Talk:Unicorn/Archive 1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archive 1 Archive 2

Medieval times

In medieval times, entrepreneurs would occasionally manufacture a unicorn by surgery on a goat kid: they would remove one horn bud and relocate the other to the centre of the forehead. (This technique continued to as recently as the 20th century, for circus displays.) << thar is mean :( I hope you wont do that!!!

I deleted this text. It is a fantasy based on unfamiliarity with medieval surgery. Wetman 20:06, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

While I agree on deletion of a potentially suspicious passage given without a reference, I'd rather not underestimate the ancient surgery; see, e.g., Trepanation. Mikkalai 20:17, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)
The actual procedure is much simpler and well within the bounds of medieval surgery: the two horn buds are incised at the points where they face each other, and then bound together so that they fuse as they grow into a single horn with two "roots". Neither is either removed or relocated.Rosencomet (talk) 18:35, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

In reality, unicorns do not look like horses, as they do in books and such, they are actually goats or rams which have one horn on their head due to birth defects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.214.39.92 (talk) 01:51, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Where it says "The royal throne of Denmark was made of "unicorn horns" – almost certainly the horns of the Narwhal." - It should say the tusk of the narwhal.24.237.103.152 (talk) 21:55, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

 Done Good catch. Deor (talk) 22:24, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Virgin girls

The unicorn is known to be attracted to virgin girls. When he finds one wandering alone in the woods, he "lays down" with her, and "puts his head in her lap". In Old English, this is an obvious metaphor for rape. In modern times, the unicorn has been romanticised as a creature of grace and beauty, and its origin as a cautionary tale for young girls has been lost. Just because it's legendary, doesn't mean we can simply invent anything. Notice the passive voice in the first sentence. Wetman 16:36, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

(moved from User Talk:Wetman) Hey, regarding "unicorn": If I'm using bad grammar, go ahead and fix it. If you feel I need to site my sources, go ahead and let me know. Don't assume I'm making things up. In the language analysis department, I suggest you go back to your Shakespeare. Compare the unabridged to the abridged editions of Macbeth, especially the scene with the play. The particular methods of capturing the unicorn has and will forever be in our dreams :)Subscript text
If the unicorn imagery in William Shakespeare and his contemporaries is the subject, Patterson should state it. There's already a relevent subsection that could be expanded. What the image meant to Shakespeare (interesting addition to genuine history of the legend) probably does not include an Old English metaphor for rape, however. Find the relevent Shakespeare quotes and use them. Draw some conclusions.Question: is the unicorn a metaphor of unbridled passion in animal nature. Is Nature tamed by the Virgin? As for rape, Shakespeare wrote a whole poem in his early days: The Rape of lucrece. That's a place to look for Shakver espeare's feelings about rape. A discussion of Rüdiger Robert Beer, Unicorn: myth and reality 1977 would be useful here too. Wetman 23:00, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
Troubling aspects of the phallus/virgin relationship are undeniable in the unicorn legend (and strangely overlooked in Shepard's otherwise exhaustive "The Lore of the Unicorn"), however w/r/t presenting the unicorn as rapist i think it's worth noting that in a great deal of the virgin/unicorn legends, the virgin is a willing participant in The Hunt, in which invariably the unicorn ends up dead. Usually while still in the virgin's lap. So while i think there's obviously some phallo-dominion stuff to consider here, it's pretty far from a simple rapist/victim story. --doc ocelot 20060619

Invisible Pink Unicorn

"The Invisible Pink Unicorn is an internet created fictional deity as a satire of religions." Does this belong at Satire? It doesn't belong at Pink does it? Or Religion? Can Wikipedia plug just every vacuous burlesque of everything? Wetman 23:15, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by asking where this article "belongs". It has its own page, so it doesn't need to belong to any other article in particular. Bryan 03:32, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Reem

Should discuss the "reem" of the Bible. --Daniel C. Boyer 17:52, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)

OK; I've written a bit. It could stand some expansion, though. --Ben Standeven

ok; I want to know if it is true.. :( --Amna Fareed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.159.192.42 (talk) 19:29, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Circus

Should discuss 1980s circus appearance of unicorn colt. --Daniel C. Boyer 17:56, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Unicorn skeleton

I removed the following passage because it makes no sense: how did Leibniz, who died in 1716, manage to study a skeleton discovered in the 1760s? More information is needed before this can be put in the article. The Singing Badger 21:12, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Allegedly, however, the skull, with a seven-foot-long horn, survived. One hundred years later [i.e. one hundred years after 1663], a similar skeleton was unearthed at Einhornloch; both skeletons were examined by Liebniz, who, after having doubted the existence of the creature, claimed to have been converted by this evidence.

Fictional setting

"COLLECTIVE NOUN - A Rainbow of .., OR: A Glory of .., OR: A Blessing of Unicorns"

This was just added by an anon to the fiction section:

A group of unicorns is sometimes referred to as a "Rainbow of Unicorns."

Anyone know which fictional setting is this referring to? It should be attributed. Bryan 07:54, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It's been changed to "glory of unicorns" now, which apparently comes from a book by Bruce Coville. The funny thing is that unicorns are usually imagined as solitary creatures. —Charles P. (Mirv) 03:18, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

Exactly true. I've removed the bit, partly because it's misleading. "Unicorns come in collectible sets boxed with cellophane windows. Unicoprns lose resale value when removed from the box." --Wetman 03:53, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

A blessing of unicorns - Under 'Blessing' in Wikipedia, one reference is [quote] Blessing is the collective noun for a group of Unicorns [unquote]. Should that literary whimsy of the English language be included somewhere in this item?

203.129.39.106 12:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)JayD203.129.39.106 12:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

It's already mentioned at the end of the second paragraph under "Medieval unicorns." However, most of those collective terms that show up in lists ("exaltation of larks" and such) have never actually enjoyed any usage in the English language outside of the lists themselves. I'd be inclined to remove the factoid both here and in Blessing. What do others think? Deor (talk) 13:39, 17 August 2009 (UTC)
Agree. It is not in common usage, in fact all references probably go back to just one inventive coinage. Dbfirs 10:12, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Lascaux painting

Does anyone seriously think that this painting depicts a unicorn? It's called "the Unicorn", sure, but it clearly has two horns. —Charles P. (Mirv) 14:09, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

I agree with you. I think the reason why it is called the unicorn is that no one knows what kind of animal it is.--Wiglaf 19:22, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
Again, if you guys had done your Art History homework, you would have known that the only reason that the Lascaux cave painting is considered to be a unicorn, is because it bears a striking resemblance to the unicorns depicted on several signant rings if the Indus Valley.
And no, these are not just poor drawings of bulls because at the same time there also exists signant rings with very carefully drawn pictures of bulls on them.
The Lascaux painting is important because it shows that other persons in other parts of the world, besides the Indus Valley, had actually seen the same animals.
Also, the "poor drawing" argument doesn't hold water here either since there is an entire cave full of carefully drawn depictions of bulls at Lascaux; each one being exact down to the last detail.
What you're proposing to say is that on this one particular occassion an inexperienced artist was allowed to mar the surface of this sacred cave without any corrections by another artist?
That does not compute Dr Smith.
Further, the Bible that you speak of in the Book of Job states: does not the unicorn roam in the plains of Uz? [pronounced: "ooz"; present day India]
Also, it is jurisprudent, if you will, among art historians – especially among those who are atheist – to accept the actuality of the the "unknown creature" phenominum at Lascaux, as opposed to continued, "bull-headed" arguments to replace what their eye sees with something more "comfortable" – whatever that could be.
WB2 06:01, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Unicorn in heraldry

AFAIK, the famous German poet Schiller had a unicorn in his coat of arms. Is anybody able to verify this?

