You are on page 1of 90

Unicorn

The unicorn is a legendary


creature that has been described
since antiquity as a beast with a
single large, pointed, spiraling
horn projecting from its forehead.
:
Unicorn

The gentle and pensive maiden has


the power to tame the unicorn,
fresco by Domenichino, c. 1604–05
(Palazzo Farnese, Rome)[1]

Grouping Mythology

Other name(s) Monocerus


:
17th-century woodcut of a unicorn

In European literature and art, the


unicorn has for the last thousand
years or so been depicted as a
white horse-like or goat-like
animal with a long straight horn
with spiralling grooves, cloven
hooves, and sometimes a goat's
beard. In the Middle Ages and
Renaissance, it was commonly
:
described as an extremely wild
woodland creature, a symbol of
purity and grace, which could be
captured only by a virgin. In
encyclopedias, its horn was
described as having the power to
render poisoned water potable
and to heal sickness. In medieval
and Renaissance times, the tusk
of the narwhal was sometimes
sold as a unicorn horn.

A bovine type of unicorn is


thought by some scholars to have
been depicted in seals of the
:
Bronze Age Indus Valley
civilization, the interpretation
remaining controversial. An
equine form of the unicorn was
mentioned by the ancient Greeks
in accounts of natural history by
various writers, including Ctesias,
Strabo, Pliny the Younger,
Aelian,[2] and Cosmas
Indicopleustes.[3] The Bible also
describes an animal, the re'em,
which some translations render as
unicorn.[2]

The unicorn continues to hold a


:
place in popular culture. It is often
used as a symbol of fantasy or
rarity.[4]

History

Indus stamp seal and modern impression; unicorn and incense burner or manger (?), 2600–1900
BC

Indus Valley civilization

A creature with a single horn,


conventionally called a unicorn, is
the most common image on the
:
soapstone stamp seals of the
Bronze Age Indus Valley
civilization ("IVC"), from the
centuries around 2000 BC. It has
a body more like a cow than a
horse, and a curved horn that
goes forward, then up at the tip.
The mysterious feature depicted
coming down from the front of the
back is usually shown; it may
represent a harness or other
covering. Typically the unicorn
faces a vertical object with at
least two stages; this is variously
described as a "ritual offering
:
stand", an incense burner, or a
manger. The animal is always in
profile on Indus seals, but the
theory that it represents animals
with two horns, one hiding the
other, is disproved by a (much
smaller) number of small
terracotta unicorns, probably toys,
and the profile depictions of bulls,
where both horns are clearly
shown. It is thought that the
unicorn was the symbol of a
powerful "clan or merchant
community", but may also have
had some religious significance.
:
In South Asia the unicorn is only
seen during the IVC period — it
disappears in South Asian art ever
since. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
notes the IVC unicorn to not have
any "direct connection" with later
unicorn motifs observed in other
parts of world; nonetheless it
remains possible that the IVC
unicorn had contributed to later
myths of fantastical one-horned
creatures in West Asia.[5]

Classical antiquity
:
Unicorns are not found in Greek
mythology, but rather in the
accounts of natural history, for
Greek writers of natural history
were convinced of the reality of
unicorns, which they believed
lived in India, a distant and
fabulous realm for them. The
earliest description is from
Ctesias, who in his book Indika
("On India") described them as
wild asses, fleet of foot, having a
horn a cubit and a half (700 mm,
28 inches) in length, and colored
white, red and black.[6] Unicorn
:
meat was said to be too bitter to
eat.[7]

Unicorn in Apadana, Susa, Iran

Ctesias got his information while


living in Persia. Unicorns on a
relief sculpture have been found
at the ancient Persian capital of
Persepolis in Iran.[8] Aristotle must
be following Ctesias when he
mentions two one-horned
:
animals, the oryx (a kind of
antelope) and the so-called
"Indian ass" (ἰνδικὸς
ὄνος).[9][10]Antigonus of
Carystus also wrote about the
one-horned "Indian
ass".[11]Strabo says that in the
Caucasus there were one-horned
horses with stag-like
heads.[12]Pliny the Elder mentions
the oryx and an Indian ox
(perhaps a greater one-horned
rhinoceros) as one-horned
beasts, as well as "a very fierce
animal called the monoceros
:
which has the head of the stag,
the feet of the elephant, and the
tail of the boar, while the rest of
the body is like that of the horse; it
makes a deep lowing noise, and
has a single black horn, which
projects from the middle of its
forehead, two cubits [900 mm, 35
inches] in length."[13] In On the
Nature of Animals (Περὶ Ζῴων
Ἰδιότητος, De natura animalium),
Aelian, quoting Ctesias, adds that
India produces also a one-horned
horse (iii. 41; iv. 52),[14][15] and
says (xvi. 20)[16] that the
:
monoceros (Greek: µονόκερως)
was sometimes called cartazonos
(Greek: καρτάζωνος), which may
be a form of the Arabic karkadann,
meaning "rhinoceros".

