Horn: One of the hard usually permanent structures projecting from the head of certain mammals such as cattle or sheep. The hard, smooth material forming the outer covering of a horn. A growth or protuberance similar to a horn. A container made from a horn; a powder horn. A brass wind instrument, especially a French horn, a saxophone, or a trumpet. A signalling device that produces a loud, resonant sound.
Grimm's Fairy Tales: The horn appears in several stories, as to be expected, it is often presented as a magical article and is no ordinary horn. In one memorable story known as The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn, the horn is written about as a powerful weapon. The tale tells of three brothers who were destitute. In their sorry state of poverty, they were determined to travel as far as they needed in hopes of improving their situation. The first brother came across a mountainous pile of gold, and he was satisfied with his findings and he decided to go home with all the gold he could carry. The second brother came across a treasure hoard of silver, and he too, was satisfied, and he also went home with his pockets stuffed with silver coins. The third brother wanted to continue trying his luck and journeyed further. Among the many strange things he encountered, he was fortunate enough to find in his possession several magical articles. One was a magic tablecloth, where as soon as it was set at a table and ordered to display food, the tablecloth would magically be covered with a magnificent feast. The second article was a knapsack, and when tapped it would summon seven stalwart soldiers. The third article was a hat, where once it was placed upon the wearer's head, cannons would begin fired off one by one. And the last article was a horn, where once used, it was powerful enough to render whole walls and fortifications into rubble, and level entire villages and cities after having been blown.
Greek Mythology: In the story of The Twelve Labors of Hercules, the third labor of the hero that he had to complete involved the retrieval of a stag with golden horns. The task required that the creature must be brought back alive. The stag was a sacred beast that belonged to Artemis, and it dwelt in the woods of Cerynitia. For him to slay the beast and haul the carcass back would have been a much easier task, but to bring the stag back alive was more difficult. It took Hercules the better portion of a whole year before this was complete.
In the work Mythology, by Edith Hamilton, she writes of a self-replenishing magic horn that belonged to Amalthea, Hamilton writes;
"According to one story, she was a goat on whose milk the infant Zeus was fed. According to another, she was a nymph who owned the goat. She was said to have a horn which was always full of whatever food or drink anyone wanted, the Horn of Plenty (in Latin Cornu copiae- also known as 'the Cornucopia' in Latin mythology). But the Latins said the Cornucopia was the horn Aechelous which Hercules broke off when he conquered that river-god, who had taken the form of a bull to fight him. It was always magically full of fruits and flowers."
Norse Myth: In the written work by H.A. Guerber, The Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas, he writes of the glorious Horn that was served by the Valkyrs in the passage The Feast of the Heroes;
"Besides the glory of such distinction, and the enjoyment of Odin's beloved presence day after day, other more material pleasures awaited the warriors in Valhalla. Generous entertainment was provided for them at the long tables, where the beautiful white-armed virgins, the Valkyrs, having laid aside their armour and clad themselves in pure white robes, waited upon them with assiduous attention. These maidens, nine in number according to some authorities, brought the heroes great horns full of delicious mead, and set before them huge portions of boar's flesh, upon which they feasted heartily. The usual Northern drink was beer or ale, but our ancestors fancied this beverage too coarse for the heavenly sphere. They, therefore, imagined that Valfather kept his table liberally supplied with mead or hydromel, which was daily furnished in great abundance by his she-goat Heidrun, who continually browsed on the tender leaves and twigs on Lerad, Yggdrasil's topmost branch."
The drinking and serving horns filled by the Valkyr's were preceded by a loud dinner horn that summoned the great warriors to feast;
"Whole and happy at the sound of the horn, and bearing one another no grudge for cruel thrusts given and received, the Einheriar would ride gaily back to Valhalla to renew their feasts in Odin's beloved presence, while the white-armed Valkyr's with flying hair, glided gracefully about, constantly filling their horns or their favorite drinking vessels, the skulls of their enemies, while the scalds sang of war and of stirring Viking forays."
Edith Hamilton writes of the role of the Valkyries:
"Maidens were his attendants, the Valkyries. They waited on the table in Asgard and kept the drinking horns full, but their chief task was to go to the battlefield and decide at Odin's bidding who should win and who should die, and carry the brave dead to Odin. Val means 'slain,' and the Valkyries were the Choosers of the Slain; and the place to which they brought the heroes was the Hall of the Slain, Valhalla. In battle, the hero doomed to die would see Maidens excellent in beauty, riding their steeds in shining armor, solemn and deep in thought, with their white hands beckoning."
When the giant wolf Fenris, and the wolf's progeny were released into the world, unbridled chaos was said to have taken place. The earth quaked and shook violently, the stars reportedly fell from the sky, the dragon Nidhug gnawed right through the roots of the great cosmic tree Ygdrassil, and a red bird known as Fialar who detected the seismic shifts and tremours of the tree crowed loudly to signal danger to everyone. This sound was echoed by the rooster in Midgard, and then in the deep by the bird who belonged to Hel of the dark realms. And upon hearing this, Heimdall sounded the alarm, Guerber writes;
"Heimdall, noting these ominous portents and hearing the cock's shrill cry, immediately put the Giallar-horn to his lips and blew the long-expected blast, which was heard throughout the world. At the final sound of this rally Aesir and Einheriar sprang from their golden couches and sallied bravely out of the great hall, armed for the coming fray, and, mounting their impatient steeds, they galloped over the quivering rainbow bridge to the spacious field of Vigrid, where, as Vafthrudnir had predicted long before, the last battle was to take place."
