What does the expression "to set the horns" mean?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

In many films, women's magazines and forums you can hear the phrase "cuckold". After reading it, an association immediately arises with the betrayal of one spouse by another. At the same time, most often the speech about horns is connected precisely with the male sex. It is noteworthy that such husbands are called "cuckolds", and the horns themselves have acquired not only a verbal, but also a very real form. For example, men who have been the victim of their wife's infidelity can often hint at this event by giving him deer antlers as a gift. But is this expression so banal? Where did it come from? And does it have other interpretations?

How the expression came about: a little digression into history

Despite its great popularity, especially among the fair sex, the phrase "cuckolding" has a rather old origin. At the same time, he is known almost all over the world. Disputes about the reliable date of its occurrence are ongoing in our time. For example, some participants in such a heated discussion prove that this expression appeared in the time of the Vikings.

It is believed that when sending their spouses to war or on a sea voyage, the wives performed a special ritual, putting on their headsa helmet equipped on both sides with animal horns.

No wife escort

Other of the disputants answer the question: "Where did the expression "set the horns" come from?" - a slightly different version. In their opinion, this concept came to us from the distant 1472. It was then that a decree was issued forbidding men to be in the army or during battle with their wives. According to the same decree, men who violated this requirement as a punishment had to wear a special headdress with horns until the end of their days. In this way, everyone around could learn about people who broke the law.

A peculiar manifestation of the favor of the ruler

The expression “she set the horns on her husband”, according to others, appeared during the reign of the emperor Komnenos Andronicus, well-known in Byzantium. According to them, this ruler liked to find solace in the company of other people's wives. He was very loving and led a dissolute life. At the same time, he allowed husbands who were cheated on by their wives to freely hunt in his possessions and endowed them with special powers.

In turn, deceived men, whose spouses liked the ruler, received deer antlers as a gift. It was they who attached them to the gates of their house in order to confirm the emperor's disposition towards his person. By the way, such husbands were jokingly called "cuckolds." That is why "cuckolding" is directly related to cheating and the actual deception of the husband.

Comparisondeceived spouse with an animal

Slightly later, this expression acquired a new meaning. In this case, the deceived husband was compared to stupid cattle or an animal with horns, because most often he was the last to know about his wife's betrayal. It was also customary to say about such people that they would rather notice how horns grow on their foreheads than pay attention to their unfaithful wife. For the same reason, the idiom "to set the horns" denotes female or male infidelity.

The expression has ancient roots

Some believe that this expression came to us from a distant ancient era. For example, it was precisely this assumption that Onians R. expressed in his work “On the Knees of the Gods: The Origins of European Thought on the Soul, Mind, Body, Time, World and Destiny”. The researcher’s version is associated with the mystical power that the Greeks once attributed to the horns. For example, these items were used as a kind of attribute during the sacrifice of animals on the altar.

Later horns were depicted over altars and sacred places. They were called "horns for initiation" and displayed the divine connection between the sacrificed animal, the bearer himself and the creator of all earthly creatures. Still later, the horn became associated with manhood. And the expression "to be horned" meant male lust and love of love, the desire to find sexual pleasures with a large number of women. Even later, our notorious “cuckold” appeared. Where it came from is hard to say. Butversions, as we said, abound. So we can draw certain conclusions.

Medieval poetry and "horned men"

Recall that the horn often had erotic or sexual overtones. The same confirmation can be found in medieval poetry. According to experts, the poetry of the 13th century is especially famous for such comparisons. Most often, she tells that a deceived man grows a real horn on his forehead.

Based on these beliefs in Europe, it became fashionable to decorate the head of a deceived man with large and branched horns. And so the crown word form "to guide the horns" appeared. Thus, everyone around could understand exactly how his wife rewarded such a “cuckold”.

Horns in nature and their meaning

Interestingly, the horns themselves in nature also have some sexual overtones. And the thing is that it is their animals that are often used in the fight for a female. They also serve as an indicator of the rank that the male occupies in the pack. For example, the more horns he has, the more solid and important his position. Horns are also often used by males in mating and in preliminary games. So, the males gently rub the sides of their partners with their tips.

Why antlers?

Most often, the word "cuckold" is associated with deer antlers. It is believed that every year this animal sheds its horns. At the same time, until new ones grow, he loses all interest in the opposite sex and does not want to mate.

Giving the deceived husband horns, neighbors andfriends not only wanted to inform him of his wife's infidelity. With this gesture, they tried to cheer up their husband, instilling in him the idea of his unspent sexual power and attractiveness.

Moreover, deer antlers are his pride and dignity. Therefore, by cheating on her husband, the wife humiliates his dignity and even offends his honor. Consequently, when certain rulers and influential personalities wanted to humiliate a man who, in their opinion, was unworthy, they gave him deer antlers as a mockery.

Where did the expression "set the horns" come from?

In some cultures, horns were associated with sins. For the same reason, many people claimed that horns grew on the heads of bad people for such and such sins. Sometimes the sins meant cheating on a spouse, which was of a sexual nature.

Many nations associated the horn with fertility. Therefore, wearing horns testified to the fertility of a man. He was an enviable husband and father. In marriage with him, you could have a bunch of children.

In a word, the expression came to us from the distant past. It suggests a sexual allusion to infidelity to her husband. At the same time, despite the differences in the interpretations of some nations, the presence of horns in a man spoke of his inattention to his woman.