The word Oliphant sounds like Elephant – and so it should. An Oliphant is a medieval hunting horn made from an elephant tusk. It was a signaling device used by hunters and heralds, and is mentioned in the medieval epic The Song of Roland. But you Tolkein fans will be shrieking that an Oliphant is also a giant elephant-like creature in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. More specifically, a war elephant used by the Haradrim, a people from the south of Gondor.
I recently chanced upon an Oliphant dating back to the Middle Ages. It’s on display in the glorious medieval place of worship that is York Minster, in the north of England. This beautiful antique item is carved with images of animals. After being crafted, it was presented to the church by a Viking nobleman called Ulf in the year 1036. The Vikings invaded York in 866 CE, renaming it Jorvik – and a close association with Scandinavia persisted for a long time.
The York Oliphant reveals how interconnected the world was in the Middle Ages. Here is an elephant tusk – probably from Africa. The animals carved on it were copied from ancient Syrian and Babylonian art – ancient even in those times. The carvings were probably done in Amalfi in Italy, where craftsmen had easy access to ivory.
How did it get to be in Viking hands? Well, the Vikings got everywhere. They ruled England at times, served the Byzantines in the east, traded in Russia, founded cities in Ireland and were the ancestors of the Normans. The Vikings were worldly people and it wasn’t so unusual that a rich warrior would have such a trinket. Here are some photos of the oliphant that I took a month ago.
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We modern folks seem to underestimate our ancestors’ capabilities and ingenuity. The Norse Vikings especially have been maligned and misunderstood.
Those Vikings certainly got around – some ended up being an elite bodyguard for the Byzantine emperor in far off Constantinople. In the sixth century church of Hagia Sophia, in what’s now Istanbul, you can see some Runic graffiti that a Viking carved on a pillar a thousand years ago. It was pointed out to me by my helpful Turkish guide.
I wonder if that is where J.R.R. Tolkien got his idea from in LOTR.
I suspect it is – he was a scholar of early English history.
Hey, that’s Roland’s oliphant – GIVE IT BACK! 😉