Cosmas Indicopleustes, a
merchant of Alexandria who lived
in the 6th century, made a voyage
to India and subsequently wrote
works on cosmography. He gives
a description of a unicorn based
on four brass figures in the palace
of the King of Ethiopia. He states,
from report, that "it is impossible
:
to take this ferocious beast alive;
and that all its strength lies in its
horn. When it finds itself pursued
and in danger of capture, it throws
itself from a precipice, and turns
so aptly in falling, that it receives
all the shock upon the horn, and
so escapes safe and
sound".[17][18]

Middle Ages and


Renaissance
:
 

Wild woman with unicorn, tapestry, c. 1500–1510 (Basel Historical Museum)

Medieval knowledge of the


fabulous beast stemmed from
biblical and ancient sources, and
the creature was variously
represented as a kind of wild ass,
goat, or horse.

The predecessor of the medieval


bestiary, compiled in Late
:
Antiquity and known as
Physiologus (Φυσιολόγος),
popularized an elaborate allegory
in which a unicorn, trapped by a
maiden (representing the Virgin
Mary), stood for the Incarnation.
As soon as the unicorn sees her, it
lays its head on her lap and falls
asleep.[19] This became a basic
emblematic tag that underlies
medieval notions of the unicorn,
justifying its appearance in both
secular and religious art. The
unicorn is often shown hunted,
raising parallels both with
:
vulnerable virgins and sometimes
the Passion of Christ. The myths
refer to a beast with one horn that
can only be tamed by a virgin;
subsequently, some writers
translated this into an allegory for
Christ's relationship with the
Virgin Mary.

The unicorn also figured in courtly


terms: for some 13th-century
French authors such as Thibaut of
Champagne and Richard de
Fournival, the lover is attracted to
his lady as the unicorn is to the
:
virgin. With the rise of humanism,
the unicorn also acquired more
orthodox secular meanings,
emblematic of chaste love and
faithful marriage. It plays this role
in Petrarch's Triumph of Chastity,
and on the reverse of Piero della
Francesca's portrait of Battista
Strozzi, paired with that of her
husband Federico da Montefeltro
(painted c. 1472–74), Bianca's
triumphal car is drawn by a pair of
unicorns.[20]

However, when the unicorn


:
appears in the medieval legend of
Barlaam and Josaphat, ultimately
derived from the life of the
Buddha, it represents death, as
the Golden Legend explains.[21]
Unicorns in religious art largely
disappeared after they were
condemned by Molanus after the
Council of Trent.[22]

The unicorn, tamable only by a


virgin woman, was well
established in medieval lore by
the time Marco Polo described
them as "scarcely smaller than
:
elephants. They have the hair of a
buffalo and feet like an elephant's.
They have a single large black
horn in the middle of the
forehead... They have a head like a
wild boar's… They spend their
time by preference wallowing in
mud and slime. They are very ugly
brutes to look at. They are not at
all such as we describe them
when we relate that they let
themselves be captured by
virgins, but clean contrary to our
notions." It is clear that Marco
Polo was describing a
:
rhinoceros.[23]

Alicorn

The horn itself and the substance


it was made of was called alicorn,
and it was believed that the horn
holds magical and medicinal
properties. The Danish physician
Ole Worm determined in 1638
that the alleged alicorns were the
tusks of narwhals.[24] Such beliefs
were examined wittily and at
length in 1646 by Sir Thomas
Browne in his Pseudodoxia
Epidemica.[25]
:
False alicorn powder, made from
the tusks of narwhals or horns of
various animals, was sold in
Europe for medicinal purposes as
late as 1741.[26] The alicorn was
thought to cure many diseases
and have the ability to detect
poisons, and many physicians
would make "cures" and sell
them. Cups were made from
alicorn for kings and given as a
gift; these were usually made of
ivory or walrus ivory. Entire horns
were very precious in the Middle
Ages and were often really the
:
tusks of narwhals.[27]

Entrapment

The Unicorn is in Captivity, one of The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries, c. 1495–1505, The
Cloisters
:
 

Sight, from the La Dame à la licorne tapestry set, c. 1500 (Musée de Cluny, Paris)

One traditional method of hunting


unicorns involved entrapment by
a virgin.

