The Alicorn

People used to beleive that a unicorn horn could neutralize poisons, among other things. Some physicians in older times created these alicorn "remedies" against ailments by making cups from the horn and having their patients drink from them. People who feared poisoning sometimes drank from goblets made of "unicorn horn." Dr. Conrad Gesner of Zuich pretty much summed it up the belief in the sixteenth century, when he said:

This horn is useful and beneficial against epilepsy, pestilential fever, rabies, proliferation and infection of other animals and vermin, and against worms within the body from which children faint.Alleged aphrodesiac qualities and other purported medicinal virtues also drove up the cost of "unicorn" products such as milk, hide, and offal. Unicorns were also said to be able to determine whether or not a woman was a virgin—in some tales, they could only be mounted by virgins.

Rarer still than the unicorn's horn is the mystic ruby, called a carbuncle, which was said to be found at a horn's base. Some have said that the carbuncle is the source of a unicorn's magical powers, others that it is a concentrated essense of the horn.

Unicorns and Warriors

Unicorns and Warriors

Unicorns have been connected with three famous warriors—Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan.
Julius Caesar

In his account of the conquest of Gaul, Caesar wrote about various strange creatures said to inhabit the Hercynian Forest in Germany. Included among these was "An ox shaped like a stag from the middle of whose forehead, between the ears, stands forth a single horn, taller and straighter than the horns we know."
Alexander the Great

It is said that Alexander rode a Karkadann—the famous Bucephalus, described as having the body of a horse and the head of a lion. This was a creature Alexander had first encountered when he was about 13 years old. It had been presented for sale to his father, King Philip of Macedonia. However, it lashed out so furiously at every attempt to mount it that Philip's champion riders soon gave up. The animal was about to be led away as totally useless and intractable. But Alexander protested, claiming he could ride it. His father, thinking to teach him a little humility, allowed Alexander to try on the condition that if he failed, he would have to pay the entire cost of the beast (13 talents). And he told Alexander that if he succeeded in taming it, he would give it to him as a gift. Alexander was able to tame the unicorn by approaching it as an animal who could only be ridden with its own consent, not a horse whose will needed to be broken. It is said that after Alexander successfully rode the unicorn, the king shed tears of joy and pride and said to Alexander: "Oh my son, look out for a kingdom equal and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too small to contain you."

Many think Bucephalus was only a horse, but others claim he was actually a Karkadann or unicorn. Reportedly, Alexander spoke softly to him, stroked him and leaned against him. The Karkadann was fearless against demons and allowed Alexander to tame griffins. Bucephalus remained with Alexander almost to the end of both their lives and was ridden by him into every major battle during his conquest of Egypt and the Persian Empire. Legend and history agree that Bucephalus died during Alexander's last great battle with King Porus of India. Only the cause of his death is disputed, whether it was from wounds, old age or simple exhaustion. His death marked a change in Alexander's fortunes--his legendary luck deserted him and his character, which had already begun to show signs of instability, took a rapid turn for the worse. He won the battle against King Porus, but only barely. His army refused to go any further and Alexander was forced to turn back. He decided to explore the coast along the way, leading to thousands of his troops perishing as they crossed the Makran Desert in what is now southern Pakistan. The number of soldiers who died during this trek has been estimated at 80,000. While Alexander faced all hardships on equal terms with his men, the high death toll undermined his support. Back home in the heart of his Persian Empire, Alexander first began working on restoring order. He then started planning an expedition to circle Africa to the gates of the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Royal Diaries, following a celebratory banquet, Alexander became ill with some type of fever. It didn't seem all that serious at first, but after twelve days of steady deterioration, he died at the young age of 32. The exact cause of his death is still a mystery; some believe he may even have been murdered. After all his exploits and risks, it was a rather ignoble death for the man who'd conquered so much of the known world during his lifetime

