recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Pietro Candido Decembrio

**Pietro Candido Decembrio** (**Petrus Candidus Decembrius**) was an Italian author.

## Text

### De omnium animalium natura

#### Latin original

Monoceros siue vnicornus q grece et rinoceros dicitur quia in sumitate narium prope frontem cornu habeat. animal eximium q pregrandi corpore breuibus cruribus q acerrimu ualde ita ut a nullo capi possit. Nam obstantia queque perfringit. huic color buxeus est. cornu longitudo septem et amplius pedum mensuram excedit ut ipsi papis et Neapoli ex defectis uidimus. a quo nec elephas tutus est corporis sui magnitudine.

Id faxis attritum acuit ad pugnam. Nam cum elephante non nunquam congreditur et uentre pfossu terre sternit. In excelsis montibus habitat et uastis solitudinibus. Tanta uero cornu eius contra uenena uis est. ut locis in quibus magna serpentum copia est. nullum animal ad potum accedere audeat. nisi unicorno precedente.

cont.

## Analysis

The author lived in the early 15th century and the text is the standard variation of the bestiary, but the illustrations come from the 16th, including the famous Albrecht Dürer's 1515 woodcut of the rhinoceros. Standing next to it is the Indian ass.
Rhinoceros

*For another creature called with this name, see medieval unicorn.*

The **rhinoceros** is an animal living in India. It is of similar length as the elephant, but has shorter legs. It has a single short horn upon its snout. Its skin has the color of boxwood (very pale). The rhinoceros is an enemy of the elephant; when it sees its opponent, it sharpens its horn on some rocks and then charges in, attacking the elephant's belly.

In the opinion of Isidore of Seville, rhinoceros and unicorn are different names for the same creature and this became the dominant view throughout the Middle Ages. Marco Polo saw rhinoceroses in Indonesia and was sorely disappointed by their ugliness, so different from the unicorn legend.

Later writers started distinguishing the two creatures, arguing that the difference in the location of the horn (rhinoceros on the nose, unicorn on the forehead) is not a mistake but an accurate observation.
Odo of Cheriton

**Odo of Cheriton** (1180/1190 – 1246/47) was an English preacher and fabulist.

#### Latin original

Qui corporales delectationes desiderant et animas suas ame mori permittunt, similes sunt cuidam homini, qui, dum a facie Vnicornis, ne ab eo deuoraretur, uelocius fugeret, in quoddam magnum baratrum cecidit. Dum autem caderet, manibus arbusculam quamdam apprehendit, et in vase quadam lubrica et instabili pedes fixit. Respiciens vero, vidit duos Mures, unum album et alium nigrum, incessanter radicem arboris quam apprehenderat corrodentes, et iam prope erant ut ipsam absciderent. In fundo autem baratri vidit Draconem terribilem, ignem spirantem et aperto ore ipsum deuorare cupientem. Super vasim ubi pedes tenebat, vidit X Aspidum capita inde prodeuncia. Eleuans autem oculos, vidit exiguum mellis de ramis illius arbuscule, oblitusque periculi in quo undique positus erat, se ipsum dulcedini mellis illius totum dedit.

Moralitas. Vnicornis mortis tenet figuram, que hominem semper prosequitur et apprehendere cupit; baratrum vero mundus est omnibus malis plenus; arbuscula uniuscuiusque vita est, que per horas diei et noctis, scilicet per Murem album et ni[grum], incessanter consumitur, et incisioni (sic) appropinquant vases; X Aspidum est corpus X elementis compositum, quibus inordinata corporis compago dissoluitur; Draco terribilis, os inferni omnes deuorare cupiens; dulcedo ramiculi, delectacio fallax mundi, per quam homo seducitur, ut periculum suum minime intueatur.

## Analysis

The fable in unmistakably adapted from the legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, which in turn was taken from the parables of Buddha.
The Alicorn Project

**The Alicorn Project** is a discontinued project aiming to gather supporting quotations using the word "alicorn" in the meaning "horn of the unicorn".

In 1999 Oxford English Dictionary announced that it would allow its users to send words to be added in its Third Edition, provided their use would be backed by a variety of quotes from published literature. Matthew Webber, owner of the Unicorn Dream website, started the project to gather quotations and add "alicorn" to the Oxford Dictionary.
One Thousand and One Nights

#### English translation (Richard F. Burton, 1900)

Moreover, there is in this island a kind of wild beast, called "Rhinoceros," that pastureth as do steers and buffalos with us; but it is a huge brute, bigger of body than the camel and like it feedeth upon the leaves and twigs of trees. It is a remarkable animal with a great and thick horn, ten cubits long, amiddleward its head; wherein, when cleft in twain, is the likeness of a man. Voyagers and pilgrims and travelers declare that this beast called "Karkadan" will carry off a great elephant on its horn and graze about the island and the sea-coast therewith and take no heed of it, till the elephant dieth and its fat melting in the sun, runneth down into the rhinoceros's eyes and blindeth him, so that he lieth down on the shore. Then comes the bird Rukh and carrieth off both the rhinoceros and that which is on its horn to feed its young withal.
Mi'raj

The **mi'raj** (المعراج *al-mi'rāj*), **al-mi'raj** or **miraj** (المراج) is a legendary creature, which looks like a yellow hare with a single black horn on its forehead. All wild animals run away from it. According to al-Qazwini, it was given to Iskandar (Alexander the Great) by the inhabitants of Dragon Island (Jazīrat al-Tinnīn), when he killed a dragon plaguing them.

