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The Magic of the Unicorn
The Unicorn has long been
a symbol of purity, hope, love, and majesty, and its legend has been around for centuries! From references in Aristotle to
Shakespeare, to the Chinese Ki'lin, unicorns have long been drawn, written, and spoken about. For me, the beauty of the unicorn
isn't so much in the creature itself as it is in the magic of the legends surrounding it. With unicorns comes a world and
a life far different from our own - a world in which anything is possible - where your hopes and wishes can come true. |
The Legend of the Unicorn
In
China, around 2800 BC, the Emperor Fu Hsi wrote of seeing a "k'i-lin" - he saw the symbols for "k'i-lin" on the coat of the
animal and thought those symbols were a written language, thus giving credit to this animal for the birth of the Chinese written
language.
The sighting of a K'i-lin was a considered a good omen, and often signified the birth of a good ruler.
 Other times, it appeared to give
a warning to men. A scouting party for Genghis Khan reported seeing a Chio-tuan, a type of K'i-lin, that warned the party
to stop the war, and that 'moderation will give boundless pleasure'. Upon receiving the report, the Mongol stopped his battle
plans.
Unicorns were reported in India as well. The Greek Ctesias wrote of seeing a 'wild ass' there, which was as
large as a horse. He said that the horn of the unicorn was about a foot and a half long, and three colored, with the base
being white, the middle black, and the top red.
The unicorn is mentioned in the Bible in several verses. The Palm
Sunday tract in the Roman Catholic missal reads, 'Deliver me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of unicorns'.
The Search for the Unicorn
The search for the unicorn, and proof of its existance, dates back almost as
far as the legends which surround it. Ctesias spoke of the unicorn in the court of Darius II, the King of Persia in 416 BC.
Chinese writings date back to 2800 BC. The men of the ancient world believed in the existance of the unicorn, so the object
of their searching was to find it, not to prove it existed. It wasn't until later in history that man began to doubt the unicorn's
physical existance.
The Horn of the Unicorn
The horn of the unicorn, or alicorn, was very valuable during
medieval times and has been sought after for centuries. The horn was believed to be able to cure many illnesses and neutralize
poison. 
During these
times though, many people could not afford real alicorns and rumors circulated that many horns were actually fakes. In fact,
merchants of the time used the horn of the narwhal as a common substitute for that of the unicorn. Since people were so concerned
over the authenticity of their alicorns, many scientists came up with tests to tell whether the alicorn was a real horn or
a counterfeit.
David De Pomis wrote, 'There is very little of the true horn to be found, most of that which is sold
as such being either stag's horn, or elephant's tusk. A true test by which one may know the genuine horn from the false: Place
the horn in a vessel of any sort of material you like, and with it three or four large and live scorpions, keeping the vessel
covered. If you find four hours later that the scorpions are dead or almost lifeless, the horn is a good one, and there is
not enough money in the world to pay for it'.
There were other tests like:
- The true horn, when thrown into water, sends up little bubbles. The water seems to boil, though cold,
and one can hear the boiling.
- The true horn gives out a sweet odor when burned.
- Poisonous plants and animals, when brought near the true horn, burst and die.
- The true horn sweats in the presence of poison.
- The true horn is always striated, is extremely hard, very heavy, the color of boxwood, and able to
save the life of a pigeon poisoned with arsenic.
- Enclose a spider in a circle drawn on the floor with an alicorn. If the horn is true the spider will
not be able to cross outside of the circle and will starve to death inside it.
All the
information above came from The Home of the Unicorns and the information on the Unicorn's Horn came from The Unicorn's Horn.
Stories of Unicorns
In addition to all this information and my love for Unicorns and things magical, I want to
share these 2 stories I found which feature unicorns. Enjoy reading them (they're not long - they're short I swear!) :)
The Fair Maid and the Snow-White Unicorn
This is a beautiful folktale explaining the origin of the many pictures depicting a barefoot and beautiful
maiden, always alongside a stunning unicorn. The story involves romance, a princess, and a prince. Enjoy!
The Unicorn Hermit of India
Of course, me being Indian, I loved finding a story about a Unicorn and India together! This is a
short and lovely tale about a unicorn-boy/man - involves a beautiful Rajah's daughter.
If anyone knows of more stories/legends
of unicorns, please email me and let me know! :)
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