horn of fidelity
Preserved but no longer current.
Morgan le Fay sent a horn to King Arthur, which had the following "virtue" : — No lady could drink out of it who was not "to her husband true"; all others who attempted to drink were sure to spill what it contained. This horn was carried to King Mark, and "his queene with a hundred ladies more'* tried the experiment, but only four managed to "drinke cleane.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “horn of fidelity” mean?
Morgan le Fay sent a horn to King Arthur, which had the following "virtue" : — No lady could drink out of it who was not "to her husband true"; all others who attempted to drink were sure to spill what it contained. This horn was carried to King Mark, and "his queene with a hundred ladies more'* tried the experiment, but only four managed to "drinke cleane.
Is “horn of fidelity” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.