In one of his notebooks Leonardo


da Vinci wrote:

The unicorn, through its


intemperance and not
:
knowing how to control
itself, for the love it
bears to fair maidens
forgets its ferocity and
wildness; and laying
aside all fear it will go
up to a seated damsel
and go to sleep in her
lap, and thus the
hunters take it.[28]

The famous late Gothic series of


seven tapestry hangings The
Hunt of the Unicorn are a high
:
point in European tapestry
manufacture, combining both
secular and religious themes. The
tapestries now hang in the
Cloisters division of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City. In the series, richly
dressed noblemen, accompanied
by huntsmen and hounds, pursue
a unicorn against mille-fleur
backgrounds or settings of
buildings and gardens. They bring
the animal to bay with the help of
a maiden who traps it with her
charms, appear to kill it, and bring
:
it back to a castle; in the last and
most famous panel, "The Unicorn
in Captivity", the unicorn is shown
alive again and happy, chained to
a pomegranate tree surrounded
by a fence, in a field of flowers.
Scholars conjecture that the red
stains on its flanks are not blood
but rather the juice from
pomegranates, which were a
symbol of fertility. However, the
true meaning of the mysterious
resurrected unicorn in the last
panel is unclear. The series was
woven about 1500 in the Low
:
Countries, probably Brussels or
Liège, for an unknown patron. A
set of six engravings on the same
theme, treated rather differently,
were engraved by the French
artist Jean Duvet in the 1540s.

Another famous set of six


tapestries of Dame à la licorne
("Lady with the unicorn") in the
Musée de Cluny, Paris, were also
woven in the Southern
Netherlands before 1500, and
show the five senses (the
gateways to temptation) and
:
finally Love ("A mon seul desir"
the legend reads), with unicorns
featured in each piece. Facsimiles
of these unicorn tapestries were
woven for permanent display in
Stirling Castle, Scotland, to take
the place of a set recorded in the
castle in a 16th-century
inventory.[29]

A rather rare, late-15th-century,


variant depiction of the hortus
conclusus in religious art
combined the Annunciation to
Mary with the themes of the Hunt
:
of the Unicorn and Virgin and
Unicorn, so popular in secular art.
The unicorn already functioned as
a symbol of the Incarnation and
whether this meaning is intended
in many prima facie secular
depictions can be a difficult
matter of scholarly interpretation.
There is no such ambiguity in the
scenes where the archangel
Gabriel is shown blowing a horn,
as hounds chase the unicorn into
the Virgin's arms, and a little
Christ Child descends on rays of
light from God the Father. The
:
Council of Trent finally banned
this somewhat over-elaborated, if
charming, depiction,[30] partly on
the grounds of realism, as no one
now believed the unicorn to be a
real animal.

Shakespeare scholars describe


unicorns being captured by a
hunter standing in front of a tree,
the unicorn goaded into charging;
the hunter would step aside the
last moment and the unicorn
would embed its horn deeply into
the tree (See annotations[31] of
:
Timon of Athens, Act 4, scene 3, c.
line 341: "wert thou the unicorn,
pride and wrath would confound
thee and make thine own self the
conquest of thy fury".)

Heraldry
In heraldry, a unicorn is often
depicted as a horse with a goat's
cloven hooves and beard, a lion's
tail, and a slender, spiral horn on
its forehead[32] (non-equine
attributes may be replaced with
equine ones, as can be seen from
:
the following gallery). Whether
because it was an emblem of the
Incarnation or of the fearsome
animal passions of raw nature, the
unicorn was not widely used in
early heraldry, but became
popular from the 15th century.[32]
Though sometimes shown
collared and chained, which may
be taken as an indication that it
has been tamed or tempered, it is
more usually shown collared with
a broken chain attached, showing
that it has broken free from its
bondage.
:
Scotland

In heraldry the unicorn is best


known as a symbol of Scotland:
the unicorn was believed to be the
natural enemy of the lion – a
symbol that the English royals had
adopted around a hundred years
before[33] Two unicorns
supported the royal arms of the
King of Scots and Duke of
Rothesay, and since the 1707
union of England and Scotland,
the royal arms of the United
Kingdom have been supported by
:
a unicorn along with an English
lion. Two versions of the royal
arms exist: that used in Scotland
gives more emphasis to the
Scottish elements, placing the
unicorn on the left and giving it a
crown, whereas the version used
in England and elsewhere gives
the English elements more
prominence. John Guillim, in his
book; A Display of Heraldry, has
illustrated the unicorn as a symbol
of power, honor and respect.[34]

Golden coins known as the


:
unicorn and half-unicorn, both
with a unicorn on the obverse,
were used in Scotland in the 15th
and 16th century. In the same
realm, carved unicorns were often
used as finials on the pillars of
Mercat crosses, and denoted that
the settlement was a royal burgh.
Certain noblemen such as the
Earl of Kinnoull were given special
permission to use the unicorn in
their arms, as an augmentation of
honour.[35] The crest for Clan
Cunningham bears a unicorn
head.[36]
:
Gallery