Chinese Unicorns

Unicorns have been with us, in one form or another, since the dawn of history. It's believed they were first

described by the Chinese as a miraculous creature called the Ch'i lin (or K'i lin), a "great unicorn," that radiated exquisite colors, had a voice like a thousand wind chimes, avoided fighting at all costs, lived for a thousand years, and had a horn twelve feet long. It was said that Ch'i lin walked so softly its hooves made no sound. Some believed this was because it was so soft-hearted it did not want to crush the blades of grass beneath its feet.
Ch'i lin was very special to the Chinese. It was a creature of great power and wisdom, and would show itself at special times. Its appearance was always considered a sign of good fortune. When a ruler was just and kind and the times peaceful and prosperous, the unicorn would appear in a glade. It would also appear when a great leader was about to die or be born.
The earliest recorded appearance of the Ch'i lin was to a legendary Chinese sovereign called Fu Hsi c. 2900 BC. As the story is told, Fu Hsi was sitting on the bank of the Yellow River one day near the end of his life. He was thinking about mortality and trying to think of a way he could record his thoughts for following generations (writing had not yet been invented). Suddenly a Ch'i lin rose out of the river and came toward him. On its back it carried certain magical sigils from which Fu Hsi was able to devise the first written Chinese language. Over time the script has evolved so naturally that today's readers of modern Chinese are still able to understand something written 2,000 years ago.
The signs which had inspired Fu Hsi are called the Pa Kua, or eight trigrams. They are a symbolic combination of broken and unbroken lines and form the basis not only for Chinese writing, but also for the philosophic and divinatory systems known as the I Ching, or Book of Changes. Fu Hsi is one of four men given credit for authoring this work, along with King Wen, the Duke of Chou and Confucius. Fu Hsi was followed as sovereign by Shen-nung and then by Huang Ti, who was also known as the Yellow Emperor or the August Sovereign. He became one of the most revered of all Chinese rulers. There is a record in the Bamboo Books of the appearance of a Ch'i lin at his palace in 2697 BC, shortly before his death. The Ch'i lin walked silently, majestically into the palace, roamed its halls and vanished. The unicorn carried in the middle of its forehead a long, straight, tapered and helically grooved ivory horn. During the reigns of the following four Emperors, in what is considered China's Golden Age of peace, justice and good government, the Ch'i lin often appeared as a mark of approval. The most famous example of the appearance of a Ch'i lin foretelling the birth of a great leader happened over 2,500 years ago when it came to a young woman named Yen Chen-tsai. She and her husband had no son and though she prayed constantly, her prayers went unanswered. After a long time, she decided to make a pilgrimage to a holy shrine in the mountains. As she was traveling to the shrine, a Ch'i lin appeared, knelt before her and dropped into her hand a tiny jade tablet from its mouth. On one side was a message which said: "The son of the essence of water shall succeed to the withering Chou and he will become a throneless king." Months later Yen Chen-tsai ("the essence of water") bore a son called Kung Fu Tse, better known as the great Chinese sage, Confucius. Confucius never wore a crown or commended men. But, through his teachings, Confucius probably did as much to shape China as the power of many kings and warlords combined. Seventy years later, while writing his Spring and Autumn Annals, it is said that Confucius was told by one of his disciples that a strange beast had been killed nearby by a party of noblemen. They had been out hunting and surprised the beast by setting fire to the underbrush. Some witnesses said the creature ran into a chariot and was killed by accident, others said the hunters were too quick with their spears. Whatever the truth of the incident, the animal had been killed and its body abandoned at a crossroads. Confucius left with his disciple to see this animal for himself. He immediately recognized the creature and cried: "It is a Ch'i lin. The Ch'i lin, benevolent beast, appears and dies. My Tao is exhausted." Confucius ended his Annals prematurely with an account of the incident and is then said to have laid down his pen and never written another word. However, that may not be exactly the case as the following poem is attributed to Confucius and it appears it was written after seeing the Ch'i lin:

In the age of Tang and Yu the Unicorn
and the Phoenix walked abroad.
Now when it is not their time they come
And what do they seek?
The Unicorn, the Unicorn, my heart is sad.

