The Little Book of Unicorns

The unicorn was an elusive creature originally thought to exist at the edge of the known world. Classical scripts, travellers’ tales and theological speculation created fanciful descriptions of its appearance and behaviour, but the graceful white horse with a single spiral horn remains its most enduring and beloved form. Rare and precious, the unicorn grew in cultural significance. To the Western medieval world, it became a sacred symbol of religious and courtly love; its horn acquired powerful healing qualities. Elsewhere in the world, the unicorn legend reappears in tales of similar mythical creatures, embodied in the auspicious Chinese qilin and the karkadann of Islamic poetry. In the twenty-first century we have created our own unicorns – in fantasy literature and gaming – with their own lore, and the ‘animal that never was’ shows no sign of disappearing.