Unicorn
Although there were believed to be reports of unicorns in China as early as 2500 BC, the earliest, recorded mention of the unicorn was in 389 BC by the Greek Ctesias, a physician to the Persian kings Artaxerxes II and Darius II. Ctesias described the unicorn as being about the size of a horse with a white body, dark red head, blue eyes and a horn on it's head which measured about one and a half feet long. these reports were not first hand, rather the repetition of tales told by travelers to Tibet and the Himalayas.
The most descriptive, early account of the unicorn was given by "Pliney", who describes it as follows... "A very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of it's body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feel of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep bellowing voice and a single black horn, 2 cubits in length, standing out in the middle of it's forehead".
Julias Caesar was the first to report the sighting of a unicorn in Europe during "The Gallic War" against the Celts. It took place in the Hercynian forest (reportedly a huge forest requiring over 60 days travel to pass through it) near the Rhine. Caesar reported seeing something "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". That was all he wrote. A solder's dry vision of purity.
The unicorn is generally believed to be impossible to capture. It's ferocity, combined with it's mystical powers, make it practically invulnerable. But it has one weakness, it's love of purity an innocence. A way to trap the beast was quickly discovered. If a young virgin is placed nearby, the unicorn will approach with reverence. It will bow it's head and fall to it's knees before her and then fall into a contented sleep, basking in her purity. The hunter's job is then an easy one. It is the unicorn's horn (the alicorn) which makes it such a prize to hunters as it is believed that drinking from the horn will make a person invulnerable to disease. Powdered unicorn horn is also believed to be a cure for many poisons. A great prize in medieval times when murder by poison seems to have reached epidemic proportions.
In ancient times it was believed that the lion and the unicorn battled for supremacy of the forest throughout the year. The unicorn was at it's strongest in the spring, when the world was still new and pure. As the year progressed however, the lion would gain strength from maturity and would take control until the fresh spring air replenished the unicorn again.
So where did the unicorns go? Some Christians believe that the last surviving ones were thrown from the Ark by Noah in the storm. Other people believe that they were hunted to extinction but many believe that they still exist. That they simply moved to another place, away from the anger and pain of this world, touching it only briefly from time to time to bring a fleeting moment of pure joy.