Further detail is written about Heimdall and his horn;
"Heimdall, like Argus, was gifted with marvelous keenness of sight, which enabled him to see a hundred miles off as plainly by night as by day. His Giallar-horn, which could be heard throughout the world, proclaiming the god's passage to and fro over the quivering bridge Bifrost, was like the trumpet of the goddess Renown. As he was related to the water deities on his mother's side, he could, like Proteus, assume any form at will."
Guerber writes that the Gods knew their impending doom was inevitable, and they made one last charge into battle together;
"The gods knew that their end was now near, and that their weakness and lack of foresight placed them under great disadvantages; for Odin had but one eye, Tyr but one hand, and Frey nothing but a stag's horn wherewith to defend himself, instead of his invisible sword. Nevertheless, the Aesir did not show any signs of despair, but, like true battle-gods of the North, they donned their richest attire, and gaily rode to the battlefield, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible."
Alexander Porteous in his work The Forest in Folklore and Mythology writes about the horn;
"Here also, in Jotunheim, dwell the Frost-Giants, or Hrim-thurs. Under the tree is hidden the horn called Giallr which is to be sounded by Heimdallr, the warder of the gods, in order to rouse gods and men for the last great conflict, known as the twilight, or doom, of the gods, in which time, life, and the world, are all to pass away."
Custom and Ritual: In the written work The Golden Bough by James Frazer, he writes of ancestral customs which involved the horn, and had been passed down and still practised present day;
"The custom of the Harvest Queen appears to have been common in England. Brand quotes from Hutchinson's History of North Humberland the following; 'I have seen, in some places, an image apparelled in great finery, crowned with flowers, a sheaf of corn placed under her arm, and a sickle in her hand, carried out of the village in the morning of the conclusive reaping day, with music and much clamour of the reapers, into the field, where it stands fixed on a pole all day, and when the reaping is done, is brought home in like manner. This they call the Harvest Queen, and it represents the Roman Ceres.'"
And further;
"The custom of blowing horns upon the first of May (Old Style) is derived from a festival in honour of Diana. At the Hawkie, as it is called, or Harvest Home, I have seen a clown dressed in woman's clothes, having his face painted, his head decorated with ears of corn, and bearing about him other symbols of Ceres, carried in a waggon, with great pomp and loud shouts, through the streets, the meaning of the ceremony, was answered by the people that they were drawing the Morgay, or Harvest Queen."
Frazer writes of the celebratory customs undertaken during Yule (Christmas);
"In Lerwick, the Capital of the Shetland Islands, on 'Christmas Eve, the fourth of January, -for the old style is still observed- the children go a guizing, that is to say, they, disguising themselves in the most fantastic and gaudy costumes, parade the streets, and infest the houses and shops, begging for the wherewithal to carry on their Christmas amusements. One o'clock on Yule morning having struck, the young men turn out in large islands, dressed in the coarsest of garments, and, at the double-quick march, drag huge tar barrels through the town, shouting and cheering as they go, or blowing loud blasts with their 'louder horns.' The tar barrel simply consists of several-say four to eight-tubs filled with tar and chips, placed on a platform of wood. It is dragged by means of a chain, to which scores of jubilant youths readily yoke themselves."
In the section of his book titled Killing the God, and in the chapter of The Flesh Diet, he writes of African ceremonial practices which involved absolving the strengths and virtues of an enemy through ritual sacrifice. The parts taken from an enemy were mixed in a ceremonial ritual and stored in a horn;
"Again, the flesh and blood of dead men are commonly eaten and drunk to inspire bravery, wisdom, or other qualities for which the men themselves were remarkable, or which are supposed to have their special seat in the particular part eaten. Thus among the mountain tribes of South-Eastern Africa, there are ceremonies by which the youth are formed into guilds or lodges, and among the rites of initiation, there is one which is intended to infuse courage, intelligence, and other qualities into the novices. Whenever an enemy who has behaved with conspicuous bravery is killed, his liver, which is considered the seat of his valour; his ears; which are supposed to be the seat of his intelligence; the skin of his forehead, which is regarded as the seat of perseverance; his testicles, which are held to be the seat of strength, and other members, which are viewed as the seat of other virtues, are cut from his body and baked into cinders. The ashes are carefully kept in the horn of a bull, and, during the ceremonies observed at circumcision, are mixed with the other ingredients into a kind of paste, which is administered by the tribal priest to the youths. By this means the strength, valour, intelligence, and other virtues of the slain are believed to be imparted to the eaters."
Fiction:
In the world of Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard, many authors have taken up the pen to write in his universe. Robert Jordan wrote of a horned villain in his work known as Conan the Destroyer. One of the villains in the story is an ancient sleeping god known as Dagoth. Though he rests in slumber trapped inside the statue of a block of stone, he is still worshiped by the evil sorceress Taramis. She vows to resurrect the sleeping god and she uses Conan and her niece to achieve these ends. Two magical items must be acquired in order to wake Dagoth. Taramis sends her kin forth with the warrior Conan and they undertake a quest to retrieve the Heart of Ahriman, a magical red coloured gem and a mystical horn that belongs to Dagoth. Once the items have been attained, the horn is placed upon the forehead of Dagoth who awakens but in his disoriented fury from having been resurrected, the god consumes and absolves the wicked Taramis into his being.
Poetry:
There Came a Wind like a Bugle
There came a Wind like a Bugle
It quivered through the Grass
And a Green Chill upon the Heat
So ominous did pass
We barred the Windows and the Doors
As from an Emerald Ghost
The Doom's electric Moccasin
That very instant passed
On a strange Mob of panting Trees
And Fences fled away
And Rivers where the Houses ran
Those looked that lived-that Day
The Bell within the steeple wild
The flying tidings told
How much can come
And much can go,
And yet abide the World!