Granted to Schiller personally, and selected by him? --Wetman 18:16, 10 May 2005 (UTC)(flaig@sanctacaris.net)

Despite it being the heraldic supporter for the Scottish royal arms, there is a remarkable dearth of Gaelic translational distionary information on the Unicorn. This is because Buabhall sounds very rude to the Anglophone if properly pronounced and is a secret pun. 211.26.158.138 (talk) 13:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC) Ian Ison


How to use this site is not immediately obvious..

Lysva the Russian city also has a unicorn in its heraldry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysva could this picture be added to the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blacklung (talk • contribs) 07:51, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Duplicating "Sources in antiquity"

The following text adds nothing to what is already more specifically treated in "Sources in antiquity":

Although unicorns are mythical creatures, many scholars have wondered whether the myth might be distantly based on a real animal.
The latin name for unicorn (c.f. Kirchner, Athanasius -- Arca Noee) differs by only one letter from the latin name for rhinocerous, leading some to speculate that the modern unicorn was a myth spawned by stories of the rhino related by Europeans who had returned from the crusades.

Some editor seems unaware of unicorns in antiquity at all. Is there anything here to return, in better more specific condition, to the article? --Wetman 20:18, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Unicorn in popular culture

One very frequently (including Simpsons and an Irish Rovers song) hears references to unicorns being gone because they 'missed the Ark'.. someone could work that in, as well as sightings of that reference.

There was a Charles Addams cartoon depicting a scene where the ark is drifting away. In the foreground there stands, perched on a disapparing mountian peak, two unicorns. I have a copy of the cartoon in hardcopy. I have not been able to locate one in softcopy to reference here. Throckmorton Guildersleeve (talk) 14:14, 3 January 2008 (UTC)


peter pan records produced "all-time children's hits vol. 2" performed by the "puff 'n' toot singers and orchestra." i can find no copyright date. it has a song called "the unicorn" that tells the whole story of the ark and, specifically, how the unicorns were too busy playing to get on the boat. chorus goes "green aligators and long neck geese, hump back camels and chimpanzes, cats and rats and elephants but sure as you're born, you're never gonna see no unicorn." i loved this song when i was little, and have encountered very churchy people who surprisingly never heard it at all.76.217.120.251 14:55, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

it's me again, the lyrics are attributed to shel silverstien on this site http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/The_Unicorn_Song.shtml but the aforementioned puff n' toot orchestra streamlined it a little. 76.217.120.251 15:05, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Hebrew "unicorn" in Job

Some anonymous passer-by thinks the following passage documents a domesticated unicorn contemporary with Job""!

The translators of the King James Version of the Bible (1611) employed unicorn to translate [missing Hebrew word] in Book of Job 39:9-12, providing an animal that was proverbial for its untamable nature for the unanswerable rhetorical questions:
"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?"

Surely these rhetorical questions are clear enough as the section stands. Or is it not? Can one of us provide the missing Hebrew word that the KJV scholars translated "unicorn"? Thanks. --Wetman 03:16, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Apparently other translations translate the word to be "wild ox."


"An animal called the re'em is mentioned in several places in the Bible, often as a metaphor representing strength." Since it is "often" used as a metaphor representing strength what is it used to represent when not representing strength? Also, how do we know for a fact that it is indeed a metaphor and not meant to be taken litteraly? Some one help me on this one please. Typhoid Orchid 22:50, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

  • Ironically, it was often a featured item at Jerusalem delis: Unicorned beef. Wahkeenah 22:57, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
You again! Totnesmartin 23:07, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
You again! :) Wahkeenah 00:19, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
  • r'em reh-ame' or rieym reh-ame';
or reym rame;
or rem rame;
from ra'am raw-am' a primitive root; to rise:--be lifted up.;
a wild bull (from its conspicuousness):--unicorn

- http://strongsnumbers.com/hebrew/7214.htm - http://www.recyclethebible.com/hebrew_lex.php?num=7214 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.203.38.160 (talk) 07:09, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

"Bicorn" of "Celtic Mythology"

Is there anything to the following text? Where does the "bicorn" appear "in Celtic Mythology"? What is the connection with the Unicorn? Wouldn't a "See also" fully cover this-- if there actually were an entry Bicorn? --Wetman 01:12, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

"There is also a creature in Celtic Mythology called bicorn, though who is dark blue or black instead of white and with two large bowed horns instead of just one. While the unicorn is benevolent, the bicorn is entirely malevolent, and attack anything it doesn't care for."

My Dear celtic theme query encyclope_: Classic Unicorn has little to do with celtic tradition.Gajus Julius Ceasar in his Bellum Gallicum feeds the fiction of a real horse category which has the "differentia specifica" of one "corn". Caesar writes that this "kind" of horse in the French forests can sleep upwards because this horse uses that "corn" as a leverage and sleeping tree bar. (Source:My Kitchen Latin reading of "De Bellum Gallicum", Caesar, G.J. )

PostSkriptum: Take note that I was forced as a very young man to read such logical blunder and today see it as what it always was.

There is such a thing as a bicorne or bicorn in mythology. However, it's of medieval European origin, not Celtic mythology. Also, it (at least from my experience) has never been described as blue/black and "entirely malevolent". It was mentioned in the Canterbury Tales and said to be fat from eating hen-pecked, obedient husbands. Har, har. Classic medieval humor. I may have heard of it being described as a type of panther, with no mention of horns. See Carol Rose's Giants, Dragons, Monsters: An Encyclopedia for reference. 67.167.26.239 03:07, 22 January 2007 (UTC) Chris G.

Rigorous application of NPOV

can produce real silliness sometimes.

Most people currently maintain, based in part on the claims of Danish zoologist Ole Worm, [1] that narwhal tusks provided the main source of "unicorn" horns in medieval times; however, there was concern about false horns being passed off as the real thing, and various "tests" were developed supposedly enabling one to tell the difference between the fake and authentic horns.

Most people currently maintain that what were thought to be unicorn horns are actually something else. (Most people currently maintain that Santa Claus does not deliver presents in a sleigh drawn by reindeer.) A naturalist's comparison of supposed unicorn horns with narwhal tusks is just a "claim", and of course there were tests to distinguish fake unicorn horns from the real thing! Tests, I tell you! Who writes this stuff? —Charles P. (Mirv) 09:47, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Made-up symbolism?

I removed this here: "The unicorn also served as a common symbol of indomitable pride and purity and of Jesus." Anyone who can find the unicorn used to symbolize any of these traits should quote a source and work it into the article. Indomitable pride and Jesus! --Wetman 05:57, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

absolutely to the contrary! the unicorn was widely regarded as a symbol of Jesus throughout the middle ages. Pride and Purity i think go without needing sources. Quothe Shepard quoting the Physiologus: In its simpler versions this interpretation likens the unicorn directly to Christ: its one horn is said to signify the unity of Christ and the Father; its fierceness and defiance of the hunter are to remind us that neither Principalities nor Powers not Thrones were able control the Messiah against His will; its small stature is a symbol of Christ's humility and its lieness to a kid of His association with sinfull men. The virgin is help to represent the Virgin Mary and the huntsman is the Holy Spirit acting through the Angel Gabriel. Taken as a whole, then, the story of the unicorn's capture typifies the Incarnation of Christ. - Odell Shepard, "the lore of the unicorn", 1930. i'm somewhat new to wikipedia and thus shy of editing the original article, so if someone feels like doing that, please. -- doc ocelot 20060619

Nelneskai?

