UNICORNS
--Research done by--
Scarlet Pirate Voyager
Princess Pink
Lady Marie
--Assisted by--
Lady Tia
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Welcome to Sherwood Forest where Freedom Castle doeth lie.
Amongst the inhabitants of the castle can be found the nearby villagers, commoners, Robin Hood guarding the forest with his merry men along with Merlin the wizard and his assortment of oddities not found anywhere else.
One of these, a favorite to all, is our beloved Unicorns.
First, is a historical rundown of different theories as to the "supposed" origins.
For you see
many do not know that they are unique to Sherwood.
This shall be our secret...
Following that, feast Thy eyes upon some of our favorite friends...
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DEFINITION OF UNICORN-BRITANNICA
LEGEND OF UNICORN
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For many years the Unicorn has captured the hearts of people all over the world. Even today we are fascinated by this enchanting mythological creature. But where did this mysterious being come from?
Is it or was it ever real? And how have stories about the Unicorn changed over the years?
Stories of Unicorns have been told for many years in many places. It is not known for certain where the story of the Unicorn first began, but it has been told all over China, Japan, Arabia, India, and Europe.
One of the oldest Unicorn appearances occurred in China some 5,000 years ago. A Unicorn, in China called the Ki' Lin, is said to have showed Emperor Fu Hsi the key written language. The Unicorn's body was covered in symbols. Fu Hsi traced them into the dirt and they were the beginning of the Chinese written language.
About 4700 years ago another the Ki' Lin is said to have appeared in the garden of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor. He interpreted the appearance of this magical creature as a good omen foretelling a long and peaceful reign for the emperor. The Chinese also believed that the Ki' Lin could predict the birth of a great man. We see an example of this with the story of the great philosopher Confucius.
( http://Unicorncollector.com)
His mother, Ching Tsae, had five old men, calling themselves the colors, the elements and the planets, appear before her. They had with them the Ki' Lin. The Ki'lin placed in Ching Tsae's hand a small piece of jade. On it was and inscription that said
"the son of the essence of water shall succeed to the withering chou and be a throne less king."
Ching Tsae tied a white ribbon around the Ki' Lin's horn and returned home to tell her husband Heih. In the middle of winter, Ching Tsae gave birth to her son, Confucius who became a great teacher and philosopher founding the philosophy today known as Confucianism. When Confucius was an old man the Ki' Lin appeared before him to anounce his death. When Confucius saw the Ki'Lin it was still wearing the white ribbon that his mother had tied to it horn.
In Japan there are two types of Unicorns. The Kirin and the Sin-you. The Kirin is much like the Chinese Ki'lin but the Sin-you resembles a lion with a single horn, and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. The Sin-you would stare into the eyes of a person, and if found guilty would pierce him through the heart with it's horn.
In Arabia, the Unicorn is called the Karkadann and it is a ferocious war-like creature. It can appear in many forms, but the most remarkable one has three legs, six eyes, nine mouths and a golden horn. One story tells of a battle between the Karkadann and the elephant, in which both end up killed and eaten by crocs. The elephant and Karkadann had an immediate hatred for each other from the moment they first saw each other. The Karkadann struck the elephant on its horn, when the elephant reared upon its hind legs. The Karkadann was killed by the elephant, however, because of the elephant's massive weight. Another story tells of two twin brothers who kill the Karkadann to use its fat to help cure their father's arthritis and to get rid of the demons who haunted their sister in her sleep.
One of the earliest accounts that we have of the Unicorn occurred in India. It was made by the Greek physician Ctesias. It appears that he saw a Unicorn while in India in 416 B.C. This is what he wrote:
"There are in India certain wild asses which are as large as horses and even larger. Their bodies are white, their heads dark red, and their eyes dark blue. They have a horn on the forehead which is about a foot and a half in length. The dust filed from this horn is administered in a potion as a protection against deadly drugs. The base of this horn, for some two hands'-breadth above the brow, is pure white; the upper part is sharp and of a vivid crimson; and the remainder, or middle portion, is black. Those who drink out of these horns, made into drinking vessels, are not subject, they say, to convulsions or to the holy disease [epilepsy]. Indeed, they are immune even to poisons if, either before or after swallowing such, they drink wine, water, or anything else from these beakers . . . The animal is exceedingly swift and powerful, so that no creature, neither the horse nor any other, can overtake it."