Unicorns as heraldic charges:

Arms of John, King of Hungary


(16th century)
:
 

Arms of the County of Roxburgh,


Scotland

Arms of Saint-Lô, France


:
 

Arms of Líšnice, Czech Republic

Arms of Schwäbisch Gmünd,


Germany
:
 

Arms of Merkinė, Lithuania

Unicorns as supporters:
:
 

Scottish unicorn, flag and shield


carved at Holyrood Palace,
Edinburgh
:
 

Royal arms of King Charles III, as


used in England

Royal arms of King Charles III as


used in Scotland
:
 

Coat of arms of Lithuania as used


by President

Coat of arms of Nova Scotia


:
Queer culture

Pride festival attendee carrying an inflatable unicorn in Washington, D.C.

By the beginning of the 21st


Century, unicorns became a queer
icon, second only to the rainbow
flag, symbolizing
queerness.[37][38] The rainbow
flag, created by American artist
:
Gilbert Baker in 1978 as a joyous
symbol of the diversity of the
queer community, became
prominent during the gay rights
protests of the 1970s and 1980s.
Unicorns, which were intrinsically
linked to rainbows since the
Victorian Era, became symbol of
the queer community.[39]

There is no consensus on how the


unicorn became a gay icon.[40]
Alice Fisher, an editor of Observer
Design magazine, notes that the
values of a unicorn – as rare and
:
magical – have resulted in the
word being used with various
connotations. However, she
argues that the Victorian
association between rainbows
and unicorns has resulted in
unicorns becoming a queer
icon.[39]

When directly asked, queer


people give different answers.
There are compelling stories
about their own close personal
relationship with unicorns.[37]
They often relate to one or more
:
of the following aspects:
uniqueness, magical quality,
elusiveness and gender
fluidity.[41][37][38]

Queer individuals tend to relate to


the unicorn because of their
unique sexual orientation and
gender identity.[41] A New Orleans
journalist, Tracey Anne Duncan,
described her connection to
unicorn when she watched The
Last Unicorn as a child. In the film,
the protagonist believed she was
one of a kind throughout her life.
:
Tracey was able to relate to that
feeling, even though she didn't
really know what "her kind" was
at that time.[37]

The unicorn is an imaginary


animal that lives in a world of
myths and legends.[41] Queer
people, whose existence seems to
blur the lines between societal
norms of masculinity and
femininity, may feel like they don't
fully belong in this world. It
explains their interests in mythical
creatures such as unicorns,
:
mermaids, and fairies.[42][38]

Some argue that the gender


fluidity of the unicorn makes it a
suitable representation of the
LGBT community. In ancient
myths, the unicorn is portrayed as
male, whereas in the modern
times, it is depicted as a female
creature.[39][41]

Similar animals in
religion and myth

Biblical
:
 

The aurochs

Unicorn mosaic on a 1213 church floor in Ravenna

An animal called the re'em


(Hebrew: ‫ )רְ אֵם‬is mentioned in
several places in the Hebrew
Bible, often as a metaphor
:
representing strength. The
allusions to the re'em as a wild,
untamable animal of great
strength and agility, with mighty
horn or horns[43] best fit the
aurochs (Bos primigenius); this
view is further supported by the
Assyrian cognate word rimu,
which is often used as a metaphor
of strength, and is depicted as a
powerful, fierce, wild mountain
bull with large horns.[44] This
animal was often depicted in
ancient Mesopotamian art in
profile, with only one horn
:
visible.[45]

The translators of the Authorized


King James Version of the Bible
(1611) followed the Greek
Septuagint (monokeros) and the
Latin Vulgate (unicornis)[46] and
employed unicorn to translate
re'em, providing a recognizable
animal that was proverbial for its
untamable nature. The American
Standard Version translates this
term "wild ox" in each case.