By the time of the Middle Ages, most people in China were familiar with the unicorn. When sailors aboard the Chinese Emperor's jewel ship arrived in East Africa in 1415, they were told stories about the horned creature they knew as the Ch'i lin. They were very surprised since Africa and China are totally different and they did not expect this animal to be known there.
The Africans described the animal as having the body of a deer, a long neck and a single horn. It was gentle, graceful, rarely spoke or made noises and was said to be 18 feet tall. According to the reports, it would hide among the mimosa. The Chinese crew was able to capture one of these creatures and returned with it to China. There was much excitement in the Emperor's Court when it was reported they were bringing home a Ch'i lin. As it turned out, the Somali word for the animal was girin, which had confused the expedition's leader. In fact, the African "unicorn" turned out to be the giraffe!

The Four Sacred Beasts: The Chinese Unicorn

There is an ancient Chinese myth which explains the creation of the universe. In the beginning, the universe was merely an egg. Heaven and earth were not separate. The stars and the planets were one. But when the egg of the universe cracked, Chaos spilled out. Heaven and earth separated and the stars and planets split.
Into this chaos came P'an Ku, the first god/human. It took him 18,000 years to create the present universe and earth. He was assisted in this work of creation by the four most fortunate animals--the dragon, the phoenix, the tortoise and the unicorn. When P'an Ku's work was completed, he died. The dragon swan into the seas. The tortoise crawled into the swampy wetlands. The phoenix rose into the sky and flew to the open lands. The unicorn galloped into the green forests. These four sacred animals became the guardians of the hidden realms upon the earth and those places beyond, where their strength is undiminished by contact with humans.

The Eastern Unicorn

The unicorn of Eastern tradition is very different in appearance from the Western unicorn, but they share many characteristics. For example, the Eastern unicorn was depicted as a solitary animal, believed to have sprung from the center of the earth, the first and most perfect of the 360 land creatures. The Eastern unicorn always reached its destination, never falling into pits or traps, so it was honored as a great spiritual guide through life. The unicorn's gentleness prevented it from treading upon an insect or eating fruit. It was said to be so sensitive it could feel the weight of a shadow cast by the light of the moon. All animals became tame around the unicorn. Rain and fire did its bidding, and when it plucked a leaf, two grew in its place. The unicorn's voice was sweet and delicate, with the sound of a thousand wind chimes. In the East they believed that once a unicorn was tamed, no other animal would ever know terror again. And, as long as humans showed greed, anger, and war, and hunger was around, the unicorn would remain elusive, hidden and wild. During evil times it would appear only when a great change was about to occur. In many Eastern cultures, the unicorn is occasionally linked with the tiger and the lioness. Although these relationships are not always considered compatible in Western lore, it is very different in the East. The tiger is a fierce creature in Eastern tradition, its ferocity and courage often unmatched. The tiger is considered a yang (male) creature, as opposed to the yin (female) unicorn and will fight earthly demons which encourage humans to kill the unicorn. Lions and lionesses are very similar, fighting for wisdom and truth and scaring away demons with teeth and claws.

Other Eastern Unicorns

Japan's version of the unicorn, the Kirin or Sin-you was depicted with sinews more like those of a lion. Although the Kirin was normally a shy creature, taking large detours to avoid confrontations, the Sin-you unicorn was not so timid. It was known for its ability to know right from wrong and was often called upon to determine the guilt or innocence of individuals. If an individual was determined to be guilty, the Sin-you would fix its eyes upon him and pierce the guilty person with its horn.
In Taoism and other mystical Eastern cultures, there arose a variety of teachings in art and dance to honor all of nature, including the unicorn and other sacred beasts. In Vietnam, a yearly unicorn dance is held on the full moon of the eighth month, the beginning of the monsoon season. People put on masks and costumes to conceal their identity. When their spirits are high, they tie an effigy of a unicorn to a platform. Archers then shoot at it while singing the effigy song (below). After the song is finished, the rains would begin.

