Q81: Where is the sea-horse?

In which album can we see a sea-horse, no walrus but a fish belonging to the species 'hippocampus'?

Without the books to hand and as a guess I would say Red Rackham's Treasure. It could be a symbol on something in another book but can't think what though.

Here's the clue: indeed it's a symbol, or an 'ideogramme'.

My dictionary defines an ideogram as:
"a character symbolizing a thing without indicating the sounds in its name (eg: a numeral, Chinese characters)."

So could I just clarify at least roughly what we're looking for, yamilah?

Your original question did specify that you meant "sea-horse" as in the well-known horse-faced curly-tailed fish with the scientific name Hippocampus. If we're looking for an actual portrayal of one of those in one of the Tintin books - whether in the sea or in a poster or in a pendent or a costume design or whatever - then that's fine; I'll keep looking when I get a minute.

But if we're looking for a chinese symbol meaning sea-horse, or a number refering to the date of the sign of the seahorse in the Mayan astrology system, or a visual reference to a 'well-known' proverb concerning seahorses, then tell us now so I can sit this one out.

No offence meant; just clarity sought! ;-)

Balthazar
clarify at least roughly what we're looking for, yamilah?

You could also say that sea-horse is an 'emblem', or stands for something.

By the way, I don't know about seahorses connected with calendars & proverbs, but please feel free to tell us about them!

yamilah
You could also say that sea-horse is an 'emblem', or stands for something.

I don't mind if the sea-horse stands for something else as long as it is a recognizable sea-horse!

Its been 48 hours, so time for the answer please yamilah.

Ed

being 'hippocampus' it's a white seahorse?
can't say i recall seeing a white sea horse in the Tintin books. Perhaps on a vase or picture in the background of one of the frames? Pointless me doing these,my books are locked away in a storage room and trying to remember each frame of every book is impossible lol

But if we're looking for a chinese symbol meaning sea-horse,

Ok then if it's that Blue Lotus lolol

MrCutts
being 'hippocampus' it's a white seahorse

Actually, I think Hippocampus is the scientific genus name for all seahorses. The second word in each species' scientific name describes the particular species of seahorse, and the species White's seahorse has the full scientific name Hippocampus whitei. (How did we manage without internet search engines?!)

But I can't find any seahorses in Tintin anyway!

Re Chinese symbols, the seahorse was one of the animals designated for particular use in the system of embridered rank badges, or Mandarin Squares, used in the Ming and Quing dynasties. A seahorse design would be worn specifically by a ninth-grade military offficial from the late Ming period through to the end of the Quing Dynasty in 1911, if you're interested!

The Thompsons have what look like Mandarin Squares on the front of their yellow robes in The Blue Lotus, but these portray dragons or serpents. I can't find any robes with a seahorse on in the book.

Ninth-grade military officials in the early Ming period though wore rhinocerous Mandarin Squares, and the seahorse replaced this animal in that particular part of the rank-defining system. So, knowing yamilah, the seahorse we're looking for is probably the rhino in Tintin and the Congo!


Yamilah also mentioned the walrus in her original question, as the walrus's name derives from the old Danish for "sea horse". However Walrus in French (Hergé's language) is "morse". Sadly none of the morse code passages in Tintin spell out the word seahorse, but I expect they could be made to do so if you rearranged all the dots and dashes in the wrong order.

Obviously, both these suggestions are ludicrous, but if either one turns out to make more sense than yamilah's actual answer when it's revealed, can I have a point for out-yamilah-ing yamilah? ;-)