What is a Unicorn?
Created | Updated Feb 24, 2004
Unicorn, a legendary animal usually depicted as a large horse with a single horn on its forehead. It has also been described as having the hind legs of an antelope, the tail of a lion, and the beard of a goat. Represented in the arts of numerous ancient and medieval Asian and European cultures, the unicorn may have been created from distorted reports of rhinoceroses. Ctesias, a Greek physician, about 400 wrote a classic description of the unicorn, calling it an Indian wild ass with a white body, purple head, and a straight "cubit-long" horn with a white base, black middle, and red tip. He described it as fleet and fierce. The unicorn is also mentioned in the writings of Aristotle, Pliny, and Aelian.
In medieval times the unicorn was endowed with symbolic qualities, both religious and secular. Some early translations of the Hebrew scriptures mentioned the unicorn and as a biblical beast it acquired ecclesiastical associations. It represented chastity and purity. Though it would fight savagely when cornered, it could be tamed by a virgin's touch. Many examples of medieval art including woodcuts, illuminations, and tapestries depict the unicorn, particularly the hunt for it. In some Christian interpretations the unicorn is associated with the Virgin Mary; in others it represents Christ the Redeemer. Unicorns were also popular emblems in medieval heraldry.
During the Middle Ages, and even later, the unicorn's horn, because of its fabled purity, was a popular ingredient for medicines and for alchemical reactions. Potentates and pontiffs obtained reputed unicorn's horn because it was considered strong protection against poison. The horn was also believed to ward off stomach trouble and epilepsy.
Whether a unicorn is real or make-believe doesn't matter. What does matter, is they way we perceive the unicorn and what we believe it to be in our hearts. To many of us, the unicorn is a creature that we aspire to be. We desire to experience the magic, the nobility, the purity, and the beauty that is the unicorn. So, it doesn't exist in our so-called real world or so we are told, we can still admire it and aspire to be it. There are a lot worse things that we can hold up as role models. Anyway, here is my meager tribute to the unicorn, a few of my stories and poems, and some other fun stuff to see http://byjoni.com/blueunicorn.html. Have fun!
Sources: Webster Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary, The Grolier Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia Americana.
In medieval times the unicorn was endowed with symbolic qualities, both religious and secular. Some early translations of the Hebrew scriptures mentioned the unicorn and as a biblical beast it acquired ecclesiastical associations. It represented chastity and purity. Though it would fight savagely when cornered, it could be tamed by a virgin's touch. Many examples of medieval art including woodcuts, illuminations, and tapestries depict the unicorn, particularly the hunt for it. In some Christian interpretations the unicorn is associated with the Virgin Mary; in others it represents Christ the Redeemer. Unicorns were also popular emblems in medieval heraldry.
During the Middle Ages, and even later, the unicorn's horn, because of its fabled purity, was a popular ingredient for medicines and for alchemical reactions. Potentates and pontiffs obtained reputed unicorn's horn because it was considered strong protection against poison. The horn was also believed to ward off stomach trouble and epilepsy.
Whether a unicorn is real or make-believe doesn't matter. What does matter, is they way we perceive the unicorn and what we believe it to be in our hearts. To many of us, the unicorn is a creature that we aspire to be. We desire to experience the magic, the nobility, the purity, and the beauty that is the unicorn. So, it doesn't exist in our so-called real world or so we are told, we can still admire it and aspire to be it. There are a lot worse things that we can hold up as role models. Anyway, here is my meager tribute to the unicorn, a few of my stories and poems, and some other fun stuff to see http://byjoni.com/blueunicorn.html. Have fun!
Sources: Webster Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary, The Grolier Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia Americana.
