Unicornucopia: The Little Book of Unicorns. Caitlin Doyle

      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.

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

      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