Effigy Song

The unicorn's hoofs!
The duke's sons throng.
Alas for the unicorn!
The unicorn's brow!
The duke's kinsmen throng.
Alas for the unicorn!
The unicorn's horn!
The duke's clansmen throng.
Alas for the unicorn!

The Chinese Unicorn is an ancient creature of great wisdom and power.

The Middle Eastern Unicorn

In Persia and Arabia, the unicorn was called Karkadann, a beast so ferocious it could attack and kill an elephant. It was a violent, warlike unicorn, born in blood and vehement in battle. It had the body of a rhino and a tail like a lion. Each leg had three hooves, one in front and two in back. From its forehead rose a single black horn, curved like a crescent. Unlike the western unicorn, it was dreaded by all living creatures and left alone. The Karkadann could only be tamed by a ring dove. It is said this beast responded so strongly to the dove's gentle call that it would lie beneath a dove's tree for hours and wait for the dove to land on its horn. In other descriptions in Middle Eastern unicorn lore, the Karkadann was a fierce animal with magical abilities. It resembled a stag, horse or antelope, and the elephant was its deadly enemy. It could be mild and tender hearted though, drinking the morning dew from green plants. And when it put its head in water, the water would become pure and fruitful, opposites would unite, and all female creatures in the water would become pregnant. Any evil within the water would die and be cast out upon the shore. As in western unicorn lore, the Karkadann was extremely fond of women, who were used as lures to capture the beast. However, in the eastern tradition, the women did not have to be virgins. Capture of this unicorn was much rarer than in western tradition. This was likely the result of the difficulty in finding women willing to cooperate in capturing such a ferocious beast. The elephant was the deadly enemy of the Karkadann, and there are many tales about their great battles. In the most famous, the Karkadann stabs the elephant in the belly with his horn. Unable to dislodge his horn, the elephant collapses upon the Karkadann. A Roc, a giant mythical bird in Persia, flies by at this moment, diving and grabbing both beasts and lifting them up into the sky. The Roc then flies to its nest and feeds both the Karkadann and the elephant to its young. Allegedly only one human every tamed the Karkadann—Alexander the Great.

The Western Unicorn

The Western Unicorn is the typical unicorn most of us are familiar with.

The German Unicorn

German-speaking peoples have long been strong believers in unicorns. During the Middle Ages their churches and palaces were filled with images of the creature, known to them as Einhorn. In German Marian mysticism (the cult of the adoration of the Virgin), the name given to the mother of God was Maria unicornis (Mary of the unicorn).

The Wise Woman Of Scharzfeld

The Harz Mountains region of central Germany has long been considered a haunt of the Einhorn. In fact, there is a cave in this area which to this day is called the Einhornhohle. It acquired its name from a story which took place in the days when much of Germany was covered with dark, unmapped forests, which were ruled by the old gods. In this forest an old wise woman lived in the Steingrotte Cave near Scharzfeld. People came to her from all over the Harz region for healing and advice. This angered the Christian missionaries in the area and they denounced her as a witch. The missionaries used their influence with a Frankish king, whom they had converted, to send soldiers and a monk to arrest her. As the soldiers were making their way up the steep hill to her cave, the old woman came out and looked down upon them with total disdain and lack of fear. At first the soldiers hesitated, but realizing she was only one old woman, they continued climbing up to the cave. Then a pale Unicorn stepped out of the forest, its horn shining against the gloom cast by the trees. It went up to the woman and knelt before her, she got up on its back and rode away.
The monk and soldiers ran after her, but soon fell behind because of their heavy armor and weapons. The monk was finally able to catch up with the woman, but as he tried to grab her, she raised her arms and made signs in the air—and the monk disappeared. By the time the soldiers reached the spot, all they found was a hole in the ground with the monk lying shattered and lifeless at the bottom. The soldiers buried the monk and named the cave Einhornhohle, a name by which it has been known ever since.

