Lamb horns: meaning and symbolism

The rich Russian language surprises not only foreigners who enthusiastically take to decipher our popular expressions. Sometimes we ourselves do not fully understand the meaning of famous phrases. All native speakers of the Russian language know the expression “bend into a ram’s horn”. But many do not understand what this phrase really means. To understand the nuances of the meaning of phraseology, it is worth recalling several features of the behavior of the owner of the ram's horns.

Ram is not only valuable wool

This herbivorous pet, a male sheep, refers to small livestock. An adult grows no more than a meter in height and a half in length. An adult ram weighs about 180 kg. This animal wears heavy, powerful, spiral-horned horns that occupy 10-15% of its total weight. An adult healthy male is able to reach speeds of up to 24 km / h and jump a meter and a half in height.

The farm uses wool and lamb meat. During the mating season, fierce battles occur between males. Run rams collide their foreheads. This is not a sight for the faint of heart, because the force of a head-on collision is very great. Fortunately, nature endowed the rams with a strong skull. The above photo of a ram’s horn perfectly illustrates the fact that this “headgear” is very durable and can cause significant damage to an opponent.

Harmless and timid sheep

Sheep are considered stupid, shy and stubborn animals. Another famous phrase - “look like a ram at a new gate”, quite accurately describes the nature of these animals. The fact is that the herd instinct is highly developed in sheep, they can hardly stand the change of places and practically do not change their habits. Therefore, the passage through the new gate is really a problem for them. These are very uninitiated, submissive, resigned animals.

Meaning of “bend to ram’s horn”

The phraseological dictionary of the Russian language offers the following definition:

By severe oppression to achieve humility, complete submission to someone, to deal with someone rebellious.

To force, suppress, completely subordinate to his will, to force to be obedient and meek. This means that a person, less often a group of people united by common interests (X), through oppression and excessive rigor, achieves complete submission, submission, humility of another person, less often another group of persons (Y). It is usually said with disapproval.

As you can see, the meaning of this expression is consonant with the main features of the behavior of the ram. In addition, the very shape of mutton horns, twisted and strong, without the ability to "unwind", imposes an additional semantic meaning.

Symbols of horns

The ram’s horns or its head is often chosen as a tattoo sketch, using its image in architectural bas-reliefs and illustrations. They decorated their helmets with warriors of ancient peoples. Also, the skull of an animal was often attached to the gates or facades of houses. What do ram horns symbolize?

The ancient peoples believed in many gods, whose appearance was often terrifying. Many of them had animal heads and a human body. For example, the Egyptian gods. If the deity was horned, it means that it patronized both people and animals. They are considered a symbol of fertility and strength, honor and dignity. The most famous Egyptian god with ram's horns is Amon. This is the sun god, one of the most powerful in ancient Egypt. He could appear in the form of a black ram, and the swirling horns on his head were considered the emblem of the abiding power of the sun.

In Judaism, such elements symbolize victory or defeat. If the raised horns appear in the plot, then it means a triumphal victory. And if broken are mentioned - about defeat. In the Christian tradition, two horns are the Old and New Testaments, with which you can defeat sin.

A more modern interpretation of the symbol has been known to us since the time of Shakespeare. The presence of imaginary horns in a man is interpreted as a symbol of treason on the part of his wife, deception and vice. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in the religious traditions of Christianity and Catholicism, the devil appears as a horned creature. Surely many have seen such images. And often he is portrayed with lamb horns.