I recently heard about a story of a Druidic or Celtic Unicorn, named Nelneskai, or something to similiar spelling. It said something about a young man finding and taming a unicorn, and it protecting him from demons and devils. I haven't found any information, but I have had a similiar dream to the story, and have found a fascinating Unicorn figurine after a dream, so vivid. I woke up to see a Unicorn figurine that shimmers upon looking upon it. I have only heard stories. Maybe someone could identify this for me.

Thank you.

- I think dreams would be classified as original research 71.231.143.65 (talk) 06:56, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Kidney?

P.T. Barnum once exhibited a unicorn skeleton that was exposed as a hoax. It turned out to be a plot to steal kidneys.

What does this mean? I'm deleting it. If someone can explain how this isn't vandalism, please re-edit and cite your sources.

Too many cartoons?

Unicorn hunt: "Another involved angering a unicorn, fleeing from it toward a tree when it charged, and diving out of the way just before the tree, causing the unicorn to strike the tree, rendering it dead, unconscious, or stuck, held by its horn in the wood." Right! Accompanied by the sound spron-n-ng no doubt. I removed this schtick here. --Wetman 21:47, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Unicorn = Homosexuality???

I read a news item this week about some military outfit in Afghanistan that named itself after the unicorn but changed it when they "discovered" it was some sort of euphemism for gayness. I've never heard this before, and there's nothing on Wikipedia about it either. Does anyone have any idea what this supposed connection between the word "unicorn" and homosexuality is all about? JackofOz 13:31, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

--Unfortunate as it is, it's very simple. Just that the "macho" types think that guys who like unicorns must be gay. That's all there is to it. (Yoshiaki Abe 21:05EST 09/01/07) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yoshiaki Abe (talk • contribs) 01:05, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

--There is also the Eunuch Horn symbolism I came across when I sent a Xmas card with a unicorn to a guy who'd had a vasectomy who took umbrage at the implied insult (of which I was completely innocent). 211.26.158.138 (talk) 13:22, 13 June 2008 (UTC) Ian Ison

Shepard's The Lore of the Unicorn

Very, very many of the historical issues on this discussion page are admirably cleared up by Odell Shepard's 1930 "the lore of the unicorn". He covers the prehistorical, ancient, medieval, renaissance, and modern history of the unicorn, is replete with sources, etc. The only thing i feel he's lacking as a serious treatment of the unicorn legend is any consideration at all of phallic imagery. Possibly i'm still in 7th grade at heart, but i think it demands at least a little historical attention. -- doc ocelot 20060620 The unicorn predates Freud. Is a tree phallic or is a phallus tree-like? Let's not force revisionist interpretations where there is no evidence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.70.245.205 (talk) 17:43, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Latin name?

Has the uncicorn ever had a scientific name? Like Monoceridos monoceros or something similar? Shandristhe azylean 06:28, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Though one scientific paper that I've seen proposes a latin name, that paper was in jest and merely written as an example of how to create spatial distribution models and use sampling to determine populations. It does use monoceros for the species though, and montanus as the second name to denote unicorns found mostly in montana. Perhaps that is the first, official, citable publication with the latin name though? Owlmonkey 15:53, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Unicorn is of course latin for one horn. It features in the Latin for the rhino-rhinoceros unicorn. 78.148.48.250 (talk) 19:30, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Some assertions from modern fantasy

The following quirky assertions seem to be personal ones, perhaps drawn from the television (Wetman 04:40, 20 July 2006 (UTC)):

  • It has often been suggested or shown that it is the females that are pure white. Males have been described as jet black with an orange mane and tail. [Representations in the visual arts since the fifteenth century show that this is just not so.]
  • Although they are generally thought of as legendary, there have been various unicorn spottings in many regions of Brazil. [A unicorn spotted in Brazil would make headlines, and perhaps a Discovery Channel special. Hasn't been reported.]
  • Seen as a symbol of immortality, grace, purity, love and the magic of working miracles, the unicorn is oftentimes used as a metaphor for Christ, many times playing opposite the red bull, a common representation of Satan. [Unicorn as a symbol of Christ is sourced and mentioned. Does any visual representation ever make this supposed contrast of unicorn and bull, or is this a will o' the wisp?]
The white unicorn vs. the red bull is from Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. In the movie Legend, the Devil character was bright red and had horns of a steer--which may be where the unicorn as Christ and red bull as Satan comes from. 67.167.26.239 22:07, 22 January 2007 (UTC) Chris G.

Biblical Tachash

The bible reports the use of skins from the TACHASH for Tabernacle drapery. The Talmud reports that it has one horn. KJV mistakenly translates tachash as badger, however, that is a mistake from the Latin taxus. Does anyone have information regarding the possible connection between the Talmudic account of the tachash and the unicorn?

Garbled link

Can anyone make out this link, which doesn't Google or appear at Amazon.com: "Zárate, Mario E. [Unicorn Live] Lima-Perú: [2006]" Is this a vanity link from www.mariozarate.com? --Wetman 21:32, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

"Made up"

The following phrases were added, twice, by 72.130.226.105:

Long Ago, Native Americans strapped corn to their horses heads in attempts to fight off the Vegetable spirits and bring good crops and keep diseases and pests from their fields.

When settlers from Indonesia arrived they say this weird ritual and depicted the creatures as horses with one [uni] horn on their head. Keeping with the originality of it being corn called them Unicorns.

[made.up.]

I find this comment very hard to believe, not just because of the last phrase! I'd appreciate a source for this comment.

Chip Unicorn 17:39, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Alicorn

In the text the alicorn is depicted as the unicorn's horn, however in Cantabria's mythology it is a winged unicorn.

There is more information in http://tuscriaturas.blogia.com/2004/junio.php and http://personales.mundivia.es/llera/mitologia.htm.

Please if you can correct and add information about the alicorn.

—Claunia 09:32, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Claunia - an alicorn is definitely the correct term to refer to a unicorn's horn. see Lore of the Unicorn, by Odell Shepard. in popular usage, the term for a winged unicorn is a "pegicorn". (pegasus + unicorn) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.235.158.0 (talk) 16:03, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

But pegicorn is not correct, it's absurd word! The correct information for winged unicorn from Cantabria's mythology is the second web (http://personales.mundivia.es/llera/mitologia.htm) and the first was a fanfic and has no mythological information (I'm the webmaster of the page) see this (http://tuscriaturas.blogia.com/2008/112301-introduccion-a-el-bestiario-del-hypogripho-dorado.php) where is mention that all in this page haven't got veridical equivalent in mythology. (i'm sorry about my english). I hope I have helped--Jakeukalane (talk) 18:39, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Poison versus absinthe

An anonymous user changed what the alicorn cured from poison to absinthe. I have reverted it to the general "poison", based on sources like "http://www.izea.net/education/journal39.pdf". Of course, if someone has the original Greek written by Ctesias, that would be much better! Chip Unicorn 05:25, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

this was subtle vandalism - see his other "contributions". i had reported him to an anti-vandal specialistJohnbod 15:57, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Can we delete the whole "Prehistory" section?

This whole section is unsubstantiated.