"God brought them out of


Egypt; he hath as it were the
:
strength of an
unicorn."—Numbers 23:22 (htt
ps://bible.oremus.org/?passage
=Numbers%2023:22&version=
nrsv)
"God brought him forth out of
Egypt; he hath as it were the
strength of an
unicorn."—Numbers 24:8 (http
s://bible.oremus.org/?passage=
Numbers%2024:8&version=nr
sv)
"His glory is like the firstling of
his bullock, and his horns are
like the horns of unicorns: with
:
them he shall push the people
together to the ends of the
earth."—Deuteronomy 33:17 (h
ttps://bible.oremus.org/?passag
e=Deuteronomy%2033:17&ver
sion=nrsv)
"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? Wilt thou trust him,
because his strength is great?
or wilt thou leave thy labour to
him? Wilt thou believe him, that
:
he will bring home thy seed,
and gather it into thy barn?"—
Job 39:9–12 (https://bible.orem
us.org/?passage=Job%2039:9
%E2%80%9312&version=nrsv
)
"Save me from the lion's mouth;
for thou hast heard me from the
horns of unicorns."—Psalms
22:21 (https://bible.oremus.org/
?passage=Psalms%2022:21&v
ersion=nrsv)
"He maketh them [the cedars
of Lebanon] also to skip like a
calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a
:
young unicorn."—Psalms 29:6
(https://bible.oremus.org/?pass
age=Psalms%2029:6&version
=nrsv)
"But my horn shalt thou exalt
like the horn of the unicorn: I
shall be anointed with fresh
oil."—Psalms 92:10 (https://bibl
e.oremus.org/?passage=Psalm
s%2092:10&version=nrsv)
"And the unicorns shall come
down with them, and the
bullocks with their bulls; and
their land shall be soaked with
blood, and their dust made fat
:
with fatness."—Isaiah 34:7 (htt
ps://bible.oremus.org/?passage
=Isaiah%2034:7&version=nrsv
)

The classical Jewish


understanding of the Bible did not
identify the Re'em animal as the
unicorn. However, some rabbis in
the Talmud debate the
proposition that the Tahash
animal (Exodus 25, 26, 35, 36
and 39; Numbers 4; and Ezekiel
16:10) was a domestic, single-
horned kosher creature that
existed in Moses' time, or that it
:
was similar to the keresh animal
described in Marcus Jastrow's
Talmudic dictionary as "a kind of
antelope, unicorn".[47]

Chinese mythology

Pottery unicorn. Northern Wei. Shaanxi History Museum.

The qilin (Chinese: 麒麟), a


creature in Chinese mythology, is
:
sometimes called "the Chinese
unicorn", and some ancient
accounts describe a single horn
as its defining feature. However, it
is more accurately described as a
hybrid animal that looks less
unicorn than chimera, with the
body of a deer, the head of a lion,
green scales and a long
forwardly-curved horn. The
Japanese version (kirin) more
closely resembles the Western
unicorn, even though it is based
on the Chinese qilin. The Quẻ Ly
of Vietnamese myth, similarly
:
sometimes mistranslated
"unicorn" is a symbol of wealth
and prosperity that made its first
appearance during the Duong
Dynasty, about 600 CE, to
Emperor Duong Cao To, after a
military victory which resulted in
his conquest of Tây Nguyên. In
November 2012 the History
Institute of the DPRK Academy of
Social Sciences, as well as the
Korea News Service, reported that
the Kiringul had been found,
which is associated with a kirin
ridden by King Dongmyeong of
:
Goguryeo.[48][49]

Beginning in the Ming Dynasty,


the qilin became associated with
giraffes, after Zheng He's voyage
to East Africa brought a pair of the
long-necked animals and
introduced them at court in
Nanjing as qilin.[50] The
resemblance to the qilin was
noted in the giraffe's ossicones
(bony protrusions from the skull
resembling horns), graceful
movements, and peaceful
demeanor.[51]
:
Shanhaijing (117) also mentioned
Bo-horse (Chinese: 駮⾺; pinyin:
bómǎ), a chimera horse with ox
tail, single horn, white body, and
its sound like person calling. The
creature is lived at Honest-head
Mountain. Guo Pu in his jiangfu
said that Bo-horse able to walk on
water. Another similar creature
also mentioned in Shanhaijing
(80) to live in Mount Winding-
Centre as Bo (Chinese: 駮; pinyin:
bó), but with black tail, tiger's
teeth and claws, and also devour
leopards and tigers.[52]
:
See also
Al-mi'raj (unicorn-like creature
in Islamic mythology)
Bestiary
Elasmotherium (extinct
rhinoceros species known as
"Siberian unicorn")
Invisible Pink Unicorn (a
modern satirical religious
symbol)
*List of horses in mythology
and folklore
List of unicorns
Monoceros (constellation)
:
Monoceros (constellation)
Okapi (real animal once known
as "African unicorn")
Sin-you (mythology)
Winged unicorn