Unicorns in the Middle Ages

Mideval knowledge of the unicorn stemmed from biblical and ancient sources. The creature was variously represented as a kind of wild ass, goat, or horse. By 200 A.D., Tertullian had called the unicorn a small fierce kidlike animal, a symbol of Christ. Ambrose, Jerome, and Basil agreed. Physiologus, a predecessor to the medieval bestiary, 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 saw her, it lay its head on her lap and fell asleep. This became a basic emblematic tag that underlies medieval notions of the unicorn, justifying its appearance in every form of religious art.
With the rise of humanism, the unicorn also acquired positive secular meanings, including chaste love and faithful marriage.
Marco Polo described the unicorn as tamable only by maidens:

"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 Polo was describing a rhinoceros.
The famous late Gothic series of seven tapestry hangings, The Hunt of the Unicorn, combined both secular and religious themes. In the series, richly dressed noblemen, accompanied by huntsmen and hounds, pursue a unicorn against millefleurs backgrounds or buildings and guardens. 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 bloody but now alive and happy, chained to a tree surrounded by a fence, in a field of flowers. Scholars continue to hunt the meaning of the resurrected Unicorn.
A set of six called the Dame a la licorne (The Lady of the Unicorn) at the Musee de Cluny, Paris, woven in the Southern Netherlands about the same time as The Unicorn in Captivity, pictures the five senses, the gateways to temptation, and finally Love, with unicorns in each hanging.

Unicorns in Ancient Histor

In the West

An animal called the re'em is mentioned in several places in the Bible, often as a metaphor representing strength. In the King James Version, as well as some other translations, the word is translated as "unicorn," producing such phrases as "His strength is as the strength of a unicorn." These references allude to the re'em as a wild, untamable animal of great strength and agility, with mighty horns. (Job 39:9-12, Psalms 22:21, Numbers 23:22, Numbers 24:8, Deuteronomy 33:17.) These references may have been referring to the aurochs (Bos primigenius). This view is supported by the Assyrian rimu, which is also used as a metaphor of strength, and is depicted as a powerful, fierce, wild, or mountain bull with large horns. This animal was often depicted with only one horn visible in ancient Mesopotamian art.
Ancient Greek writers were convinced of the reality of the unicorn. The earliest description is from Ctesias, who described "wild asses, fleet of foot, having on the forhead a horn a cubit and a half in length, colored white, red and black; from th ehorn were made drinking cups which were a preventive of poisioning." Aristotle also mentioned two one-horned animals: the oryx, a kind of antelope; and the so-called "Indian ass."
In Roman times, Pliny the Elder's Natural History mentions the oryx and an Indian ox (which may have referred to the rhinoceros) as one-horned beasts. He called the Indian ass "a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and a signle black horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its forehead." Pliny added that "it cannot be taken alive." Aelian, quoting Ctesias, added that India produces also a one-horned horse, and said that the "monoceros" was sometimes called "carcazonon," which may be a form of the Arabic "carcadn," meaning "rhinoceros." Strabo said that in India there were one-horned horses with stag-like heads.

In the East

The Indus Valley Civilization, who inhabited what now is known as Pakistan, had some carved seals, which resembled a bull, and may have been a way of depicting bulls in profile. This has been interpereted by some as the symbol of the unicorn, which may have symbolized a powerful group.
In ancient China, there was a miraculous creature called the k'i-lin that radiated excuisite colors, had a voice like the tinkling of bells, and lived for a thousand years. Although the k'i-lin was like a dragon—it had fish scales which shimmered in every color of the rainbow—it had a mane and cloven hooves as well.
The k'i-lin was first observed in 2697 B.C., as it wandered through the palace of Emperor Huang-ti. This was seen as an omen, as an announcement of lucky years. It is said that in the following years, huang-ti invented musical instruments, taught his people how to build houses with bricks, and united the Chinese tribes. Legend has it that the k'i-lin appeared once again to the emperor at the end of his life to carry him to the land of the dead on its back.

