Unicornucopia: The Little Book of Unicorns

for kings, queens, and churches,

COSTING THE EQUIVALENT OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OR POUNDS.

CUPS SUPPOSEDLY MADE OF

unicorn horn were highly prized

DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. THESE DRINKING VESSELS WERE BELIEVED TO CURE ILLNESSES AND TO PROTECT THE OWNERS FROM POISONED DRINKS. IN REALITY, THEY WERE PROBABLY MADE OF

rhinoceros or narwhal tusk.

A recipe for

how best to cook unicorn

HAS EVEN BEEN DISCOVERED IN A

medieval cookbook!

THE 14TH-CENTURY COOKBOOK WAS DISCOVERED AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY AND EVEN INCLUDES ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE POOR CREATURE BEING

roasted on a grill!

Scotland’s national animal is the

unicorn.

IT WAS FIRST ADOPTED AS THE NATIONAL ANIMAL BY KING ROBERT WAY BACK IN THE 1300S. THE UNICORN WAS BELIEVED TO BE THE

natural enemy of the lion –

ENGLAND’S NATIONAL SYMBOL. THIS MADE IT THE NATURAL CHOICE OF SYMBOL FOR SCOTLAND, DEFIANT OF ITS NEIGHBOUR.

The Lion and the Unicorn nursery rhyme

‘THE LION AND THE UNICORN WERE FIGHTING FOR THE CROWN,

THE LION BEAT THE UNICORN ALL AROUND THE TOWN.

SOME GAVE THEM WHITE BREAD, AND SOME GAVE THEM BROWN,

SOME GAVE THEM PLUM CAKE AND DRUMMED THEM OUT OF TOWN.’

IN 15TH-CENTURY SCOTLAND,

golden coins

WITH UNICORNS ON THE FLIPSIDE WERE USED. FIRST ISSUED IN 1486 BY KING JAMES III, THEY WERE SIMPLY CALLED

‘unicorns’ and ‘half-unicorns’.

IT IS BELIEVED THAT

Queen Elizabeth I of England

OWNED A UNICORN TUSK, SAID TO BE

worth the price of a castle.

The 16th-century book

HISTORIAE ANIMALIUM, WRITTEN BY SWISS NATURALIST CONRAD GESNER AND

describing all of Earth’s animals,

INCLUDES AN ENTRY FOR THE

unicorn.

Around 2000 BCE,

THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION CREATED THE UNICORN SEAL.

The seals were small stone squares

ONTO WHICH AN IMAGE (USUALLY AN ANIMAL) WOULD BE DRAWN. IT IS BELIEVED THEY WERE USED AS A WAY OF

identifying local traders.

THE UNICORN WAS THE MOST COMMON ANIMAL ON THESE SEALS, WHICH CAN NOW BE SEEN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON.

IN RENAISSANCE VENICE,

unicorn horns

WERE SUPPOSEDLY TOSSED INTO THE CANAL AT THE PALAZZO DUCALE, OR DOGE’S PALACE, TO ENSURE

the water could never be poisoned.

The Throne Chair of Denmark,

BUILT BETWEEN 1662 AND 1671, WAS MADE FROM IVORY, PUREST GOLD, AND, ACCORDING TO LEGEND,

unicorn horn,

AND GUARDED BY THREE LIFE-SIZE SILVER LIONS. TODAY, THE HORN

is known to be narwhal tusk.