  • The Lascaux "unicorn" cleary has two horns. The use of Unicorn as a name to use when referring to the picture does not mean anyone thinks it's actually a unicorn. (Just like NASA scientists might refer to the Face on Mars as a descriptive term without believing it's an alien artifact.)
  • The reference from Richard Leaky is irrelevent since it clearly says that he doesn't think it represents a unicorn.
  • The use of "unconfirmed reports" to describe the next paragraph pretty much sums it up. If you read the reference you'll see that the unicorn pictures were made in recent times and thus can't depict prehistoric creatures. And while this was reported in the journal Nature, they obviously had looser standards in 1872.
  • The last reference is a second-hand account that some random scientist in South America believes unicorns roamed the Amazon in the Late Pleistocene.

None of these are any indication that prehistoric peoples believed in or drew pictures of unicorns. Tocharianne 21:20, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Sounds sensible to me Johnbod 21:44, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I'll go along with that: there's no connection to the unicorn myth. --Wetman 21:49, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Done. I'll try to find the Lascaux Unicorn a good home over at Lascaux. Tocharianne 17:35, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Oops, forgot to mention: as part of a general cleanup I did of the article I removed the following "In almost every folklore, there can never be more than one unicorn existing at any point in time." from the "Unicorn in culture" section. It should be put somewhere in the body of the article (if it's true), but I don't know where. Tocharianne 17:37, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

I think it is at the least an overstatement Johnbod 17:46, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Naive text

The following, which I've not deleted, is unworthy of Wikipedia: "It is a common miconception that unicorns cannot fly. This however is false. It has been said that unicorns are able to achieve flight through their magical properties, that apparently stem from the animals horn. This is the reason they are sometimes confused with the similar animal Pegasus, however the difference is that Pegasus is supposedly stemmed from horses, while unicorns have been created from goats. ". What unicorns are and what they do, depends of what you're reading: is this from kiddy cartoon shows like Dragon Tales?--Wetman 05:22, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I've removed it for you. No idea where this information comes from, but it's the sort of thing that doesn't get my benefit of the doubt without a reference of some sort. Bryan 05:46, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Split out "Unicorns in popular culture" section

I've nominated the Unicorn article to have pop culture "sightings" and references in their own article. If someone wants to add a bit about unicorns that they heard on Charmed or some cartoon show, they can play with the Unicorns in popular culture article. 67.167.26.239 03:17, 22 January 2007 (UTC) Chris G.

  • support split since that section is getting huge. Tocharianne 22:14, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

No discussion needed. 69.3.212.81 08:11, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Well, deleting the whole section just encouraged someone to re-add it so I created the Unicorns in popular culture page. Tocharianne 02:40, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Vandalised

The article is currently in a vandalised state, as was this version a couple of days ago. Should it be semi-protected? Andjam 04:39, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Uses of unicorn's horns

The unicorn horn was used mostly by the trolls as a stir stick. They believed the unicorn's magic...

Is it just me, or is this worded a bit too factually, as if the existance of trolls, goblins, etc all existed. Further, calling it a `poor unicorn`, and `hideous method` other such phrases are not NPOV Tdinkar 19:42, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The heading is wrong - by definition a Unicorn does not have HornS. 203.129.60.195 12:00, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

A blessing of unicorns

Under 'Blessing', one reference is [quote] Blessing is the collective noun for a group of Unicorns [unquote] in English, I infer. Should that literary whimsy be included somewhere in this item?

203.129.39.106 12:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)JayD203.129.39.106 12:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

No, leave it out! Unicorns are (were?) solitary! Dbfirs 10:15, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Marianna Mayer quote

Marianna Mayer has observed, "The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears..."

Is this even remotely truthful? What about mermaids and winged horses? Labcoat 22:36, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not true, nor is Mayer a credible or relevant source. She's simply children's book author. However, no one is willing to delete it because they are biased towards how she elevates the unicorn. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.70.245.205 (talk) 17:50, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
It's also shameless advertisement from a non-expert/fantasy buff. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.70.4.32 (talk) 13:38, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
Would someone with access please remove this pointless plug from "Marianna Mayer"? I don't know who this person is, however, I doubt she is an authority on the subject based on the following: I direct you to this article, i.e, from a real encyclopaedia where the description of the Chinese mythical Lung as benevolent neutralises the asinine, factually incorrect quote/paragraph, which is cluttering the article's introduction. There are many more easily located examples of beneficent mythological beings from cultures around the world, e.g., Australian Aborigine, making this text highly suspect 192.148.117.81 (talk) 14:14, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

The term unicorn

I have always known that the term uni means two or more, but when it come to unicorn why does it mean one. Shouldn't it be called monocorn as mono means one and as "unicorns" have only one horn. It just seems more right to call it monocorn then unicorn.

Someone else must agree with me.

"Uni" does mean one. It's Latin. "Mono" is Greek, but means the same thing. Link from Dictionary.com - Shrensh 06:13, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

How many wheels does YOUR unicycle have?! 194.200.145.5 13:00, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Actually the Unicorn "reconstruction" made from bones from the Einhornhoehle Scharzfeld _does_ have a wheel. They made it from a bone that belonged to a mamoth. Nowadays we think that's funny, people back then must have believed it I guess. I can recommend to visit that cave btw., it's am interesting place, not fully explored yet, in a great landscape. (edit : added link to "wheel" reference) -- 78.34.15.208 (talk) 18:42, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

2007 Unicorn SIGHTING!

For those that may be interested, a German couple holidaying in Switzerland not only claimed to have seen a Unicorn recently they have captured the beast on video! Perhaps this could be added to the article (if not already there sorry I haven't read through everything). Is it real? Perhaps...perhaps not but so far it hasn't been proven a fake! YourPTR! (talk) 19:52, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Here is the link! Unicorn captured on film! YourPTR! (talk) 19:55, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Two images

I placed two images in the lead as a test. I preferred the Tapestry, however I have moved it in respect to other views. Its really not a big deal. Modernist (talk) 03:35, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

In popular culture

What does everyone think of removing the 'in popular culture' section? In my opinion it is nothing but an indiscriminate list of irrelevant trivia that will never be worked into the article. It will likely never be complete as unicorns are so pervasive in popular culture and really doesn't do anything to further the reader's understanding of what a unicorn actually is. Cheers, faithless (speak) 04:37, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

