Unicorn

uni·corn - 1) a mythical horselike animal with a single horn growing from the center of the forhead 2) Bible a two- horned, oxlike animal: Deut. 33:17

The unicorn is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn protruding from its forehead, although its appearance and behavior differs, depending on the location. In the west it was usually considered wild and untamable, while in the Orient it was peaceful, meek and thought to be the bringer of good luck. The creature is most likly based on the rhinoceros or the narwhal, (a marine creature with one horn).

In the west it was first mentioned by the Greek historian Ctesias in 398 BC. According to him they lived in India and he described them as 'wild asses which are as big as a horse, or even bigger. Their bodies are white, their heads dark red and their eyes are deep blue. They have a single horn on their forehead which is said to be approximately half-a-meter long.' This description was based on the tales of travelers, and is a mixture of an Indian rhinoceros, the Himalayan antelope, and the wild ass.

The horn itself is white at the base, black in the middle and with a sharp, red tip. It is believed to possess healing abilities. Dust filed from the horn was thought to protect against poison, and many diseases. It could even resurrect the dead. Amongst royalty and nobility in the Middle Ages, it became quite fashionable to own a drinking cup made of the horn of an unicorn, because it was supposed to detect poison.

One medieval story tells of the capture of a unicorn by a maiden. The unicorn was far too fast and wild for the man that was hunting him. He could only be tamed by a maiden who sat lonely underneath a tree in the woods. Attracted by the scent of purity he would lay his head on her lap and she would rock him to sleep.

There have been attempts to give these tales a Christian interpretation. In the first tale the horn symbolizes the cross and the pool the sins of the world. In the second story the maiden was Maria, the unicorn Jesus Christ and the horn a representation of the unity of the Father and the Son. Jesus, embodied in the unicorn, was killed for sake of a sinful world.

This page was last updated on: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 3:48 PM