CREATURE CONNECTION

Unicorn

The unicorn is one of the best-known creatures from mythology. It became very popular during the medieval period in European history—a time when kings, queens, and nobles ruled the land. Pieces of art from this age show the unicorn as a smallish white horse with a goat’s beard, a lion’s tail, and a pointed spiral horn in the center of its forehead.

Unicorns are symbols of purity and grace. During the medieval period, it was widely believed that these creatures actually existed. Legend said, however, that a unicorn would only show itself to a maiden—a young girl. If the maiden sat quietly, the unicorn would lay its head on her lap and fall asleep.

The unicorn’s spiral horn was believed to be magical. If ground into dust, it could be sprinkled into poisoned water, making the water drinkable. Poisoning was a real worry in those days, especially for members of a royal family. So hunters, hoping to get rich, tried to find the shy unicorn. They hired young girls, hoping to coax the creature from the forest.

Viking traders figured out another way to get rich. They came to Europe, carrying what they said were unicorn horns, also called alicorns. They sold them for more than double their weight in gold. It was a very profitable business. The Throne of Denmark is said to be made of unicorn horns. Even Queen Elizabeth I bought one. Crafty merchants ground these horns into powder and sold it as a medicine that could cure everything. Special cups were carved from alicorns and given to kings and queens to keep them from being poisoned.

We can look back on this period of time and laugh because we know that unicorns were made-up creatures and that the alicorns were actually narwhal tusks. Those Vikings were pretty clever.

Other cultures had similar unicorn-like creatures in their stories. The Chinese qilin had the body of a deer, the head of a lion, and a long horn in its forehead. It was said to be a good omen and thought to appear with the arrival and the passing of a great leader. The Japanese version was called the kirin.

The famous explorer Marco Polo wrote that he saw a real unicorn, but he described it as ugly, with dark buffalo hair and a large black horn, wallowing in the mud. What he actually described was a rhinoceros.

In 1663, a German mayor named Otto Von Guericke took the bones of a woolly rhinoceros, the bones of a mammoth, and the horn of a narwhal, and created a skeleton. Then he told everyone it was a unicorn. People traveled from far and wide to see this amazing find. Are you laughing again? I wonder what silly things we believe today that will make people laugh in the future!

STORY IDEA

You are a Viking and you’ve anchored your ship off the coast of England. You’ve rowed into a town, carrying a bag of narwhal horns. You want to trade them for gold coins. How are you going to convince the townsfolk that they are actually unicorn horns? What would you say? How could you prove it?

ART IDEA

According to legend, alicorn powder is a very powerful, magical medicine. Pretend you own a company that is trying to sell the powder. Draw a picture of your product. Does it come in a box, a jar, or a tube? What does the label look like? What information will you put on the package to persuade people to buy it? Look at some of the boxes in your pantry for ideas.