No opinions? In that case I can only assume that no one objects - I'll give it a few more days and, if there is no objection, I'll remove the section. Cheers, faithless (speak) 02:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
I've moved the list here, in case this apparent trash heap is really a virtual Oxyrhynchus. Wetman (talk) 03:35, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
  • New Braunfels High School in New Braunfels, Texas is the only school in Texas that uses the Unicorn as a mascot.
  • Shel Silverstein's poem, The Unicorn, describes how the unicorns' playful nature led to the species' extinction.
  • Unicorns are shown in the Disney film Fantasia, in the segment of Ludwig van Beethoven's Sixth Symphony.
  • Unicorns are featured prominently in the 1985 film Legend, in which the creatures are hunted by the Lord of Darkness, the film's antagonist, in his attempt to obtain their magical alicorns and submerge the world in eternal darkness.
  • In the episode entitled Sing For The Unicorn of The Legend of Zelda, a flying unicorn was stolen by Ganon from a Sheikah girl named Sing.
  • Unicorns appear in the book (and film) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and in the book (and film) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
  • In the last Narnia book The Last Battle, the king's best friend is a unicorn named Jewel.
  • In Haruki Murakami's, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World unicorns and in particular unicorn skulls play an important role.
  • A singular unicorn is the subject of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
  • In the movie Blade Runner (Director's Cut and Final Cut), the character, Deckard, has a dream involving a unicorn. At the very end of the movie the characters, Rachel and Deckard, are seen leaving his apartment. As they leave, Deckard finds an origami unicorn calling card left by Gaff and they depart towards an uncertain future together.
  • In the song The Unicorn performed by French electro producer Electrosexual and German singer Dorian E the unicorn is used as a metaphor for vulnerability and mystery. The theremin sound during the ending of the song embodies the tears of the dying animal.
  • A devious unicorn named Yunihiko is featured in the Japanese anime series Damekko Dōbutsu.
  • In She-Ra, Princess Adora's horse, Spirit, turned into a flying unicorn (name becomes Swift Wind) during their transformation.
  • The Last Unicorn book and animated movie adaptation The Last Unicorn.
  • In the Disney story Trail of the Unicorn by Carl Barks, a unicorn is to be captured for Uncle Scrooge's zoo.
  • A little unicorn named Unico, who possess the power to grant wishes, is the star of the Anime series Unico.
  • The Pokemon Rapidash is based on a (fiery) unicorn.
  • In the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Pevensie rode a unicorn on the First Battle of Beruna.
  • In the game Viva Piñata the Chewnicorn is based on the unicorn.
  • In the game "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion," a single unicorn is available for the character to ride or kill for its horn.
  • In the popular internet video, "Charlie the Unicorn" or "Charlie goes to Candy Mountain", Charlie, portrayed as a "normal" unicorn is dragged by his two eccentric friends on a journey to "candy mountain". Along the way they pass things such as liopleuridons and "magical" bridges, when they finally arrive at candy mountain, Charlie goes into a cave and is knocked out, upon awakening he realizes his kidney is gone.

Pegasus in popular culture has its own article, couldn't we make a separate article for unicorns as well? There are quite a few additions *coughmylittleponycough* that could go on there 24.65.123.9 (talk) 01:46, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Japanese Kirin?

I believe this should be changed to the more general "East Asian Qilin." First of all, the link redirects to a page titled Qilin (not the alternative speilling Kirin), where it appropriately has a second that lists the name in other languages, including Japanese. Second of all, the origins of the Qilin are Chinese, not Japanese, but in any case various East Asian cultures recognize a variant of it and it would be incorrect to attribute it to a single culture. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bloodredrosez (talk • contribs) 07:49, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Actual unicorn in the news

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/11/italy1

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&q=%22Gilberto+Tozzi%22+unicorn&btnG=Search+News —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.27.49.74 (talk) 20:23, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Heh... Calling a young deer with a messed up set of antlers a "unicorn" is a bit of a stretch :) I'd be inclined to leave this out of the article. --Jaysweet (talk) 20:25, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I disagree. I believe that this article should be linked to and referenced along with the other possibilities for the origin of the unicorn. It is as plausible and legitimate as narwhals and deformed goats. Here's the MSN article I found: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25097986/from/ET/wid/18298287/&GT1=43001Vitajex (talk) 20:42, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Unicorn is in the Bible

The unicorn is mentioned 9 times in the Bible (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9, 10; Psalm 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isaiah 34:7). Most modern versions of the Bible identify the unicorn as a wild ox. However, the biblical descriptions do not fit a wild ox. The characteristics of the unicorn are as follows:

The strength of the unicorn is a major theme of the Bible record about unicorns (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Job 39:11) The unicorn is wild and cannot be tamed (Job 39:9-12) The unicorn is a dangerous animal (Psalm 22:21) The name unicorn means one-horned, although this could possibly refer to one prominent horn. The Bible is clearly not speaking of a wild ox. However, there is more than one possibility as to its identity.

First, there is the possibility that the mythical tales of a horse with a prominent forward horn are not completely mythical. Perhaps the unicorn is yet to be discovered. This is not to say that the Bible is teaching a myth. It is not. And, as the biblical description demonstrates, the unicorn in the Bible is not the unicorn of mythology in any way. Second, this could be a rare species of rhinoceros that has only one horn. There is actually such a species known to zoologists today. Perhaps it was much more common at one time. Julius Caesar (according to Unger's Bible Dictionary) described a unicorn that was immense in size, of great strength and speed, ferocious, and untamable. This perfectly matches the biblical description of the unicorn. Third, the name, unicorn, could refer to the prominent horn of the more common rhinoceros. Deuteronomy 33:17 compares the horns of Joseph to the horns of unicorns. With them (the horns) he pushes the people together. They (the horns) are compared to the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh are the two tribes that come from the two sons of Joseph. The younger son (Ephraim) was given the greater blessing by Jacob (Genesis 48:17-20). This may be portrayed in Deuteronomy 33:17 by ascribing ten thousands to Ephraim but only thousands to Manasseh. How better to picture these two disproportionate tribes than with an animal that had one prominent horn (the unicorn) but also had a second much lesser horn. As further evidence, Psalm 92:10 refers to the horn of the unicorn as being exalted. This sounds like a forward pointing horn that naturally points upward—or is exalted--as the prominent horn of the rhinoceros. These passages are not absolute proof, but they strongly point to the rhinoceros as the animal that matches the unicorn in the Bible. At least until another unicorn is discovered, the rhinoceros is the most probable identity of the unicorn. The Bible description matches this animal very well. 

http://www.learnthebible.org/q-a-identity-of-the-unicorn.htm  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.99.19.150 (talk) 18:18, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
The apology justifying "unicorn" as a translation chases its own tail: "Learn-the-bible" indeed. To clear the fog, begin with Jewish Encyclopedia, article "Unicorn". "Unicorn" was an attempt by the early 17th-century English translators to find an equivalent for re'em, an unidentified animal in the original Hebrew text. Indeed "the name unicorn means one-horned", but that is not a character of re'em specified in the Scripture. The self-confident assertion "The Bible is clearly not speaking of a wild ox" is unwarranted: compare aurochs to the nine appearances of re'em. --Wetman (talk) 18:39, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Scottish?? statue of unicorn

Query the label attached to third image in Unicorn article, said to be 'An old Scottish statue of a unicorn'. Suspiciously the place in Scotland is unnamed. This is almost certainly an image of one of the splendid unicorns topping Bristol's Council House (C20th). Just google Bristol unicorn to get e.g. flickr.com/photos/80739320@N00/229041166/

The unicorn appears in Bristol's coat of arms. I suggest amending label to 'Statue of a unicorn on Bristol's Council House'. Joandarc (talk) 22:00, 4 May 2009 (UTC)Joandarc 4 May 2009

I've rewritten the caption accordingly; the description on the image's page, File:Wesh unicorn statue.jpg, specifically states "Unicorn on top of the Bristol City Council Buildings, UK." (Oddly, if the "Wesh" in the image's filename is a typo for "Welsh," the uploader seems to have been mistaken about where Bristol is.) Deor (talk) 22:48, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Angel as unicorn

I remember reading about an angel in the shape of a unicorn, who was a friend of the archangel Michael. He is reportedly of the same shape as the demon Amdusias, except he is an angel and not a demon, even though some people may confuse the two. ADM (talk) 03:06, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

No doubt they may. I'm sure I would. Do you really mean reading?--Wetman (talk) 21:23, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Speculation

I've removed the following lines:

"This unicorn found in Prato, Tuscany is one of the most concrete living evidence of the legendary unicorn: notice that roe deer have also cloven hooves, like traditional representations. Maybe there were in the past similar morphological anomalies like a single-horn deer or a different animal that has been seen from a certain distance."

