The unicorn is one of the most common mythical representatives of the animal world. It can be seen in some folk tales, legends and myths. Most often, he personifies repentance, chastity, purity of the soul. It also serves as the emblem of the sword. In addition, the unicorn is one of the most popular creatures used in animation, cinema, painting, government symbols, and more.
The appearance of a unicorn
There are not many representations of this creature. In most cases, a unicorn is a horse. Less often you can find this animal with the body of other artiodactyls: a goat, antelope or a bull. A distinctive feature is that this animal has only one long and straight or spiral-shaped horn on its forehead. In some tales, this horn had magical powers. Most often, the body of the creature is snow-white, the eyes are bright blue, which symbolizes virginity and purity.
However, according to esoteric beliefs, the unicorn has a light body, a blood-red head and dark blue eyes.
Some believed that the unicorn had the limbs of an elephant, and the tail belonged to a boar, which implies that a rhinoceros could well become the prototype of this animal. In this regard, there is a hypothesis that unicorns are native to India and central Africa.
In one of the works of the well-known Brothers Grimm, the unicorn is a very unfriendly creature, which makes it more like a rhino. There are references to this creature in the most sacred book - the Bible. There, the unicorn is a fast, frantic creature that loves freedom.
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Unicorn story
The very first appearance of a unicorn in painting was in the form of a bull with one horn. This image was first discovered on the ancient monuments of India, which are more than 4 thousand years old. The animal was presented as one of the most important and sacred creatures. After that, the creature migrated to the mythology of Asia. In many famous countries, such as ancient Greece and Rome, it was believed that unicorns did exist. Sometimes mythical creatures appeared in the form of artiodactyls such as antelope. These have been found in Egypt and Africa. These creatures, called the oryx or bisea antelope, were depicted in profile and due to the fact that the perspective in the drawing was not taken into account, it seemed that she had only one horn.
Unicorns were first mentioned in the book in the fifth century BC. A physician from Persia, described donkeys from India, which had one straight horn in their forehead. These animals were powerful, had a crimson head, eyes and a blue body. According to the doctor, those who taste the liquid from the horn of this donkey will never get sick again. Catching a unicorn is almost impossible, the doctor wrote. The only moment when the donkey is vulnerable is the time when he is guarding his own cub and cannot leave him.
Thanks to the fame of the philosopher Aristotle, who mentioned one-horned donkeys in one of his books, the history of the healer became widespread.
The next mention, or, to be more precise, a description of the three types of unicorn, was in the book of the Roman writer Claudius Elianus "Colorful stories". The first two species of the creature were similar to the Indian donkeys described by the doctor, and the third was called the cartazone, and it was different from the rest. He had a dark horn, like a spiral, he was the size of a mature mare, fiery color, had a horse's mane, and no one could catch him. Carthazones were safe creatures, but the males were very hostile to each other, they could even attack the female. Their ardor fades away for a certain time, but with the appearance of offspring, they again become aggressive.
In Greek mythology, a horse with one horn personified Artemis, who was considered a virgin goddess.
According to Hebrew scriptures, a horse with a single horn is the first animal to be named from Adam. And when he and Eve were expelled from Eden, God suggested that the creature stay or go to earth with people. The unicorn chose the latter, for which he received a blessing for compassion for the human race.
Plots with this animal covered almost the whole world. It is found in both eastern and western folklore. According to Russian "ABCs" the unicorn is a terrible and rebellious animal, like a horse, and all its magical power is contained in the horn.
Unicorn symbolism
In medieval books, especially Christian ones, the symbolism of the unicorn has an important role. These books say that it is impossible to catch a unicorn, you can only captivate a creature with a special bridle made of gold. In addition, the unicorn is invincible when they try to catch it, but it is submissive if there is a girl with an immaculate soul nearby. That is why this animal is considered a symbol of virginity, innocence. In this regard, the later Christian tradition associated the horse with one horn with the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.
The unicorn is a frequent guest on various coats of arms. It is found both on the coats of arms of a dynasty or state, and on personal ones, for example, on the coat of arms of the Russian Count P. I. Shuvalov. In his time, one of the siege weapons was called "inrog", in other words, a unicorn.
The creature's horn has always been a symbol of magic. He had many characteristics. These are mainly medicinal properties, healing of incurable diseases, bites of various animals and purification of water poisoned by snakes.
At the moment, there are many known cases of the birth of a cloven-hoofed creature with only one horn. Some of them have a horn located in the middle of their forehead, which strengthens the belief in this mythical animal. By the way, is it mythical?