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Grouping Mythology
History
Indus stamp seal and modern impression; unicorn and incense burner or manger (?), 2600–1900
BC
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]
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]
Alicorn
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)
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
Unicorns as supporters:
:
Similar animals in
religion and myth
Biblical
:
The aurochs
Chinese mythology
References
1. "Zampieri Domenico, Madonna
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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
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:
p%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Unico
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3. "Cosmas Indicopleustis -
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088 0051 0476) [0500-0600]
Full Text at Documenta
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4. Unicorn (https://www.merriam-
:
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"Stamp seal and modern
:
"Stamp seal and modern
impression: unicorn and
incense burner (?)" ca. 2600–
1900 B.C.", for harness.
"Iconography of the Indus
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:
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A.F.Scholfield.
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:
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ww.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/
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19. Hall, 160
20. Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, 2002.
Piero della Francesca, pp. 260-
65.
:
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22. Hall, 305
23. Brooks, Noah (1898). The
Story of Marco Polo (https://arc
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olo00broouoft) (2015
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(originally The Century Co.).
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ls/storyofmarcopolo00broouoft
/page/221) . ISBN 978-
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24. Linda S Godfrey (2009).
Mythical creatures. Chelsea
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:
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.htm) . London, Unwin and
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:
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unicorn" (http://www.universall
eonardo.org/work.php?
id=438) .
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recreated at Stirling Castle" (htt
ps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-sc
otland-tayside-central-332379
47) . BBC News. 23 June
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Christian Art, Vol. I,1971
(English trans from German),
:
(English trans from German),
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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)
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:
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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.
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34. Unicorn Of Scotland – Symbol
of Power (https://www.scottish-
at-heart.com/unicorn-of-scotla
nd.html) [1] (https://in.pinterest
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6/)
35. Nisbet, Alexander (1816). A
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:
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2up) . Edinburgh: William
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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'
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An investigation" (https://www.
mic.com/life/how-did-unicorns-
get-so-gay-investigation-2362
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
:
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
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38. Wareham, Jamie (2018-08-17).
"Unicorns are the gay, LGBTI
and queer icons of our time
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Retrieved 2022-08-15.
:
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mic.com/life/how-did-unicorns-
get-so-gay-investigation-2362
5803) . Mic. Retrieved
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41. "How Did the Unicorn Become
a Symbol of Queerness?" (https
://www.thewhale.com/gay-unic
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42. Iversen, Kristin. "Why
Millennials' Obsession With
Mermaids, Unicorns, And The
Color Pink Matters" (https://ww
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:
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-queer-culture) . Nylon.
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43. Job 39:9–12; Psalms 22:21,
29:6; Numbers 23:22, 24:8;
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:
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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
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:
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49. Quinn, Ben. "Unicorn lair
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51. "此"麟"⾮彼"麟"专家称萨摩麟
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52. Strassberg, Richard E. (2002).
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:
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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
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