## Name

The word معراج *mi'rāj* literally means "ladder" in Arabic, but is usually translated as "ascension". In Islamic tradition it is a name of the event, when Prophet Muhammad journeyed to heaven and received instruction regarding prayer from God himself.

Samuel Bochart renders the name as mirag.

## References

1. ↑ Ettinghausen, Richard. *The Unicorn: Studies in Muslim Iconography*. Freer Gallery of Art. Occasional Papers 1. p. 66.
Isidore of Seville

#### Latin original

Rhinoceron a Graecis vocatus. Latine interpretatur in nare cornu. Idem et monoceron, id est unicornus, eo quod unum cornu in media fronte habeat pedum quattuor ita acutum et validum ut quidquid inpetierit, aut ventilet aut perforet. Nam et cum elephantis saepe certamen habet, et in ventre vulneratum prosternit. Tantae autem esse fortitudinis ut nulla venantium virtute capiatur; sed, sicut asserunt qui naturas animalium scripserunt, virgo puella praeponitur, quae venienti sinum aperit, in quo ille omni ferocitate deposita caput ponit, sicque soporatus velut inermis capitur.

#### English translation (Stephen A. Barney, 2006)

The rhinoceros is named with a Greek word; in Latin it means 'horn on the nose'. This is also the monoceron, that is, the unicorn, because it has a single four-foot horn in the middle of its forehead, so sharp and strong that it tosses in the air or impales whatever it attacks. It often fights with the elephant and throws it to the ground after wounding it in the belly. It has such strength that it can be captured by no hunter's ability, but, as those who have written about the natures of animals claim, if a virgin girl is set before a unicorn, as the beast approaches, she may open her lap and it will lay its head there with all ferocity put aside, and thus lulled and disarmed it may be captured.

#### Analysis

Isidore here combines the unicorn of the Physiologus and the Scripture, which was thought to be identical to the monoceros, with Pliny's rhinoceros, creature with a single horn on the nose that often fights elephants.
Jordanus

*For other uses, see Jordanus (disambiguation).*
**Jordanus** was a Catalan traveler.

#### Latin original

In istâ Indiâ, sunt unicornes veri, magni ad modum equi, cornu habentes in fronte unum tantùm grossissimum et acutum, sed breve, totum solidum, etiam et (*an* sine?) medullâ. Istud ales, ut dicitur, est tantae ferocitatis, quòd interficit elephantem, nec potest capi, modo aliquo, nisi per puellam virginem. Omnia membra istius alitis sunt mirae virtutis, et medicinalia tota.

#### English translation

In that India, there are real unicorns, about the size of a horse, having only one horn on the forehead, very big and sharp, but short, all solid, even in (*or* except?) in the core. This bird, as it is said, is of so much ferociousness, that it kills an elephant, and it cannot be captured by any way but by the means of a virgin girl. All the limbs of this bird are of wonderful virtue and it is all of medicinal use.
A.L. Shelton

**Albert Leroy Shelton** (1875-1922) was an american physician and a missionary for the Disciples of Christ to China.

## Text

### Tibetan Folk Tales 21

#### English original

The Hunter and the Unicorn

>
> An old Lama without religion and a heart without happiness hurt very much.
>
>
>
> —Tibetan Proverb.
>

Once, long ago when men's hearts were evil and they forgot to be grateful for kindness, a hunter was walking along the road and fell over a cliff, almost killing himself. As he was wondering how he could get to the road again, a unicorn came along, stopped and looked over at him. The man began to beg and plead, saying, "You are such a nice unicorn. I have never harmed any animal, except when I was hunting and hungry, and I never would hurt you." He begged and coaxed until the unicorn came down and helped him up on the road again. When he was safely out he said, "Now I know the road out of here, so I have no more use for you." He grabbed his gun and shot the unicorn dead. Sure enough, it was a bad road and he wandered around and around, but could find no end, no way out, and wished he had asked the unicorn the right road before he had killed him. Finally growing tired and weak and hungry, and no one coming to help him, he fell down the cliff again and died.

Moral: Don't be sure you know more than you do.
Lindor Serrurier

**Lindor Serrurier**

Kèn no zivu̥ ni.

Tsiku̥ ziu̥.