References
1. "Zampieri Domenico, Madonna
e unicorno" (http://catalogo.fon
dazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda.v2.j
sp?tipo_scheda=OA&id=58897
) . Fondazione Federico Zeri,
University of Bologna.
2. Phillips, Catherine Beatrice
(1911). "Unicorn"  (https://en.wi
kisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclo
p%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Unico
:
p%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Unico
rn) . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica.
Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. pp. 581–582.
3. "Cosmas Indicopleustis -
Christiana Topographia (MPG
088 0051 0476) [0500-0600]
Full Text at Documenta
Catholica Omnia" (http://www.d
ocumentacatholicaomnia.eu/04
z/z_0500-0600__Cosmas_Indi
copleustis__Christiana_Topogra
phia_(MPG_088_0051_0476)_
_GM.pdf.html) .
www.documentacatholicaomnia
.eu.
4. Unicorn (https://www.merriam-
:
4. Unicorn (https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/unicorn
) , Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
5. Kenoyer, J.M., catalogue entry
in Aruz, Joan (ed), Art of the
First Cities: The Third
Millennium B.C. from the
Mediterranean to the Indus, p.
404 (quoted) and 390
(terracotta), 2003,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York, N.Y.), google books
(https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=8l9X_3rHFdEC) ;
Metropolitan Museum (https://
www.metmuseum.org/art/colle
ction/search/324062) ,
"Stamp seal and modern
:
"Stamp seal and modern
impression: unicorn and
incense burner (?)" ca. 2600–
1900 B.C.", for harness.
"Iconography of the Indus
Unicorn: Origins and Legacy",
in Connections and
Complexity:New Approaches to
the Archaeology of South Asia,
2013, Left Coast Press,
ISBN 9781598746860, Google
Books (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=ddRmDAAAQBAJ
&dq=Indus+unicorn&pg=PA12
0)
6. Ctesias (390 BC). "45". Indica
(Τα Ἰνδικά) (https://web.archive
.org/web/20120716183321/htt
:
p://www.livius.org/ct-cz/ctesias
/photius_indica.html) .
Archived from the original (http
s://www.livius.org/ct-cz/ctesias
/photius_indica.html) on 2012-
07-16. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
(quoted by Photius)
7. Bhairav, J. Furcifer; Khanna,
Rakesh (2021). Ghosts,
Monsters, and Demons of India.
India: Blaft Publications Pvt.
Ltd. p. 395.
ISBN 9789380636467.
8. Hamilton, John (2010).
Unicorns and Other Magical
Creatures. ABDO Publishing
Company. ISBN 978-
1617842818.
:
1617842818.
9. Aristotle (c.350 BC). "Book 3.
Chapter 2.". On the Parts of
Animals (Περι ζώων µορίων) (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/200
80501140737/http://etext.libra
ry.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/p
arts/) . trans. William Ogle.
Archived from the original (http:
//etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a
/aristotle/parts/) on 2008-05-
01.
10. Aristotle (c.343 BC). "Book 2.
Chapter 1.". History of Animals
(Περί ζώων ιστορίας) (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20070630
051759/http://etext.library.adel
aide.edu.au/a/aristotle/history/
:
aide.edu.au/a/aristotle/history/
) . trans. D'Arcy Wentworth
Thompson. Archived from the
original (http://etext.library.adel
aide.edu.au/a/aristotle/history/
) on 2007-06-30.
11. Antigonus, Compilation of
Marvellous Accounts, 66 (https
://sites.google.com/site/parado
xography/texts/antigonus)
12. Strabo (before 24 AD). "Book
15. Chapter 1. Section 56.".
Geography (https://penelope.u
chicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/
Texts/Strabo/15A3*.html) .
13. Pliny (77 AD). "Book 8, Chapter
31". Natural History (https://ww
:
w.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex
t?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A19
99.02.0137%3Abook%3D8%3
Achapter%3D31) . trans. John
Bostock. Also Book 8, Chapter
30 (https://www.perseus.tufts.e
du/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%
3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Ab
ook%3D8%3Achapter%3D30
) , and Book 11, Chapter 106 (h
ttps://www.perseus.tufts.edu/h
opper/text?doc=Perseus%3Ate
xt%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook
%3D11%3Achapter%3D106) .
14. Aelian (220) [circa]. "Book 3.
Chapter 41.". On the Nature of
