The Horse In Myth, Fable And Legend

Symbols and superstition-The horse has been, over the ages, variously a symbol of: courage, strength, speed (swifter than eagles), the passage of time and human life, pride (get on your high horse), death (Book of Revelation, horses of The Apocalypse), and war (sacred to and sacrificed to Mars).

In the Bible, persons with military rank were generally mounted on horses—those without rank very seldom; and the association of horses with war is frequent.

A white horse signified conquest and victory and was a good omen. In medieval days (chivalry) a white horse also signified innocence and chastity.

The ancients attributed special sanctity to a vow taken on horseback —one that could not be violated.

The horse was frequently the emblem of the sun, symbolizing creative life and giving solemnity and fruitfulness to the marriage vows. The Ruler of the Day—the Sun—was drawn in his chariot by celestial horses in his daily journey across the skies. The Dawn (The Goddess Aurora) was called the "White Horse" and had Pegasus as her steed after he had disposed of his earthly rider.

To the ancient Norsemen and the Romans (Diana) the horse was also similarly associated with the moon—drawing that god's chariot across the skies.

The horseshoe in mythology represented the crescent moon. Nailed on doorways it was deemed to ward off witchcraft, the evil eye and Satan. It is still, today, a symbol of good luck. Attached to a wall or doorway, the open end should be up, otherwise "the luck will run out."

Horses disturbed and restless in the morning and with their manes and tails tangled and twisted are supposed, according to old English legend, to have been ridden in the night by the pixies. SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT COLOR include these: A good horse is never a bad color.

ONE white leg, buy him.

TWO white legs, try him.

Three white legs, send him far away.  (Sell him to your foes)

Four white legs, keep him not a day.   (Feed him to the crows)

(He's sure to cause you woes) or

One white leg—buy me Two white legs—try me Three white legs—shy me Four white legs—fly me

It is lucky—if only the near hind leg is white—less so (even unlucky) if it is the off hind!

It is lucky if the forelegs, or hind legs, have equal white stockings —unlucky if the foreleg and hind leg on one side are white—very lucky if the diagonal legs are white!

The Hungarians and Spanish believe all black horses are lucky— the French think the reverse.

There is an Irish superstition that a pure white horse—when ridden by the owner—confers upon him the special gift of advising how to cure physical ailments.
THE WHITE HORSE-The Saxon King Alfred in the ninth century had carved in a precipitous chalk cliff on the Berkshire Downs in England an enormous white horse, 374 feet long and 120 feet high, to commemorate his victory over the Danes at Ashdown. It is still visible today. The 'Tale Horse of the Saxons," in varied forms, is found in the coat of arms of several British Regiments, of noble houses descended from the Saxons and in the ensign of Kent.

THE TROJAN HORSE-The Trojan Horse is well known to all who have read Greek history. This was the tremendous image of a mare, built of wooden planks, concealing a group of Greek soldiers. The Trojans were led to believe that this was a peace offering to the goddess Minerva by the Greeks as they ostensibly abandoned their ten year siege of Troy and sailed home. The stratagem worked. The Trojans opened their gates and widened the gap in their walls to take in the wooden mare (and its soldiers). The Greeks, under Ulysses, returned from their nearby island hideout—and Troy fell!

According to legend, Troy—built by Neptune who was the god of horses as well as the sea—was taken three times and each time a horse was the cause of its downfall. First, when the Trojan king refused a promised reward of six sacred horses to Hercules for the rescue of his daughter; second, the Greek's wooden mare (The Trojan Horse) and third, when a Greek horse stood in the gates, preventing the Trojans from shutting them against their enemies!

THE HOBBY HORSE—The Hobby Horse was originally associated with the ancient May Day festivals of English seamen—an alternative name was the "Sailor's Horse." It may have been derived from the early English "hobby," meaning a nag.

THE SAILOR'S HORSE-The terms "horse a bill" (pay for work not yet done), "pay for a dead horse" (pay for something which has been consumed or lost, or from which one will receive no return), "pull the dead horse" (work for wages that have been paid in advance) etc., stem from the old maritime custom of giving sailors a note for a month's pay in advance on signing on for a voyage. This they cashed at a sizable discount—and had fun. Thus, on sailing, they had 30 days of hard and unremunerative work ahead—"for the dead horse." Then, at the end of the payless month, they would "bury" the effigy of the "dead horse."

THE SEA HORSE—The first sea horses had a horse's head, forefeet and barrel, terminating in a fish tail—later or otherwise, the sea horse had the head of a horse and the body of a fish. Sea horses were prevalent in early Irish myths. When a tempest breaks over the sea in Ireland the breakers are said to be the white horse of the Gaelic God of the Sea.
The famous German Lorelei, after luring sailors to their destruction, left them in a sea-green chariot drawn by white horses.

The horse would, in mythological times, naturally have been associated with the wind because of his swiftness. The wind was deemed the sire of swift horses.

The horse was also associated, in ancient times, with the sea. In myth, Neptune is supposed to have created the horse in a contest with the other gods for the honor of naming what was to be the city of Athens. (However, the olive tree, created by Minerva, won out!)

NIGHTMARE—The Nightmare and the "mare's nest" do not really refer to demon horses. The terms derive from a Saxon demon vampire called Mara or Mare. This vampire rested on the chest of its sleeping victim, partially strangling him and causing fearful visions (hence nightmare). These demon vampires ("nightmares") also guarded hidden treasures, brooding over them as if they were eggs. (Hence a "mare's nest.") The harnesses of cart horses frequently were ornamented with brass charms to protect them from the witchcraft of Mare.

