Unicornucopia: The Little Book of Unicorns

THE ELABORATE THRONE CAN STILL BE SEEN IN THE CASTLE OF ROSENBORG, IN COPENHAGEN.

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A unicorn’s horn

IS CALLED AN

alicorn.

How are unicorns born?

NO ONE CAN ANSWER HOW THESE MYTHICAL CREATURES ARE BORN.

Do they hatch from an egg? Are they born from a female unicorn, much like a foal?

ARE THERE EVEN FEMALE UNICORNS? ALL WE DO KNOW FROM MYTHS AND RETELLINGS IS THAT UNICORNS ARE SOLITARY CREATURES AND CAN LIVE

for hundreds of years.

Were unicorns on Noah’s Ark?

RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THIS QUESTION. WHILE UNICORNS ARE MENTIONED IN SOME VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE, IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT THIS IS BECAUSE OF A

bad translation of ‘wild ox’.

GOD IS ALSO SAID TO HAVE INSTRUCTED NOAH TO TAKE ONE MALE AND ONE FEMALE OF EACH SPECIES IN ORDER TO REPOPULATE THE EARTH

after the Flood.

ONE POSSIBILITY IS THAT UNICORNS DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT, AS UNICORNS ARE TRADITIONALLY BELIEVED TO BE MALE.

Or perhaps they simply missed the boat,

AS SHEL SILVERSTEIN’S SONG ‘THE UNICORN’ WOULD SUGGEST!

EARLY ILLUSTRATIONS of UNICORNS WERE

of large animals

WITH SINGLE HOOVES AND BLACK HORNS. SOME SHOWED THEM AS LARGE RHINOCEROS-LIKE CREATURES, OTHERS AS SMALL AS GOATS – AND SOME

even as tiny as mice!

Traditionally, unicorns have been depicted as male.

DOES THIS MEAN THAT THERE ARE

no female unicorns?

OR THAT PERHAPS FEMALE UNICORNS ARE BETTER AT EVADING CAPTURE? THERE IS

no way to know for sure …

Despite different attributes

ACROSS VARIOUS CULTURES, UNICORNS ARE UNIVERSALLY BELIEVED TO BE

peaceful and kind.

The European unicorn

HAD A HORSE’S BODY, PEARLY WHITE COAT, AND LONG, WHITE, SPIRALLED HORN.

The Asian unicorn

HAD A SCALY, COLOURFUL COAT – OCCASIONALLY COVERED WITH MAGICAL SYMBOLS – A DEER’S BODY, AND A FLESH-COLOURED HORN.

The unicorn in Chinese mythology was called a qilin

(PRONOUNCED CHEE-LIN). THE QILIN HAD A SCALY, DEER-LIKE BODY WITH A YELLOW BELLY AND SHINING, MULTI-COLOURED BACK, AND A DRAGON’S HEAD WITH ONE HORN. ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE QILIN FIRST APPEARED IN THE GARDEN OF THE LEGENDARY YELLOW EMPEROR IN 2697 BCE. THIS BEAST WAS SO GENTLE, IT REFUSED TO EVEN WALK ON GRASS FOR FEAR OF HARMING IT.

THE APPEARANCE OF THIS MILD CREATURE

foretold the birth or death of a wise ruler.

IT IS SAID TO HAVE APPEARED TO THE PREGNANT MOTHER OF CONFUCIUS IN THE 6TH CENTURY BCE AND AGAIN BEFORE

Confucius’ death.

According to Chinese legend,

THE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHER CONFUCIUS WAS THE LAST PERSON EVER TO SEE

an Asian unicorn.

In Japan, the unicorn was called a kirin.

THIS WORD HAS NOW COME TO MEAN

‘giraffe’

IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE, AFTER A 15TH-CENTURY AFRICAN EXPEDITION RETURNED AND OFFERED THE CHINESE EMPEROR

a live giraffe,

CALLING IT A UNICORN, AND THE WORDS BECAME FOREVER INTERLINKED!

THE KIRIN IS A REGAL AND GENTLE ANIMAL, BUT WITH A