Olifant
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Olifant is an alternate spelling of the word elephant. A similar spelling, oliphaunt, is used in the Lord of the Rings story to describe a sort of giant, monstrous elephant creature.
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Olifant_or_Hunting_horn_in_Ivory_Fourteenth_Century_From_an_Original_existing_in_England.png
Olifant, or Hunting-horn, in Ivory (Fourteenth Century).--From an Original existing in England.
Olifant is also the name of Roland's legendary trumpet or horn (probably of ivory) in The Song of Roland. Roland fails to call for help at the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 until it is too late for him and his comrades.
The Karlamagnus Saga elaborates (V. c.XIV) that Roland's Olifant was a unicorn's horn, hunted in India.
Bibliography
- The Song of Roland (Oxford text,1972,Trans Douglas David Roy Owen, George Allen and Unwin, ISBN 0048410039