Unicorns in Prehistory

A prehistoric cave painting in Lascaux, France depicts an animal with two straight horns emerging from its forhead. The drawing's simple perspective makes the two horns appear to be a single, straight horn. Because the species of the figure is otherwise unknown, it has received the nickname "the Unicorn." Richard Leakey suggest that, like "the Sorcerer" found at Trois-Freres, is a therianthorpe, a blend of animal and human, and that its head is that of a bearded man. There have been unconfirmed reports of aboriginal unicorn paintings at Namaqualand in southern Africa. A passage of Bruce Chatwin's travel journal In Patagonia (1977) relates his meeting with a South American scientist who believed that unicorns were among South America's extinct species, and that they were hunted to extinction by man in 5000 or 6000 B.C. He told Chatwin about two aboriginal cave paintings of unicorns at Lago Posadas (Cerro de los Indios).
One Western legend also speaks of a beautiful young woman named Elly being found by a unicorn, who cried its tears for her and healed the wounds of her heart.

What is a Unicorn?

The unicorn is a legendary creature like a horse, but with a slender, usually spiral, horn growing out of its forehead. The popular image of the unicorn is that of a white horse differing only in the horn.

In mideval lore, the spiraled horn of the unicorns was called the alicorn, and was thought to neutralize poisons. In popular mythology, unicorns were hunted for their horns, which were said to protect one against diseases, or, if made into a cup, would protect on eform any poison that might have been added to one's drink. This belief is derived from Ctesias' reports on the unicorn in India, where it was used by the rulers of that place for anti-toxin purposes so as to avoid assassination.
People sold what they purported to be unicorn horns at this time, but were actually selling narwall horns (narwalls are whales with large, horn-like tusks that swim in cold water.)
Traditionally, the unicorn had a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and choven hoofs. Ironically, this perception was more realistic, as only cloven-hoofed animals have horns. Unicorns were once thought of as nasty, easily provoked creatures, unlike the gentle perception we have of them today. They were thought to have deep, bellowing voices. As Ctesias, the ancient Greek physician, said:

"The unicorn was native to India, the size of a donkey, with a burgundy head and white body; it had blue eyes, a single horn that was bright red at the top, black in the middle, and white at the bottom; the horn was also eighteen inches long."

Julis Ceasar also described the unicorn, saying, "It had a deer's head, elephant's feet, a three-foot long horn, and a boar's tail." It was not until the middle ages that the unicorn began to take on its present form.
A widespread legend is that, when Noah gathered two of every kind of animal, he neglected to gather the unicorns, which is why they do not exist today.
The quilin, a creature in Chinese myth, is sometimes called "the Chinese unicorn," but is not directly related to the Western unicorn. The quilin has the body of a deer, the lead of a lion, green scales and a long froth-covered horn. In Japanese, the word kirin (written with the same Chinese ideograms) is used to designate both the giraffe and the mythical creature. Although the Japanese kirin is based on Chinese myth, it more closely resembles the Western Unicorn than does the Chinese quilin.

Unicorns in antiquity

A mythical animal typically represented as a horse with a single straight horn projecting from its forehead; a heraldic representation of such an animal, with a twisted horn, a deer's feet, a goat's beard, and a lion's tail.

The unicorn has at various times been identified or confused with the rhinoceros, with various species of antelope, or with other animals having a horn (or horns) or horn-like projection from the head. According to Pliny it had a body resembling that of a horse, the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a lion, with one black horn projecting from the middle of the forehead. In biblical translation, unicorn may be used for a kind of wild ox.

The horn of this animal was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially as an antidote to or preventive of poison. It was also said that it could only be captured by a virgin.

In heraldry, the unicorn is a supporter of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom.
unicorn's horn a horn regarded as or alleged to be obtained from the legendary unicorn, but in reality that of the rhinoceros, narwhal, or other animal, frequently mounted or made into a drinking cup and employed as a preventive of or charm against poison.