Animals (Περὶ Ζῴων Ἰδιότητος,
De natura animalium) (http://w
:
De natura animalium) (http://w
ww.attalus.org/translate/animal
s3.html#41) . trans.
A.F.Scholfield.
15. Aelian (220) [circa]. "Book 4.
Chapter 52.". On the Nature of
Animals (Περὶ Ζῴων Ἰδιότητος,
De natura animalium) (http://w
ww.attalus.org/translate/animal
s4.html#52) . trans.
A.F.Scholfield.
16. Aelian (220) [circa]. "Book 16.
Chapter 20.". On the Nature of
Animals (Περὶ Ζῴων Ἰδιότητος,
De natura animalium) (http://w
ww.attalus.org/translate/animal
s16.html#20) . trans.
A.F.Scholfield.
:
A.F.Scholfield.
17. Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th
century). "Book 11. Chapter 7.".
Christian Topography (http://w
ww.tertullian.org/fathers/cosma
s_11_book11.htm) .
18. Manas: History and Politics,
Indus Valley (https://archive.tod
ay/20120805164810/http://w
ww.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/
History/Ancient/Indus2.html) .
Sscnet.ucla.edu. Retrieved on
2011-03-20.
19. Hall, 160
20. Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, 2002.
Piero della Francesca, pp. 260-
65.
:
21. Hall, 184
22. Hall, 305
23. Brooks, Noah (1898). The
Story of Marco Polo (https://arc
hive.org/details/storyofmarcop
olo00broouoft) (2015
reprint ed.). Palala Press
(originally The Century Co.).
p. 221 (https://archive.org/detai
ls/storyofmarcopolo00broouoft
/page/221) . ISBN 978-
1341338465.
24. Linda S Godfrey (2009).
Mythical creatures. Chelsea
House Publishers. p. 28.
ISBN 978-0-7910-9394-8.
25. Browne, Thomas (1646). "Book
:
25. Browne, Thomas (1646). "Book
3. Chapter 23.". Pseudodoxia
Epidemica (http://penelope.uch
icago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo
323.html) .
26. Willy Ley (1962). Exotic
Zoology (https://archive.org/de
tails/exoticzoologyill0000leyw
) . Viking Press. pp. 20–22 (htt
ps://archive.org/details/exoticz
oologyill0000leyw/page/20) .
OCLC 4049353 (https://www.
worldcat.org/oclc/4049353) .
27. Shepard, Odell (1930). The
Lore of the Unicorn (http://www
.sacred-texts.com/etc/lou/index
.htm) . London, Unwin and
Allen. ISBN 978-1-4375-0853-
:
Allen. ISBN 978-1-4375-0853-
6.
28. "Universal Leonardo: Leonardo
da Vinci online › Young woman
seated in a landscape with a
unicorn" (http://www.universall
eonardo.org/work.php?
id=438) .
www.universalleonardo.org.
29. "Ancient unicorn tapestries
recreated at Stirling Castle" (htt
ps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-sc
otland-tayside-central-332379
47) . BBC News. 23 June
2015. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
30. G Schiller, Iconography of
Christian Art, Vol. I,1971
(English trans from German),
:
(English trans from German),
Lund Humphries, London, pp.
52-4 & figs 126-9, ISBN 0-
85331-270-2, another image (
http://www.sagen.at/fotos/data/
603/medium/Maria_Gail_Hortu
sConclusus_Detail.jpg)
31. The Complete Works of
Shakespeare, Fourth Edition,
David Bevington, pg. 1281;The
Norton Shakespeare, Second
Edition, pg 2310, footnote 9;
The Riverside Shakespeare,
Second Edition, page 1515
32. Friar, Stephen (1987). A New
Dictionary of Heraldry. London:
Alphabooks/A & C Black.
pp. 353–354. ISBN 978-0-
:
pp. 353–354. ISBN 978-0-
906670-44-6.
33. "Why is the Unicorn Scotland's
national animal?" (https://www.
scotsman.com/lifestyle/why-is-t
he-unicorn-scotland-s-national
-animal-1-3953188) . The
Scotsman. 19 November 2015.
Retrieved 14 April 2019.
34. Unicorn Of Scotland – Symbol
of Power (https://www.scottish-
at-heart.com/unicorn-of-scotla
nd.html) [1] (https://in.pinterest
.com/pin/41897557155953721
6/)
35. Nisbet, Alexander (1816). A
System of Heraldry (https://arc
hive.org/stream/systemofherald
:
hive.org/stream/systemofherald
ry01nisbuoft#page/304/mode/
2up) . Edinburgh: William
Blackwood.
36. & tartans (https://books.google.
com/books?id=U5pkxvtxyr8C&
q=clan+cunningham+unicorn)
George Way, Romilly Squire;
HarperCollins, 1995; page 84
"Cunningham CREST A
unicorn's head couped Argent
armed Or MOTTO 'Over fork
over'
37. "How did unicorns get so gay?
An investigation" (https://www.
mic.com/life/how-did-unicorns-
get-so-gay-investigation-2362
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
:
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
2022-08-15.
38. Wareham, Jamie (2018-08-17).
"Unicorns are the gay, LGBTI
and queer icons of our time
