A harness is a frame with buckles and straps that allows you to secure, hold, or move someone or something.
To review the etymology of harness , we must go back to the Norse, where we find the word herrnest . This term is formed from herr (which can be translated as “army” ) and nest (which refers to “travel provisions” ).
Herrnest came into French as harnais , which is the closest etymological antecedent of harness . The concept has several meanings in our language , recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary.
The harness as a safety and transportation element
A harness is called a frame that, equipped with buckles and straps , is placed on the body to secure, move or hold someone or something . Harnesses are used in different areas.
In sports and recreational activities such as rafting , kitesurfing , caving and mountaineering , for example, a harness is used. This can be a waist harness (which has a single anchor point), full harness or combination harness .
According to specialists, the waist harness minimizes the risk of injury since, due to the area of the body where traction is performed in a fall, it contributes to the elimination of a percentage of the kinetic energy. The full harness, on the other hand, can cause whiplash if the person falls upside down, although it is still used in some cases.
Cavalry garrison
On the other hand, a cavalry garrison is called harness. These are, therefore, the straps and decorations that allow a horse to be ridden or that are used for the horse to pull a carriage.
The characteristics of the harnesses changed over time . They emerged around the 4th century BC , when rigid yokes were created. Then they switched to a strap harness that served the same purpose although distributed the weight of the load better.
The set of straps and decorations of a horse is called a harness.
The harness as armor
Another meaning of harness that the RAE includes refers to a set of defensive elements that are joined together and secured by buckles and straps. A harness, in this framework, is armor .
A harness or armor can be said to be a defensive weapon . This type of clothing provides protection to different areas of the body, minimizing injuries and wounds from enemy attacks.
Throughout history , there have been multiple types of harnesses. It is common to remember the metal harnesses that were used in the Middle Ages , although armor could also be made from wood, leather, animal bones or other materials.
Many times the notion of harness refers specifically to white armor , full armor or plate armor . Used in the last stretch of the Middle Ages, it consisted of pieces of iron or steel linked with rivets and straps.
A Catalan municipality
Arnés , finally, is the name of a municipality that is part of the province of Tarragona , in the autonomous community of Catalonia ( Spain ). It integrates the Tierra Alta region and is located on the border with the community in Aragón .
The 17th century baroque church built on the remains of a Gothic temple and the town hall building erected in the 16th century are some of the main points of interest in Arnés .