none captivates the imagination as
does the unicorn. Perhaps this is
because we feel that a beautiful
horse-like animal with a single horn
really could have existed long ago,
in a faraway place. To people of an
earlier age, these animals were not
ordinary, they were quite real.
Reports of unicorn sightings go back
as far as the fourth century B.C., but
it was apparently in medieval times
that the belief in the folklore about
unicorns reached their peak. These exotic
creatures figured prominently in the art
of the time and were replete with symbolism.
Most often, unicorns represented purity,
chastity or innocence. This portrayal is
reminiscent of the second panel in the
famous "Unicorn Tapestries", produced around
1500 and now housed in the Metropolitan Museum
Of Art, a gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr..
Here the unicorns are shown in a forest
clearing where a fountain plays and
spring flowers bloom, even though the rest
of the world is clothed in autumn.
The scene also highlights another legend
concerning the unicorn: that of his horn's
magic powers. In the tapestry, various wild
animals wait by a stream while the unicorn
dips his horn into the water to purify it of
poison. Because the horn was also thought to
prevent plague, epilepsy and other diseases,
powders said to be made of unicorn
horn were in great demand.
According to legend, the unicorn was a
fearless animal, swift and strong. So great
was his courage and daring that hunters
could not capture him in the chase. Only a
pure maiden had the power to ensnare a unicorn.
Symbolic in the purity of himself, he was
attracted by her innocence, and meekly came
to kneel before her and place his head in her lap.
Captured by such a ruse and killed by hunters,
the purity of the unicorn triumphed, for the
indestructible creature returned to life again,
living contentedly in captivity. "
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by Judy Garland