( http://sacred-texts.com )
There is another story in India, of a man named Vibhandaka who marries a Unicorn. As a young boy Vibhandaka leaves his family to follow a holy man. For years this man was the boy's mentor, but one day, when Vibhandaka is a young adult, he goes out to fetch water and returns to the cave where he lived with his mentor, only to find the old man has died. Vibhandaka is then, for the first time in his life alone. One day, while sitting alone in his cave meditating, an unusual creature arrived. It was a gazelle like creature with a single curved horn in the middle of it's forehead. The Unicorn was a great comfort to him in his loneliness and have a short time the two were married. The Unicorn then gave birth to a child, who as in all respects human, except for a horn in the middle of his forehead. The child was named Rishyashringa. Shortly after his mother died, and with her so did his father. Rishyashringa, then married Shanta the daughter of and evil king, who died shortly after their marriage.
I think this is the most unusual Unicorn stories I have ever heard. It is very different from the ideas that we have about the Unicorn today. The way we think of the Unicorn today, is usually as a white horse with a white horn. More recently however we have also given the Unicorn wings in some cases, and given it different colors.
The ideas we have about the Unicorn today are closer to those of Europe. The European Unicorn is much like a horse, but smaller. It typically stands a little over 3 feet tall and weighs around 100 pounds.
In southern Europe the Unicorns range from nearly black, to a tawny gold color.
In northern Europe however, they are much lighter, usually cream, ivory, or completely white. They are swift, and have good sight. Their eyes are usually dark blue or brown and their horns have a magical healing ability. It is said that the Unicorn can purify water simply by dipping the tip of it horn. (Unicorn Dreams)
There is also a myth that the Unicorn was the first creature to be named by Adam. It is believed that the Unicorn was the second most important creature next to Adam and eve. After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were banished by God. The Unicorn however, was given the option to stay and live a life of paradise in Eden, or to follow Adam and eve out into the harsh world. The Unicorn, out of its love for them chose to take the hard path and follow them out into the world. It is possible that this story is part of why the Unicorn is sometimes considered a symbol for Christ.
Today, in America, the modern Unicorn is much like that of the European Unicorn, only bigger, and more horse like. The Modern American Unicorn looks exactly like horse, with a horn in the middle of its head. Sometimes, however it can have a beard, or cloven hooves, and occasionally a lions tale. Usually however, it is just a snow white horse, with a magical horn. The Unicorn can however come in a variety of other colors, even unnatural colors such as pink, blue, purple, green, etc. The Unicorn has also recently been mixed with the Pegasus, to create what some people call a "pegacorn" or a "unipeg" Though purely mythical, the American Unicorn is still a popular creature in fantasy novels and movies, especially amongst young children.
While it is likely that some form of the Unicorn may have once existed, it is agreed upon by most that it no longer does. There are, however, still people out there who are so captured by the idea of this magical creature that they continue to believe in and even search for proof of the creatures existence.
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In a centuries long case of mistaken identity, we've finally rounded up another suspect. The June 11 discovery of a one-year-old, one-horned deer may put Bambi in the company of the rhinoceros, the narwhal and the oryx as creatures who spawned the enduring myth of the Unicorn. In this case, the single horn on the Italian deer found at a wildlife preserve in the town of Prato, outside of Florence, is attributed to a genetic mutation, but its discoverers aren't ruling out the possibility that other creatures with similar abnormalities could have been spotted throughout history, and contributed to the persistent Unicorn legend. Whatever the present-day implications of this discovery, however, historically speaking, scientific evidence has seldom played a role when it comes to believing in Unicorns.