(and I'm obsessed)" (https://w
ww.gaystarnews.com/article/evi
dence-unicorns-are-queer-icon
s/) . Gay Star News. Retrieved
2022-08-15.
39. "Why the unicorn has become
the emblem for our times | Alice
Fisher" (https://www.theguardia
n.com/society/2017/oct/15/retu
rn-of-the-unicorn-the-magical-
beast-of-our-times) . the
Guardian. 2017-10-15.
Retrieved 2022-08-15.
:
Retrieved 2022-08-15.
40. "How did unicorns get so gay?
An investigation" (https://www.
mic.com/life/how-did-unicorns-
get-so-gay-investigation-2362
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
2022-08-15.
41. "How Did the Unicorn Become
a Symbol of Queerness?" (https
://www.thewhale.com/gay-unic
orn-symbolism/) . The Whale.
Retrieved 2022-08-15.
42. Iversen, Kristin. "Why
Millennials' Obsession With
Mermaids, Unicorns, And The
Color Pink Matters" (https://ww
w.nylon.com/articles/mermaids
-unicorns-millennial-pink-lgbtq
:
-unicorns-millennial-pink-lgbtq
-queer-culture) . Nylon.
Retrieved 2022-08-15.
43. Job 39:9–12; Psalms 22:21,
29:6; Numbers 23:22, 24:8;
Deuteronomy 33:17; compare
Psalms 112:11
44. Hirsch, Emil G.; Casanowicz, I.
M. "Unicorn" (http://www.jewis
hencyclopedia.com/articles/14
584-unicorn) . Jewish
Encyclopedia. Retrieved
26 October 2022.
45. "Unicorn" (https://www.britanni
ca.com/topic/unicorn) .
Britannica. Encyclopædia
Britannica. 29 August 2022.
Retrieved 26 October 2022.
:
Retrieved 26 October 2022.
46. Psalms 21:22, 28:6, 77:69,
91:11; Isaiah 34:7. The Latin
rhinoceros is employed in
Numbers 23:22, 24:8;
Deuteronomy 33:17, Job 39:9–
10
47. "Babylonian Talmud: Shabbath
28" (http://halakhah.com/shab
bath/shabbath_28.html) .
halakhah.com.
48. Lair of King Tongmyong's
Unicorn Reconfirmed in DPRK (
https://web.archive.org/web/20
121203012958/http://www.kcn
a.co.jp/item/2012/201211/news
29/20121129-20ee.html) ,
Korean Central News Agency,
:
Korean Central News Agency,
November 29, 2012, archived
from the original (http://www.kc
na.co.jp/item/2012/201211/ne
ws29/20121129-20ee.html)
on December 3, 2012
49. Quinn, Ben. "Unicorn lair
'discovered' in North Korea" (ht
tps://www.theguardian.com/wo
rld/2012/nov/30/unicorn-lair-di
scovered-north-korea) . The
Guardian. Retrieved 5 August
2013.
50. Wilson, Samuel M. "The
Emperor's Giraffe", Natural
History Vol. 101, No. 12,
December 1992 "Archived
copy" (https://web.archive.org/
:
copy" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20081202235051/http://
muweb.millersville.edu/~colum
bus/data/art/WILSON09.ART) .
Archived from the original (http:
//muweb.millersville.edu/~colu
mbus/data/art/WILSON09.ART
) on 2008-12-02. Retrieved
2012-04-14.
51. "此"麟"⾮彼"麟"专家称萨摩麟
并⾮传说中麒麟" (http://www.c
hinanews.com/news/2004year/
2004-05-31/26/442822.shtml
) . www.chinanews.com.
52. Strassberg, Richard E. (2002).
A Chinese Bestiary: Strange
Creatures from the Guideways
Through Mountains and Seas.
:
Through Mountains and Seas.
Berkeley: University of
California Press. pp. 116–117,
127–128. ISBN 978-0-520-
21844-4.

Hall, James, A History of Ideas


and Images in Italian Art, 1983,
John Murray, London,
ISBN 0719539714

External links
 
Wikimedia Commons has media
related to Unicorns.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related
to Unicorn.
:
American Museum of Natural
History, Mythic Creatures:
Unicorns, West and East (http://
www.amnh.org/exhibitions/myt
hic-creatures/land-creatures-o
f-the-earth/unicorns-west-and
-east)
Pascal Gratz, De Monocerote –
Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte des
Einhorns (http://www.summaga
llicana.it/unicorno/Zur%20Reze
ptionsgeschichte%20des%20
Einhorns.pdf) (PDF, German)
David Badke, The Medieval
Bestiary: Unicorn (http://bestiar
:
y.ca/beasts/beast140.htm)
Phillips, Catherine Beatrice
(1911). "Unicorn"  (https://en.wi
kisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclo
p%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Unic
orn) . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica.
Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. pp. 581–582.

Portals:    Fantasy
   Mythology

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Unicorn&oldid=1158232436"
:
This page was last edited on 2 June
2023, at 19:37 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA
4.0 unless otherwise noted.
:

You might also like