The Mythical Unicorn...
The Unicorn is a mythical creature and the name comes from the Latin unus meaning ‘one’ and comu meaning ‘horn’. The modern western image of a Unicorn is that of a white horse differing only in the single horn on its forehead. The traditional western Unicorn has a billy-goat beard, a lion’s tail and cloven hooves. The only beast that does not appear to have been conceived out of human fears is the Unicorn; going back to the earliest references the Unicorn is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, mysteriously beautiful, and has magical powers that only evil should fear.
Tales of Unicorns have fascinated generations for thousands of years; the first known western written account is attributed to a Greek man named Ctesia in the 4th century BC who was travelling through Persia (now Iran), and had heard tales from travellers about the incredible creatures in India. He wrote of “wild asses as large as horses”, that “had white bodies and dark blue eyes” with a “large horn on the forehead”. His description suggested that the Unicorn had the head of a deer, the body of a horse and the tail of a lion. He also documented that the Unicorn’s head was purple; this may have been the first documented attempt to link the Unicorn to royalty, as purple was such a rare and hard to obtain colour that only royalty could afford to wear it.
The chances are that Ctesia never saw the Unicorn himself, and his description was purely based on the evidence given to him by the travellers he met. Ctesias most likely combined stories of many creatures, including the Indian rhinoceros, to create the Unicorn. During that era it was common place for stories to travel thousands of miles by messenger, and as Artistotle argued, when the tale made its way to him, was this single-horned, silvery being any more absurd to imagine than the description of a giraffe or an elephant?
Ctesia also documented accounts of people grinding down the horn of a Unicorn to make a powerful elixir; which added to the belief that the Unicorn had mythical powers. Added to this the Unicorn started to represent strong symbolism too. Christians of the day adopted the Unicorn as a symbol of Christ. It was widely believed that only a pure maiden could find and approach a Unicorn and therefore Mary, the Virgin Mother, was often depicted by artists with a Unicorn. Hence it became a symbol of Christ himself in allegory.
During this time the Unicorn was often part of heraldry and included in many coat of arms. The French used the combination of the Unicorn and the iris as symbols of nobility and loyalty. The English used the rose and Unicorn to stand for strength, constancy and immortality. When England, Scotland and Wales consolidated into the United Kingdom many Coats of Arms then included the lion of England with the Unicorn of Scotland. In the 15th century a series of 6 tapestries were woven in Brussels that depicted the Unicorn being captured with the lure of virgin maidens. These tapestries, The Lady and the Unicorn, were created as a wedding present to a noble and today reside in the Cluny Museum in Paris. Another famous series, The Hunt of the Unicorn, is comprised of 7 tapestries that are at the Cloisters Museum in New York.
While the Unicorn appears in the Old Testament, many writers continue to debate whether it inhabited the Garden of Eden, there are also those who question its inclusion in the Bible. An error in translation when a Hebrew script was rendered into Greek added to the allure of the creature now known as the Unicorn. The wild ox, which is now extinct was described by some as having one horn, this was translated into Greek as ‘monokeros’. When this was translated into Latin it became ‘unicornos’, and then ‘Unicorn’ when it was translated into English. 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?"
There is a theory that the Unicorns perished in the great flood; the legend goes that they were too slow in making it to the Ark, or they demanded so much time and attention when they got there that Noah had to leave them behind. Another theory is that they were able to swim behind the ark and so survived that catastrophe to become the icon seen in the many tapestries of Europe. For many people, the mere mention of the Unicorn in the Bible was proof of its existence. The theory that they were able to swim behind the Ark gave birth to the legend that they turned into the narwhal, a creature that in the past was hunted to near extinction for its horn.
The theory is that the Unicorn was invented to explain the appearance of a narwhal tooth. The narwhal is a small whale of the most northern seas. The male grows a single tusk that can be up to 10 feet in length and twists in a spiral. It is easy to imagine that the people of the north would trade these to travelers for great amounts of money or goods and would have made up stories to enhance their worth to gullible tourists, which is a practice that exists today in exotic places. The Vikings of Norway were known to trade in narwhal horn and kept the secret of where they came from for over 300 years, from the Middle Ages through to the 17th century. During this time the horn of the Unicorn became extremely valuable as it was thought to cure any disease or ailment as well as neutralizing all poisons, and purifying water.
It was also thought that since the Unicorn was a symbol of purity, and only a virgin could touch them, the horn would prove the virginity of a noble bride. In France the custom was to carry a horn, or a cup made with Unicorn horn, around the table and to touch all the food and drink to test it for poison. This ceremony continued at the court of the King until as late as 1789. There are written accounts of great amounts of money being spent on powdered Unicorn horn. So prized was the fabled horn of the Unicorn that Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century paid £10,000 for one, equivalent to the cost of an entire castle; it is still in the royal treasury today. The royal scepter in England is made from the rare tusk. In Japan, two crossed narwhal teeth adorn the entrance to the Korninkaku Palace. In Denmark multiple teeth comprise the frame of the Danish throne.
Unicorns were very fast and powerful runners, even swifter than a horse, and were fierce fighters. Aristotle was fond of the Unicorn myth and may have been responsible for it becoming popular in the Greco-Roman pantheon of mythical beings.
In the Orient the Unicorn, usually referred to as a Ki-lin or Chi-Lin, is considered the bringer of good fortune and a prophet of great things to come. A Ki-Lin would appear at the time of the birth of great men and wise emperors. One legend relates the appearance of a Ki-Lin at the birth of Confucius and that it carried a piece of imperial jade in its mouth, with the prophecy of the child's greatness written on it. The Ki-Lin has been a foundation of Chinese mythology from as early as 2700BC and is thought to be the first manifestation of the Unicorn myth. He was one of the “four auspicious animals” that included the dragon, the phoenix and the tortoise. He was believed to live to a thousand years old and therefore embodied great wisdom and knowledge. His bray was said to be exceptionally beautiful and likened to the sound of harmonious bells. His gentleness was so extreme that he would lift his feet very high to avoid stepping on any living creature. He was very strong, a leader among the animals yet he lived alone, and it was thought to be impossible to catch him. This Unicorn did not resemble the European Unicorn; he was more of a cross between a lion and dragon, with his single horn shorter and facing backwards instead of the rapier like horn jutting forward from the brow.
What's On...
LIVE MUSIC - 21st JAN
The Chain
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 4th FEB
Goode Bagge Band
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 25th FEB
Straight 6
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 3rd MAR
Bullshed
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 17th MAR
Big Blue
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 31st MAR
Archive
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 21st JAN
The Chain
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 4th FEB
Goode Bagge Band
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 25th FEB
Straight 6
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 3rd MAR
Bullshed
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 17th MAR
Big Blue
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.
LIVE MUSIC - 31st MAR
Archive
Band starts at 9pm. Free Entry.