This is clearly both speculation rather than encyclopaedic fact, and original research
~dom Kaos~ (talk) 13:02, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Bogus "blessing of unicorns"

Bogus "blessing of unicorns": The following has been deleted from the text and moved here:

Interestingly enough, the collective term for a grouping of unicorns has been suggested as "a blessing of unicorns".

No, it hasn't, interestingly enough. Googling the phrase "blessing of unicorns" (within the quotation marks) brings up zero hits. At JSTOR, which indexes a wide range of professional periodical literature, the phrase "blessing of unicorns" brings up zero hits. Unicorn is plagued with vandalism and scribbles: this is just someone's game. A "blessing of unicorns" will be removed from the list at List of collective nouns by subject I-Z.--Wetman (talk) 17:13, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

My Google search for "blessing of unicorns" today turned up over 2,800 hits. Refining the search to remove mere references to lists of collective nouns (as well as references to an author of a work with the title "Blessing of Unicorns") still left several hundred hits, including some from reputable sources (Irish Times, wired.com) using the phrase as common parlance (i.e., without further definition). Similar searches for "glory of unicorns" and "sparkle of unicorns" also returned results to a lesser extent. I propose adding a sentence or two to that effect, with refs if desired. As for location, I'd rather put it in the body of the article, a la rhinoceros, but given the lack of an appropriate heading in this article, I'll put it in the intro. Dohn joe (talk) 00:39, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
In the absence of an authoritative source showing that this isn't something that was just made up one day and spread about a bit, I think it should stay out of the article. Many of the "terms of venery" so beloved of list-makers are fanciful inventions that have never had any actual currency in real life, and I fear that "blessing of unicorns" is one of these. (The OED, for example, knows nothing of such a use of blessing.) And as for "sparkle of unicorns"—I mean, really! None of this belongs in the article, and most certainly not in the lead. Deor (talk) 01:07, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
Once more, "At JSTOR, which indexes a wide range of professional periodical literature, the phrase 'blessing of unicorns' brings up zero hits." Deor is correct. --Wetman (talk) 05:46, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
Here are the cites I found for "blessing of unicorns", from wired.com; and the Irish Times. Seems like these are non-list usages by non-unicorn enthusiasts in mainstream media. I agree that lots of terms of venery are silly, but if "crash" sits on the rhinoceros page, and "exaltation" makes it to the skylark page, why not "blessing" here? Dohn joe (talk) 18:44, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Could someone please update the page (as it has been locked) with the following: (thanks in advance)

"A Eunuch should not be confused with a Unicorn. A Unicorn is a noble beast with a fully functioning set of male genitalia, and an additional and permanently erected male appendage attached to the forehead." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.45.214.76 (talk) 10:53, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

The Chosen One

Unicorns can kill you if you charge at them. Only pet them if you are the chosen one. If you are the chosen one they will come around you and begin to talk to you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.106.124.234 (talk) 23:49, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Reference tag

check it over but it looks well-referenced to me.--Hunter of laughing female hyenas (talk) 21:52, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Dubious

I've tagged a paragraph as dubious which seems to imply there aren't rhinos in India, and that African Rhinos have a single horn. When according to rhinoceros, both African species and the Sumatran Rhinoceros have two horns, while the Indian and Javan Rhinoceros have a single horn. PhilKnight (talk) 20:51, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

I've removed the statement. PhilKnight (talk) 22:01, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Artwork and rainbows

Is there any details on the origins of the detailed Unicorn artwork there is? These usually contain rainbows. Also any information on why Unicorns are associated with rainbows? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.103.173.3 (talk) 05:30, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Pagan unicorns?

In the Medieval Unicorns section, two references are made to "pagan symbolism," but no examples of pagan symbolism are given. If the the statement in the Unicorns in antiquity section is correct, and there are no examples of unicorns in Greek or any other European mythology, then the reason that no examples are given is that there are no examples to be found. I therefore propose dropping or altering the references to "pagan" unicorns. Rwflammang (talk) 01:27, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

The Extinct Possibility - Avoiding A Priori Assertions

In its first sentence, the current article jumps to an a priori, presuppositional assertion that the unicorn is mythological and cites a modern author of children's books to support its assertion. The article then continues to cite abundant historical evidence for the existence of the unicorn while providing minimal support for its mythological context. It cites Leonardo DaVinci, a scientist, and cultural evidence from Europe and India for the existence of the unicorn. The article does not well support its myth assertion.

The article acknowledges that the unicorn was not part of Greek mythology. The article does not provide an alternative mythological foundation nor describe what the relevant myths are and might represent.

Large animals easily become extinct before smaller animals. Larger animals are the target of hunters. The rhinoceros and elephant are endangered today because its horns are sought after. The unicorn and its horn would certainly be sought after it were alive today and would easily become extinct again if it were found alive and unprotected.

This article needs a new opening paragraph that recognizes the historical evidence for the existence of the unicorn and that covers the folklore and any mythological aspects of the unicorn more accurately.Itohacs 10:04, 2 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Itohacs (talk • contribs)

Are there any respected biologists (or related experts) who seriously consider that the unicorn may be an extinct species? Have you any sources in mind for this claim? (I see nothing significant in the article as it stands. Have I missed something?) Phiwum (talk) 14:22, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 69.245.200.142, 20 September 2010

{{edit semi-protected}} Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary's definition of "unicorn" is:

"1. an animal with one horn; the monoceros. this name is often applied to the rhinoceros."

The definition of rhinoceros from Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary is:

"A genus of quadrupeds of two species, one of which, the unicorn, as a single horn growing almost erect from the nose. This animal when full grown, is said to be 12 feet in length. There is another species with two horns, the bicornis. They are natives of Asia and Africa."

According to Noah Webster, back in the early 1800's, it was understood that there were 2 species of the rhinoceros. The one-horned species was called unicorn, and the two-horned species was called bicornis.

As a matter of fact, even today the scientific name of the Asian One-Horned Rhinoceros is Rhinoceros Unicornis. And Diceros Bicornis is the scientific name of a two-horned rhinoceros called the Black rhinoceros.

The King James version of the bible uses the word unicorn 9 times in 5 different books. However, the Latin Vulgate uses 5 different words: 1. rinoceros 2. rinocerotis 3. rinocerota 4. unicornium 5 unicornis

These 5 latin words are what's being used when the King James version of the Bible says "Unicorn."

There is a book for sale today called "The Return of the Unicorns: The Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros" This book was published in 2003 by a scientist named Eric Deinerstein. If can be bought on Amazon.com.

There is an extinct species of a giant One-Horned rhinoceros scientists today refer to as "The Giant Unicorn" (Elasmotherium Sibiricum). Creation Scientists from Answers In Genesis and the Creation Museum believe this creature might be the unicorn that is being referred to in the Bible.

Although Deut. 33:17 in the King James version of the Bible says unicorns (plural), the Hebrew word "Re-em" in this verse is actually in it's singular form, whereas the Hebrew word for horns is in it's plural form, making it seem that this is talking about a singular animal with plural horns. This would make sense, since the Latin Vulgate translates it in this verse as "rinocerotis" instead of "unicornis."

