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Recently I posted some Bible oddities, which included numerous verses referring to unicorns.
It prompted Tim B to send me an email:
Hi Otto, we know why there are no unicorns today.
The Unicorn Song - The Irish Rovers - Lyrics , - YouTube
The link provided by Tim is:
The lyrics of the song tell the story of Noah and his ark, taking in the animals two by two, however the unicorns were hiding, playing games, kicking and splashing while the rain was coming down, and they literally missed the boat.
Thanks Tim.
There are some other explanations for their extinction:
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Some facts and trivia about unicorns:
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In medieval Europe, where food poisoning was common (both as hazard of poor domestic hygiene and as a tool of political assassination), unicorn horns were believed to neutralise poison.
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In 1577 Queen Elizabeth was gited by explorer Martin Frobisher what was believed to be a unicorn horn but was actually a Narwhal tusk. It is now part of the Crown Jewels and known as the Horn of Windsor.
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The unicorn was adopted as the national animal of Scotland in the 1300s. Scotland’s connections with the unicorn stem from its Celtic culture. Celtic mythology believed unicorns to represent innocence and purity whilst also being associated with chivalry, pride and boldness. The unicorn is also the natural enemy of the lion, adopted by English royalty some 100 years before.
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To test whether a horn was a true unicorn horn, King James once poisoned a servant, believing that unicorn horns neutralise poison. When the servant died, King James knew the horn was a fake.
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King James I introduced the unicorn into the British royal coat of arms in 1603, to symbolize his joint sovereignty over England and Scotland.
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In the 17th century, what people believed to be "powdered unicorn horn" was valued at well over its weight in gold. It was most likely made of narwhal tusks harvested off the coast of Greenland.
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The narwhal is sometimes called a sea unicorn. A narwhal's horn is a tooth that has grown into a long, spiral tusk.
Narwhal comparison with a human
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Artists of the Middle Ages believed that only a virgin could capture a unicorn.
The Maiden and the Unicorn by Domenichino, 1602.
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In the Middle Ages, books called bestiaries listed the biological properties of unicorns. These books were also the first source to claim that virgins had power over unicorns.
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The earliest reference to unicorns is found in the works of Herodotus (484–425 BC). He describes the existence of an Indian "wild ass" with one horn. He was probably describing the Indian rhino.
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Greek historian Ctesias of Cnidas wrote the first description of a unicorn that sparked the unicorn craze. In his book Persica, unicorns are depicted as having a purple head, blue eyes, and a multicolored horn.
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Adventurer Marco Polo believed that he had seen unicorns and wrote, "they are very ugly brutes to look at." He was probably describing rhinoceroses.
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The King James translation of the Old Testament refers to unicorns 9 times because of the mistranslation of the Hebrew word re'em, which is the Assyrian word rimu, which refers to an extinct species of wild ox.
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Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, issues unicorn quest permits. Unicorn hunters are advised to bring a pair of pinking shears and a flask of cognac.
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The word "unicorn" comes from the Latin word unicornis, meaning "one horn."
Clare Danes in Stardust, a delightful little film
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Because the ancient Greeks believed unicorns were real, the creatures are not included in Greek mythology but rather Greek natural history. The Greeks believed that unicorns lived in India, which they thought was a realm of mystery.
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An early depiction of what archaeologists thought was a unicorn was found in France's Lascaux Caves, dating as far back as 15,000 BC. However, archaeologists later found that it was actually two horns.
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On his way to conquer India, Genghis Khan said he had seen a unicorn, which he thought was a sign from his deceased father to turn back.
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A Pegasi is a unicorn with wings and is able to fly. A Pegasus is a winged horse but not a unicorn.
A unicorn's horn is called an alicorn.
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According to legend, a unicorn holds the power to divine truth and will pierce a liar's heart with its horn.
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A baby unicorn is called a sparkle.
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The Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC–1300 BC) used a unicorn emblem to seal clay tablets.
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A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
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The Chinese unicorn has a short, curly horn.
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According to ancient Chinese mythology, a unicorn, or ki-lin, gave the emperor a package of symbols that taught the Chinese people their first written words.
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According to some myths, Adam named the unicorn first when he named all the animals. God then reached down and touched the unicorn's horn, a sign that it was blessed above all creatures.
In some versions of the biblical story, unicorns refused to board Noah's Ark. When the earth flooded, the unicorns started to swim. However, birds landed on their backs and weighed them down, so the unicorns sank below the waves, never to be seen again.
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One of the most famous tapestries in the world is called "The Hunt of the Unicorn" and is filled with Christian beliefs and symbols.
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestries made in the South Netherlands around 1495–1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York. They were possibly designed in Paris and show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn through an idealised French landscape.
The Unicorn crosses a stream
The Unicorn defends itself
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Various cultures have different iterations of unicorn myths. Some of the most famous are the Asian unicorn, Southern unicorn, and European unicorn.
The Asian unicorn is said to gallop so smoothly that it doesn't crush even one blade of grass.
In most cultural myths, unicorns have long, flowing tails. However, Asian unicorns have short tails.
An Asian unicorn's coat can be scaly and either yellow, white, blue, red or black; some mythical Asian unicorns can even change colors.
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According to European myth, unicorns are fairly shy, but you could tell if one was close by the sweet smell of cinnamon in the air.
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In unicorn mythology, unicorns are born without a horn; it usually takes about a year for the horn to grow to full size.
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The Throne Chair of Denmark is made from "unicorn horns," which are most likely narwhal horns.
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One final fact, spoilers ahead.
Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos. It’s one of my Top 10 films, it id set in a dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on space colonies, When a fugitive group of advanced replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard reluctantly agrees to hunt them down. Replicants have been banned from Earth after a replicant uprising and the persons who hunt them down are known as Blade Runners.
Deckard falls for replicant Rachael, who genuinely believes that she is not a replicant until he recounts her private, implanted memories.
The relevance of the unicorn is that Deckard, sitting at a piano, begins ddraeming of a unicorn running through a field. Later, Officer Gaff leaves him an origami unicorn, showing that that was also an implanted memory and that Deckard is himself an unknowing replicant. It gives an added meaning to Gaff’s closing remark to Deckard: “You’ve done a man’s job, sir.”
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