On top of the dome of the Amelander lighthouse is a unicorn, a mythical figure in the shape of a horse with a twisted horn on its head. The unicorn is a mythical animal that appears in heraldry and stories and is a constellation. The animal symbolizes, among other things, bravery and purity, fighting spirit and virginity. The unicorn became very famous through the Harry Potter books.
Quadruped with a horn on the head
- Unicorn: horse or donkey
- Mythical creature
- Heraldry
- Phallus
- Symbol
- Constellation
Unicorn: horse or donkey
The unicorn is a horse or a donkey, but with a horn on its forehead. The image of the unicorn is very old and appears in literature in the twenty-first century. The unicorn is found in Mesopotamian works of art and appears in Indian and Chinese myths.
Mythical creature
The Greeks knew the animal and so the Romans also became more familiar with it. The unicorn was described as a fierce animal that could not be hunted by hunters. Only with the help of a virgin could they come to grips with it. Nowadays, the unicorn is mainly known from the books about Harry Potter.
Source: Weapon
Heraldry
We also know the unicorn from heraldry. It appears on family coats of arms and shields of cities and municipalities. For example, the symbol of the horse with the horn appears in the coat of arms of the Frisian Menaldumadeel. In heraldry it symbolizes bravery and fighting spirit . It is not entirely clear how the unicorn ended up in the Menaldemadeel coat of arms. It is thought to be an allegory to the marriage of Grietman Van Heerma to his wife Luts. Tsjerk van Heerma passed for a fierce man. According to legend, only a virgin can tame the unicorn and that virgin must have been Luts.
Phallus
In art we encounter the unicorn with its horn in the lap of a young woman. The horn symbolizes a phallus. The horn itself is said to have medicinal properties, just like those attributed to ground rhino horn. The dust scraped from the horn is said to help with various ailments and ailments and support human body processes. It would help with:
- poisonings;
- cramps;
- stimulating the sex drive;
- epilepsy;
- leprosy.
Full moon and the unicorn – Photo Ben de Boer / Source: Ameland Press Agency
Symbol
The symbol unicorn has many meanings:
- fighting spirit;
- bravery;
- chastity;
- virginity;
- purity;
- Jesus.
Constellation
There is a constellation named after the unicorn. The constellation is also called Monoceros , it is a faint group of stars that you can hardly see among the bright constellations and nearby stars: constellation Orion and the stars
27-1-2013 – Photo Ben de Boer / Source: Press Agency AmelandProcyon and Sirius.
Ameland
On top of the old lighthouse dome stands a unicorn, bravely pointing its horn upwards. It’s a weather vane.
The old dome now forms the roof of the entrance to the new Maritime Museum on the Oranjeweg in Hollum on Ameland; the lighthouse got a new dome. There will be a full moon on January 27, 2013. The moon shines behind the unicorn and one moment it seems as if the mythical animal is galloping over the moon and the next it is as if it has taken the moon on its horn.
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