as possible however her could. All are guided to the correct path by circumstance, introspection, or eachother. As for how their stories end, some aren’t bright, for not all hope pans out.
See, collective anxieties, brought on by tradition, are far harder to erase than individual ones, another point OleGrayMane illustrates. The earth pony town, the griffon city, and Unicornia are all skeptical of outsiders, prejudiced to various degrees. Instead of confronting their deepset issues, many choose to cover them up with obstinance and ignorance, hindering the efforts of those like Celia, who strive for a positive new outlook through forgiveness rather than accepting the status quo. The whole point of the Storyteller bookends is to cement this as something we all need to work on as people.
I only have a few minor complaints about The Tale of the Hippogriff. There are some sections that have poetry and written song lyrics, and while I can see the beauty in them, I’ve never been a fan of either. There’s also one plot point later on involving actions Murron took in the past that left me a bit confused as to what actually happened, though the tone carries successfully to both Warrik and the reader, which is the important part. The only issue I found that I think could negatively impact the story for everyone is the perspective shifts. Sections of the story are told from the perspective of five different characters, including the Storyteller. They’re all sensible in regards to the plot, but suddenly being given access to Warrik and Murron’s thoughts when the story is already half over is a bit jarring, especially since the development Meadow and Celia received was so compelling that I wanted to watch the pair of them the whole time.
Again, overall, this tale is one to remember. While not the most engrossing or tearjerking piece of fan literature I’ve seen from this community, it’s part of a select few that I would consider impactful enough to stand among the titans of fiction taught in schools. And it’s way less dry than half of those.
I agree with everything you said about this masterpiece
I can't emphasize enough that this story deserves far more credit then it has received.