THE DEVIL'S HORSE—There are several English and Welsh legends in which the Devil appears as a headless black horse—and there is an American colonial legend of the Devil mounted on a black horse, defeated only by a farmer whom he was racing (or chasing), turning has grey mare into a churchyard.

THE PROPHETIC HORSES—Two immortal and prophetic horses, Xan-thus and Balius drew Achilles' chariot. They were given to Achilles' father by Neptune. Xanthus prophesied Achilles' death on the battlefield.

THE CORN HORSE—Frequently a horse or mare embodied the spirit presiding over and residing in cornfields—to guard them from harm and assure the success of the crop. It was known as the "Corn Horse." The ancient Romans annually sacrificed a horse representing the corn spirit on important religious occasions.

THE UNICORN—The Unicorn is a mythological animal with the head, neck and body of a horse, the legs of a stag, the tail of a lion and with a long, twisted single horn protruding from its forehead. The Unicorn's horn was supposed to effect cures. The Unicorn is famous in heraldry as a supporter of the royal arms of Britain.

THE HIPPOGRIFF—The Hippogriff is a mythological winged animal, its forehand resembling a griffin, its barrel and hindquarters those of a horse. The Hippogriff symbolized love and transported heroes through the air.
PEGASUS—Pegasus is a mythological, white, winged horse, gifted with extraordinary speed and immortality. He carried Apollo and the Muses—and some favored and unfortunate mortal heroes—swiftly through the air. He is alleged to have sprung from the goddess Medusa when she was beheaded. Pegasus symbolizes poetic inspiration.

THE CENTAUR—The Centaur is a mythological half man, half horse— a human body, to the waist, replacing the head and neck of the horse. The Centaur symbolized the destructive and uncontrollable forces of nature and were prominent among the guardians of Hell. There were, however, some beneficial Centaurs (Chiron and Phalus)—and female Centaurs.

SAGITTARIUS—The constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) is a centaur. Mythology says that this constellation is Chiron, the "Divine Beast," placed in the sky among the stars after being put to death by Jupiter.

THE FUNERAL HORSE-Probably is a holdover from the custom of killing a dead warrior's horse and burying the horse with him. In the United States and England today it is the custom, in military funerals, to have the deceased officer's favorite charger, bridled and saddled and draped in black net and with the officer's boots reversed in the stirrups, led behind the coffin (which is on a caisson) to the grave.

In many ancient societies the favorite horses of men of noble birth —and frequently a mare and foal—were, with appropriate ceremony, slain and buried with them.

The American Comanche Indians killed, and buried with them, the horses of their dead comrades—so that they would have them to ride in the "happy hunting ground."

It was the custom of many ancient tribes to cut off the manes and tails of their horses as a symbol of mourning a departed prominent member.

There is the story of a superstitious old Irish woman who replied to a remonstrance at the killing of her dead husband's favorite horse, "D'ye think for a moment I'd let me man go on foot to the next world?"

SACRIFICE—Through the ages the horse, especially the white horse, has been considered by many peoples the most acceptable sacrifice to pagan gods—with the possible exception of human beings—for which horses (especially mares) were frequently substituted. In Plutarch's Lives a young mare is sacrificed in place of a virgin, to insure success in a critical battle.

The ancient Greeks, Persians, Turks, Scandinavians and Teutons practised the sacrifice of horses as the most likely to gain their gods' favors.
The ancient Greeks annually sacrificed a horse to Mars—and the ancient Persians sacrificed a white horse every month to Cyrus.

Both the Persians and American Indians sacrificed horses before committing their warriors to the crossing of a dangerous stream, so that the river's spirit might be friendly.

PATRON SAINT—The Patron Saint of horsemen is St. George; also associated with horses, however, were St. Stephen and St. Anthony.

THE PATRON DEITIES—The mythological gods associated with horses include: Neptune, Minerva, Hippona and Mars.

THE SUICIDE HORSE—There is a legend of recent vintage alleging that a horse named "Major"—in upstate New York—twice tried to commit suicide. First, he tried to jump off a railroad trestle 15 feet to the creek below; he caught his hind leg in the trestle and was rescued. A few days later he was found in his stall with his halter twisted around his neck and a blood vessel in his neck ruptured; he was "rescued," treated by a veterinarian and recovered.

THE SACRED NAILS-It is alleged that the Queen Mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, prayed for and miraculously recovered the sacred nails of the Holy Cross. These, on advice of the Bishop of Jerusalem, she had made into bridle rings and attached to an especially beautiful bridle which she presented to her son, the Emperor. He decreed that the day of the revelation of the sacred nails should be honored by all as Holy Cross Day.

THE HOUYHNHNMS-The Houyhnhnms are a fabled race of horses endowed with reason, speech and noble qualities, which ruled the brutish human Yahoos—related by Swift in his Gulliver’s Travels.

HORSE OF HIGH DEGREE—In ancient mythology it was the common practice for the gods to indicate their will to mankind through the medium of the horse—resulting in the horse being an object of considerable esteem and veneration. Perhaps, thus influenced, the Roman Emperor, Caligula, spoke of raising his horse, Incitatus, to be a consul with a view to complimenting the Gauls and Britons (then subjects of the Roman Emperor) since their people held the horse in such high regard and honor.

KING BY A NEIGH-There is a legend that, some 500 years before Christ, the Persians agreed to select as their king the contestant whose horse—mounted at a prescribed meeting place—was first to neigh. The contest and the crown were won by Darius, through a clever stratagem. He brought a mare to his horse at the specified assembly place the night before; the next day, his horse neighed almost immediately on reaching the assembly area.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...