Unicorn
A unicorn is a legendary creature often depicted as horse-like or goat-like, characterized by a spiraled horn on its forehead. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, including Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Indian mythologies, with descriptions appearing as early as the Bronze Age. Unicorns are frequently associated with themes of purity, healing, and infinite love, and many tales attribute magical properties to them, particularly their horns, which are said to possess healing abilities. Historical accounts, such as those by Greek historian Ctesias and Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, contributed to the mythical status of the unicorn, often conflating real animals like rhinoceroses with fantastical descriptions.
In medieval Europe, the unicorn became a significant symbol in religious texts and folklore, representing chaste love and fidelity, as well as having connections to Jesus Christ's capture. The pursuit of unicorn horns for their supposed magical properties led to hoaxes and misconceptions about the creature's existence. Today, unicorns continue to capture the imagination, featuring prominently in modern literature and film, where they are portrayed as gentle and enchanting beings. Overall, the unicorn has evolved from ancient myth to a beloved symbol in contemporary culture, embodying both magic and innocence.
Subject Terms
Unicorn
A unicorn is a mythical creature described as horse-like or goat-like in appearance with a pointed, spiralled horn protruding from its head. Legends of unicorns date back to the Bronze Age and appear in ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Indian mythology. Beasts resembling unicorns also are described in the Bible and Greek allegorical tales. Unicorns often feature in folklore and fantasy stories and have come to symbolize ideas such as purity and infinite love. In many tales, unicorns possess magical powers and their horns have special healing abilities. Many scholars believe the unicorn myth evolved from a series of misunderstandings throughout history. Historians believe unicorn sightings were actually just people mistaking rhinoceroses and one-horned antelopes for mystical creatures. Despite this, the mythical unicorn appears in a number of modern books and films. Unicorn appearances can be found in Lewis Carroll's renowned novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and in the successful Harry Potter book franchise and its film adaptations.
History
Imagery resembling unicorns dates back to 2500 B.C. The Indus Valley Civilization used images of one-horned beasts on their stone seals, although scholars believe the animal depicted was actually an extinct form of African cattle. Written documents describing the creature did not exist for many centuries. Greek historian Ctesias of Cnidus provided one of the earliest descriptions of a unicorn-like creature in 398 B.C. Ctesias wrote of his travels through the kingdom of Persia and the tales he heard from the people he encountered. They described a wild creature as big as a horse with a white body, red head, and dark blue eyes. These animals had large horns sprouting from their foreheads that were more than a foot and a half in length. The horns themselves were white at the base, black in the middle, and deep red at the tip. According to Ctesias's chronicles, drinking from the horns of these creatures healed any ailments. The creatures were also said to be incredibly fast and powerful as well as capable of killing many men and horses. Modern historians later accused Ctesias's accounts of piecing together details about separate beasts, such as the Indian rhinoceros. Regardless of the validity of the tales, word of the unicorn eventually spread across ancient Greece.
Another early account of the legendary unicorn was included in Natural History, an encyclopedia by Roman naturalist and historian Pliny the Elder. Pliny described the unicorn as an elusive creature with the body of a horse, head of a stag, feet of an elephant, tail of a boar, and a three-foot-long black horn projecting from its forehead. Pliny's unicorn was the fiercest of animals with a cry that was a deep bellow. The Romans considered Pliny's account the truth for more than 1,600 years, but historians later labeled much of Natural History as highly improbable. Nonetheless, tales of the unicorn had already made their way into other stories and cultures.
Mythology and Symbolism
The unicorn came to take on religious symbolism with the emergence of the Hebrew Bible. Some versions of the Bible translated the word re'em as "unicorn." Although many texts now use the term oryx or wild ox instead of unicorn, some versions of the Bible include mention of a horned creature with great strength.
Medieval scholars popularized the myth that unicorns were elusive, not capable of being caught by any man or beast. Seventh-century Catholic scholar Isidore of Seville detailed a unicorn capable of taking down elephants and eluding human weapons. Seville also added another element to the unicorn's story that went on to permeate a great deal of unicorn mythology: the creatures can only be captured by a virgin woman. Many medieval bestiaries, which were allegorical tales that used various real and imagined beasts as religious symbols, featured images of virgin women luring unicorns to lie on their chests only to then allow hunters to kill and capture the beasts. Unicorns, like several other animals in bestiaries, symbolized Jesus Christ's capture and death.
The unicorn went on to feature prominently in European folklore. The creature came to symbolize romantic ideals such as chaste love and fidelity. As the concept of courtly love became more popular throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries, authors often used the unicorn as a symbol of purity and nobility. This era in Europe was also marked by a unicorn craze. Wealthy Europeans, usually royalty, sought unicorn horns for personal use. These horns fetched large sums and were said to protect people from harmful toxins if ground up and consumed. The horns were also used as ceremonial cups and thought capable of neutralizing poisons in a drink. The King of Denmark's throne was constructed out of what was believed to be unicorn horns, although historians would identify the true source as narwhal (a type of marine animal) tusks.
Continued Use
Over the next few centuries, many cultures' symbolic relationships with the unicorn evolved to represent a variety of omens, from the birth of a royal baby to the imminent death of the person who spots the creature. Storytellers then began using the unicorn's mythology for fictional purposes. Popular novelists incorporated the unicorn myth into their fantasy stories. Unicorn legends also led to the emergence of unicorn evidence hunters, producing a number of hoaxes over the years. One notable trick played on the public involved the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In the 1980s, the circus managed to fuse together two horns of a white goat and presented it to audiences as a unicorn. The modern era soon viewed unicorns as gentle and magical creatures of fiction.
Bibliography
Hahn, Daniel. "Origin of the Specious." Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 2 Jan. 2009. Web. 13 Feb 2016. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/03/natural-history-unicorns-chris-lavers
Lavers, Chris. The Natural History of Unicorns. New York: HarperCollins: 2009. Print.
Sharples, Tiffany. "A Brief History of the Unicorn." Time. Time Inc. 12 June 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1814227,00.html
Simon, Matt. "Fantastically Wrong: The Weird, Kinda Perverted History of the Unicorn." Wired. Condé Nast. 4 Feb. 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. http://www.wired.com/2015/02/fantastically-wrong-unicorn/
"The Unicorn and Its Mythology: Horn of Plenty." Economist. The Economist Newspaper Limited. 15 June 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21579429-cloisters-marks-its-75th-anniversary-celebration-unicorn-horn-plenty