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unicorn

The first mention of the Unicorn came from Ctesias in 389 BC. He said that the beast was a wild ass that was the same size, or bigger than a horse. They had white bodies, dark red heads and dark blue eyes, with the tell-tale horn on it’s head measuring about a foot and a half. Pliny gave the most descriptive early account. He records it as “a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of it’s body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and single black horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its forehead.” It is almost impossible to hunt; the only method seems to be to take advantage of the unicorn’s great love of purity and innocence. If a young virgin is placed in the unicorn’s way it will approach with reverence, lie down beside her, lay its head down in her lap, and fall asleep. The hunters can then capture the beast.

In the middle ages the unicorn was a symbol of power, magnificence and purity. In ancient China it was the badge of kingship.

Throughout the stories of the unicorn, its horn, the alicorn, is said to have great medicinal powers. In Ctesias’ writings, the dust filed from the horn was supposed to protect against deadly diseases if mixed into a potion. Or, if you drank from the horn, you would be protected against any poison.

Often, a narwhale tusk was sold as an alicorn, and it was often ground up and used for its magical properties. The narwhale is a whale that has a single tusk protruding from its forehead. And some believe that the narwhale, along with the Indian Rhinoceros (which only has one ‘horn’) are creatures that, through travelers’ exaggerations, became the fabled unicorn.

The single horn in the middle of its forehead also symbolizes a spiritual arrow, a sun ray, the sword of god, divine revelation.

In biblical myth the unicorn is said to be extinct because it was thrown out of Noah’s ark and drowned. The unicorn is mentioned in Job, chapter 39 , lines 9-12. The behemoth and leviathan are also found within this book.

In more modern times it is portrayed as a white horse with a single horn.

urisk

Living in the Scottish highlands, the Urisk is a færie that is part-man part-goat. It is said that they live in waterfalls. At times they will help farmers with there tasks. Although they are not evil creatures, they will sometimes terrorize people by following them through lonely places.

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