Before they were ubiquitous in contemporary little girl culture
— and across the intellectual spectrum, from 15th century tapestries now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to transporting Doogie Howser in the latest Harold & Kumar installment —
rumors of Unicorns were passed across the continents, and through the centuries, in something akin to an enormous game of telephone.
Perhaps the best example of this is also the first written reference in Western literature to a single-horned "wild ass." In the 4th century B.C., a Greek doctor named Ctesias traveled through Persia (now Iran), in the service of the Persian king, where he heard many tales from Indian travelers about creatures back home. Later writing them down, he described "wild asses as large as horses" that had white bodies, red heads and dark blue eyes, and "a horn on the forehead, which is about a foot and a half in length." He also said that the horns were multicolored, and that the animals were so swift and powerful that "no creature, neither the horse or any other, could overtake it." Of course, more than likely, Ctesias had never actually seen this creature himself, but was relying on other people's accounts.
As Unicorn expert (yes, they do exist), Odell Shepard explained in The Lore of the Unicorn, Ctesias most likely fused details of multiple creatures, including the Indian rhinoceros, to create this fantastical being. But during that era it was common for stories to travel great distances by word of mouth, and as Artistotle argued, when the tale made its way to him, was this single-horned, silvery being any more absurd to imagine than a giraffe or an elephant?
A translation error, when Hebrew scripture was rendered into Greek, added to the allure of the creature now known as the Unicorn. The wild ox, a now-extinct creature rendered in base relief profiles with one horn, was translated in Greek as monokeros or one-horned.
In the Latin bible of the Christian world that became Unicornos and "Unicorn" by the time the English translators of King James got to work. And so, God impresses His power upon Job by saying, "Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the Unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?" The creature, long believed to have mystical powers
— Ctesias wrote about people grinding its horn down to mix into a restorative elixir —
now took on greater symbolic powers too. The Unicorn both came to represent Christ, and also began to represent purity and chastity. The idea that Unicorns could only be tamed by virgins became a widely held belief, and images of Unicorns resting their heads in chaste womens laps, with not so subtle sexual undertones, began to appear in artwork.
Likely for similar reasons of imagery and historical belief in its purity and healing powers, over time the Unicorn was adopted as a symbol of power and royalty, most notably becoming the symbol of the Scottish crown.
While Unicorn legend evolved in the West, in the Far East, similar creatures developed in mythology.
The Japanese Unicorn, or kirin (after which the beer is named) is a fierce creature able to root out criminals, instantly punishing them by piercing them through the heart with its horn.
In China, the similarly named qilin had quite a different disposition. It harms no creature, and its presence is considered a good omen. Reportedly, a qilin appeared to Confucius' mother before he was born.
In more modern times, people have searched for evidence of Unicorns, or in its absence, fabricated their own.
Most notably was the hulking, alien-looking skeleton fabricated by a German scholar in 1663.
In the 1930s, an arguably mad scientist from Maine manipulated the horns of a calf so that they grew entwined as one, proving, at least in theory that Unicorns could exist — sort of. Not to be outdone, Barnum and Bailey managed to fuse the two horns of a white goat, named Lancelot, to the glee of fans throughout the 1980s.
As to why Unicorns have seldom been spotted, theories vary wildly, but one of the most interesting falls squarely on Noah's shoulders.
Legend holds that when Noah had to pack up the Ark in the face of the flood, the Unicorns were just too slow getting to the boat (either that, or they were so proud that they were taking up more than their fair share of space, and Noah had to kick them off). As the Irish Rovers sing in "The Unicorn": "Close the door because the rain is falling and we just can't wait for no Unicorns."
Of course, there are optimists who think that somehow the Unicorns managed to survive morphing, slowly over the years, into the bizarre but documented flesh-and-blood narwhal, a member of the porpoise and whale family that does indeed have a single, twisty tooth which it uses for mating and to pick holes through the ice. Indeed, perhaps that's what became of the Unicorns that never made it onto the ark. They took to the sea. Through out the centuries, the narwahl's long, corkscrewing tooth was sold as a Unicorn's horn, proof that the most elusive of creatures existed.
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