The Black Rhinoceros today lives in Ethiopia. In the book of Numbers, it says that Moses married an Ethiopian woman. According to the historian Philo, Moses married this woman when he went to Ethiopia. If Moses saw this two-horned rhinoceros in Ethiopia when he was there, then it could be that this was the animal that he was referring to in Deuteronomy 33:17, when he compares the two horns of the "rhinocerotis" to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. Since Ephraim was a larger tribe than Manasseh, just like Jacob had prophesied in Genesis 48, the two-horned rhinoceros would be an appropriate picture, since it has a larger horn and a smaller horn. Ephraim would represent the larger horn, and Manasseh would represent the smaller horn. it could be that Moses was referring to the Black Rhinoceros, diceros bicornis. If this is the case, then the King James version of the Bible is mistaken in this particular verse when it translates it as "unicorn."


69.245.200.142 (talk) 15:51, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. It's good to see you have done some research, but I was not able to grasp what you wanted changed. Thanks, Stickee (talk) 02:13, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Latin words for unicorn in the Bible

Actually, there are only two Latin words for unicorn used in the Bible; they are unicornis and rhinoceros. Unicornis is a regular third declension adjective used as a substantive. The form unicornium is just the genitive plural of unicornis. Rhinoceros is an irregular third person masculine noun; rhinocerotis is its genitive and rhinocerota is its irregular accusative.

  • unicornis, nominative singular, "the one-horned [one]"
    • unicornium, genitive plural, "of the one-horned [ones]"
  • rhinoceros, nominative singular, "the rhino" (subject)
    • rhinocerotis, genitive singular, "of the rhino"
    • rhinocerota, accusative singular (irregular), "the rhino" (object)

Rwflammang (talk) 15:50, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

BBC Broadcast - recommended further reading

Program "In Our Time" by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on Thursday, 21:30 GMT on BBC Radio 4: archived audio from the broadcast

guests:

  • Juliette Wood (Associate Lecturer in Folklore at Cardiff University)
  • Lauren Kassell (Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge)
  • David Ekserdjian (Professor of the History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester)

Recommended Further Reading:

  • 'The Natural History of Unicorns' by Chris Lavers (Granta, 2009) ISBN 978-1847080622
  • 'Wonders and the Order of Nature' by Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park (Zone, 1998) ISBN 0-942299-90-6.
  • 'The Lore of the Unicorn' by O Shepard (London, Unwin and Allen, 1930) ISBN 978-1437508536
  • 'The Unicorn' by Lise Gotfredsen (New York: Abbeville Press, 1999) ISBN 978-1860462672

Timpo (talk) 10:53, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

Wings

Unicorns are sometimes depicted with wings. Is there a specific origin to this or are people merging a unicorn with a pegasus? --Bequw (talk) 21:31, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from Flutation, 5 November 2010

{{edit semi-protected}}


Flutation (talk) 00:05, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Unicornicus matchicus

There is a special breed of unicorn that shares many distinct and hard to find qualities including a(n): sense of humor, education, employment, divorce, does not have kids, wants kids, regular exercise including reckless running through mud, single, and ranging from a little bit attractive (the male version) to something quite a bit more attractive (the female version). The last 2 known unicorns of this species reside in suburbs of large cities in Tennessee. The world is bracing for extinction unless something happens fast. These creatures’ predators include the carnivorous Sisters at Radiant Farms in County Meath Ireland. They kill these harmless creatures to obtain their candied almond flavored unicorns that they sell for $11.99 a can (mixed with the unicorn’s meat). Please call your Congressman/woman to stop the destruction of these unicorns today.

 Not done - [citation needed]. TFOWR 00:07, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Deleting "Modern Unicorns" and "Unicorns in Pop culture" sections

"Modern Unicorns" In modern times the unicorn has had many other fantastical powers and mythologies. In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, the killing of a unicorn is considered a grave sin against nature, but the main antagonist, Voldemort, does it anyway as the blood of the unicorn is said to grant the drinker immortality. Children's toys have also revolved around unicorns often depicted as pink or silver, giving them a feminine appeal. There have been children's novels about the unicorn with fanciful ideas. Some of these added mytholgies: the hooves and horns of a unicorn are golden. Unicorns "speak" a language to each other known as "dynamite". It seems that the mythology of the unicorn is ever changing as the times change and new authors take liberties with the original mythology.

I deleted this section, because it is just mentioning a few specific examples, not discussing anything about modern unicorns generally. They don't seem to be particularly unique or noteworthy examples, and are mostly unreferenced to boot. Also, particular examples are not "mythologies", and the last sentence is unencyclopedic and contradicts itself.

"Unicorns in Pop Culture" Unicorns are seen in popular culture such as films, books, magazines, and comics. Unicorns are popularly portrayed in the Harry Potter series, and are given mystic powers(Such as the ability to ward off evil). Such popular culture has also lead to sports teams being named after the unicorn(Random Examples: In Unicorns we trust, Might Unicorns, Rainbow Dwelling Unicorns, Super Unicorns). The popularity of Unicorns in pop culture remains on the rise.

I deleted this section for similar reasons - the Harry Potter example is not particular unique or noteworthy. The last sentence is unsourced and not self-evidently true. As it says itself, the sports team examples are random. They would be better placed under Team Names if they are notable teams, but I Googled "in unicorns we trust" team and found no hits.

If there are any general trends or points to make about unicorns in modern culture, I think the article would benefit from a section on them (I'm not a unicorn buff myself so I don't feel qualified to add one). I think Vampire#In modern fiction provides a good example of how to do it. Lessthanideal (talk) 16:41, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for deleting this whole very skip-able section. Rwflammang (talk) 23:11, 6 November 2010 (UTC)
Could I make an attempt at writing an 'in popular culture' section? I'm new here, so it wouldn't be the best work ever, but I figure I might as well start somewhere. Carnivorousfungi (talk) 03:04, 5 October 2011 (UTC)
Welcome and go ahead with contributing! Beware though that popular culture sections are a bit of a thorny issue. (You might want to start on something that'll be less controversial!) If you do go ahead with it, a general tip worth following, as codified by various WikiProjects as a recommendation for use in their areas, is this: include something - for example a song or film - if it is relevant to the encyclopaedic article on the unicorn and adds something to our understanding of the creature, or its importance. Do not include it if it only adds to the understanding of the song or film. This isn't a rule. But it'll help your section avoid deletion! – Kieran T (talk) 12:31, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

Ringling Brothers hoax

I think there should be some mention made of the "Unicorns" the circus tried palming off on the world that were in actuality white horses with horns grafted onto their skulls.

