HORN, English hero of romance. King Horn is a heroic poem or gest of 1,546 lines dating from the 13th century. Murry (or Allof), king of Sudenne (Surrey and Sussex?), is slain by Saracen pirates who turn his son Horn adrift with 12 other children. The boat drifts to Westernesse (Cornwall?), where the children are received by King Aylmer (Aethelmaer). Presently Horn is denounced by one of his companions as the lover of the king's daughter, Rymenhild (Rimel), and is banished, taking with him a ring, the gift of his bride and a talisman against danger. In Ireland he serves for seven years, and slays in battle the Saracens who had killed his father. Learning that Rymenhild is to be married against her will to King Mody, he returns to Westernesse disguised as a palmer, and makes himself known to the bride by dropping the ring into the cup she offers him, with the words "Drink to Horn of Horn." He then reconquers his father's kingdom and marries Rymenhild. The story of Horn resembles the legend of Havelok the Dane, and Richard of Ely followed the Horn tradition in the 12th century De gestis Here wardi Saxonis.
King Horn was re-edited for the Early English Text Soc. by G. H. McKnight in 1901.