I think you should know something about a subject before you make such a statement. You can't graft horns on a horse. The unicorns at the Ringling Bros. Circus were the creation of Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, founder of the Church of All Worlds. They were the result of minor surgery to the horn buds of goats, basically irritation followed by binding, which fused the buds and resulted in goats with a single horn, looking remarkably like the unicorn in the famous tapestry "Lady and the Unicorn" (which is goat sized, cloven-hooved, and has a goat beard). He also documented the research he did to support the theory that this technique (which can only be used on an animal that naturally has horns) was used historically to create unicorns as natural herd leaders and royal court curiosities. This research and other work was done under the auspices of the Ecosophical Research Association, founded by Morning Glory Zell to fund their various projects, including: the Living Unicorn Project, a hunt for Mermaids off the coast of Papua New Guinea, and trips to Europe to study various sacred sites (and obtain authentic Pagan images to reproduce in Oberon's art, examples of which are part of the Mythic Images line of statuary). This was all published and could not be called a hoax. You can find info about them, and a picture of Oberon & Morning Glory Zell with Lancelot, one of the unicorns, at [2] Rosencomet (talk) 15:13, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

Misconceptions

While it's been postulated that unicorns fly because of magic pixie dust (Sturdevant, B. (2011, January 6). CIS 520 Weeks 4 and 5 Writing Enrichment Thread - Sturdevant. Message posted to https://cyberactive.bellevue.edu/), there are no primary source documents stating such. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Abmotsad (talk • contribs) 08:11, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Not an English word

"and a long forwardly-curved horn"

Forwardly is not an English word. The adjective is forward. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.102.246.101 (talk) 10:48, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Forwardly is in my dictionary. It is an adverb. In this case, it is modifying curved. We should lose the hyphen though. Rwflammang (talk) 12:23, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Debunking the myth

I apologize if this has already been answered, but the intro to the article states: "Until the 19th century, belief in unicorns was widespread among historians, alchemists, writers, poets, naturalists, physicians, and theologians." This enticed me enough to continue reading and I see no mention of what lead to the discontinuation of the belief. Several alternate explanations are offered (Single-horned goat, narwhal, etc.) and the Fabricated Evidence bit is appropriate, but nothing in this article definitively says "In 1972, an international committee comprised of scientists, scholars, and small children concluded no such creature ever existed. Their findings were based on..."

Obviously, I'm not looking for that exact sentence, but how did this fantastic beast go from the collective conscious to Rainbow Brite character? --Brendanmccabe (talk) 04:03, 3 April 2011 (UTC)


That's a good question, and it most certainly has not been definitively answered. Decline in the belief in unicorns seems to be coincident with decline in the belief in Alchemy and Astrology. The causes of the decline in the belief in these two sciences are complex and controversial and are not definitively understood; I doubt we will get a firmer answer for the case of unicorns. Nevertheless, we should all keep looking into it. I suggest starting with the resources mentioned in the References section. Rwflammang (talk) 04:36, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Defn: Legendary creature or Mythical creature

I know the difference is subtle but my vote is for mythical. RichardJ Christie (talk)

Definitely not mythical in its Greek origins. You could argue it became mythical because of its Christian allegories, but then you could argue the same for lions and stags, but nobody calls lions and stags mythical beasts. Rwflammang (talk) 09:14, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Alicorn merger proposal

Since alicorn is chiefly used to mean a unicorn's horn, I suggest a merger into one of the sections of this article. -IsaacAA (talk) 22:05, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

I support this proposal. The horn is so central to the legend that an alicorn section in Unicorn is warranted, but I doubt it would contain enough specialized detail to need its own article. Lusanaherandraton (talk) 06:50, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
  • Support - alicorn is short enough that it doesn't need its own article. Robofish (talk) 21:31, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
The article was merged into the Middle Ages section as the subsection "Alicorn". There is a lot of duplication both within the subsection and in relation to the rest of the article, so cleanup is necessary. -IsaacAA (talk) 10:20, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Unicorn horn

The French language Wikipedia has a featured article about the horn of the unicorn (fr:Corne de licorne) while we don't seem to have much to say about it. A section detailing this could be a good start. violet/riga [talk] 15:45, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 74.39.186.25, 4 October 2011

unicorn-one corn uni-one corn-obviously corn so unicorn means one corn duh

74.39.186.25 (talk) 17:10, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

No--Jac16888 Talk 17:16, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 1 December 2011

I think we should add superstition to the categories, As the superstition surrounding unicorn horns is large enough. Patchiman (talk) 01:45, 1 December 2011 (UTC) Patchiman (talk) 01:45, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

I do not see why an article on a legendary animal (and which is in Category:Legendary mammals) needs to be in Category:Superstitions. There is nothing in the article which mentions "superstition". Is there a source saying there is a link? Johnuniq (talk) 10:26, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 13 December 2011

A Unicorn can often be found near a place where a person that is pure of heart dwells. Today there is no such person. Gtasmy (talk) 06:03, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, but this page is to discuss improvements to the article and should not be used to add personal thoughts. Johnuniq (talk) 06:40, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines Unicorn as "an animal with one horn; the monoceros. this name is often applied to the rhinoceros." Also, Bicornus is defined as "Havin two horns." http://www.webster1828.com/websters1828/definition.aspx?word=Unicorn http://www.webster1828.com/websters1828/definition.aspx?word=Bicornous So, logically, since the King James Bible was translated in 1611, the references to unicorns are synonamous with rhinoceros prior to 1828, at least. Therefore the Bible is not referring to a mythical animal at all, but rather the very untamable Rhinocerous. There is also a book currently in publication titled "Return of the Unicorns, the Natural History and Conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinocerous", by Eric Dinerstein. (ISBN-10: 0231084501) 2003 Jrc316 (talk) 23:27, 29 March 2012 (UTC)Jrc316

Unicorn lair discovery

Supposedly, a 'unicorn lair' has been discovered in Pyongyang, North Korea. The lair is supposedly associated with King Dongmyeong of Goguryeo, who supposedly rode a unicorn. [3] It should be added, but I can't quite find where to insert it.--Auric 12:56, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

I've added it in the section that discusses Chinese versions of the unicorn. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 20:51, 1 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks!--Auric 20:56, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Another racist Eurocentric article

The first line says it all:

The unicorn is "a legendary animal from European folklore" that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard and cloven hooves.

Just because Whitey writes these articles on English Wikipedia doesn't mean they have de facto right to take Wp:UNDUE ownership of something just because "they be there first".

As noted in the section above, the Koreans have a myth regarding a single-horned animal, as do the Chinese and the Japanese. It is interesting to note that although, emphasis is placed heavily on the Chinese being the progenitors of such myth, Korean poetry influenced Chinese literature pertaining to the Unicorn myth.

Therefore it is only right to conclude that the Unicorn is a mythological animal that has symbolism in many cultures and not just those exclusive to Europe with its white horse version. However because this article is locked down (no doubt to its lie protected and free from the ravages of "facts") the white-centric version is held to be the de facto "real/authentic" version.

If Wikipedia is ever going to be more than the collaborative efforts of a bunch of self-hungry egoists who work hours for nothing (ever wonder why St Jimbo is now worth $25mil = free labor!  ;-) ) articles like this will just be the stock and trade of this site.

This is not a holistic article it's nothing more than a limited world view that is pushing a singular Euro-centric version.109.150.225.151 (talk) 10:40, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

We have separate articles on the unicorn and the qilin just as we have separate articles on the European dragon and the Chinese dragon. Legendary and mythical beasts are cultural constructs (unlike actually existing animals), and I don't believe there has been shown to be any connection between the unicorn of European tradition and the Eastern "animal" that has been referred to (by Westerners) as a unicorn simply by transferrence of a familiar term. (Note that in actual zoology, we have separate articles on, for instance, the European Robin and the American Robin, the latter of which was named by a similar linguistic transferrence, rather than one mixed-up "Robin" article.) This article includes a section mentioning the Eastern "unicorn" and linking readers to the proper article for further information about it; what more would you have? Deor (talk) 11:31, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
About the only thing 109.150.225.151 can do is add a {{globalize}} template to the top of the article. Anything else will have to await the discovery of an actual unicorn.--Auric 16:58, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Unicorn/Archive_1&oldid=1137282211"