Kono bu̥ ni va san ya nin kèn ni su̥mu̥ | moromoro no kédamono wo siru̥su̥.

gaki, texte, écriture
zou̥ vo, augmenté
kīn mou̥, instruction de la jeunesse
dzu̥, estampes
wi, collection.
Kèn no, des chapitres
zivu̥ ni, le douzième.
Tsiku̥, animaux domestiques
ziu̥, animaux sauvages.
Kono bu̥, ce chapitre
ni va, dans
san, montagnes
ya, désserts
nin, hommes
kèn ni, parmi
su̥mu̥, vivre
moromoro no, tous les
kédamono wo, quadrupèdes
siru̥su̥, on décrit.
Ki rīn va, n. p.
zīn, d'un caractère doux
ziu̥, animal
nari, il est.

mi, le corps
u̥si no, du boeuf
wo, la queue
itsu̥, une
kaku̥, corne
ari, il y a.
Vo wo, le mâle
ki to, n. p.
ivi, appeler
vīn wo, la femelle
rīn to, n. p.
ivu̥, on apelle.
Séi, vivants
tsiu̥ wo, insectes
vu̥mazu̥, il n'écrase pas.
Séi, vivantes
sḁu wo, plantes
vu̥mazu̥, il n'écrase pas.
Séi zīn no, d'un sage éminent
yo ni, à l'époque
idzu̥ru, paraître
kédamono, quadrupède
nari, il est.

Collection d'estampes pour l'instruction de la jeunesse; édition augmentée, enrichie d'un texte explicatif en tête de chèque planche.

Chapitre douzième. Animaux domestiques et sauvages.

Dans ce chapitre on écrit tous les quadrupèdes qui vivent parmi les hommes et dans les deserts et les montagnes.

Le *ki-rīn* est un animal d'un caractère doux. Il a le corps d'un cerf, la queue d'un boeuf et une seule corne. On appelle le mâle *ki*, la femelle *rīn*. En marchant il n'écrase ni les plantes ni les insectes vivants. C'est un animal qui paraît à l'époque, où vit un sage éminent.

1. ↑ Au lieu de *idzu̥ru̥ kédamono nari* l'on trouve dans l'édition de 1666 *itsu̥* (*idzu̥*).
2. ↑ A la fin de ce chapitre on parle encore de cet animal fabuleux.

### Encyclopédie Japonaise, page 3

#### French original

wi koku̥ no, des pays étrangers
kédamono, animal
nari, il est.
Sono, sa
katatsi, forme
si si ni, au lion
nité, ressembler
itsu̥, une
kaku̥, corne
ari, il y a.
Itsi méi, synonyme
sīn you̥ to, n. p.
ivu̥, on apelle.
Yoku̥, bien
kiyoku̥, le tordu
tsiyoku̥ wo, le droit

Kau̥ You̥, n. p.
goku̥ wo, la juridiction crimínelle
osamu̥ru̥, exercer
toki, lorsque
sono, dont
tsu̥mi, le crime
u̥tagavasiki, douteux
mono va, ceux
kaï tsi ni, au k. t.
atavu̥, il livre.
Tsu̥mi aru̥ mono va, les coupables
koré wo, ceux-ci
ku̥ravu̥, il déchire.
Tsu̥mi naki va, les innocents
ku̥ravazu̥ to, ne pas déchirer
(ivu̥), on dit.

Le *kaï tsi* est un animal des pays étrangers. Il ressemble au lion et il a une seule corne. On l'appelle aussi *sīn you̥* (brebis divine). Il sait bien discerner le tordu du droit. Lorsque *Kau̥ You̥* exerçait la juridiction criminelle, il livrait ceux dont le crime était douteux au *kaï tsi*. On dit que cet animal déchirait les coupables et épargnait les innocents.

1. ↑ Ed. de 1666. Kaï tsi ni vu̥résimu̥.
Calcutta Government Gazette

#### English original

Major Latter has obtained the horn of a young unicorn from the Sachia Lama, which is now before us. It is twenty inches in length; at the root it is four inches and a half in circumference, and tapers to a point; it is black, rather flat at the sides, and has fifteen rings, but they are only prominent on one side; it is nearly straight. Major Latter expects to obtain the head of the animal, with the hoofs and the skin, very shortly, which will afford positive proof of the form and character of the *tso'po*, or Thibet unicorn.
William Balfour Baikie

Bida Núpe, Central Africa, January 15, 1862

Owing to the isolated position in which I have been placed for nearly two years, I only lately received periodicals for the latter part of 1859 and for 1860, so that what is well nigh forgotten among you is still news to me. In the *Athenæum*, No. 1730, (22nd December, 1860) is a review of Gosse's 'Romance of Natural History,' in which in mentioning a supposed one-horned animal, or unicorn, you advance reasons for not being altogether sceptical of its existence, and you quote Livingstone, Dr. A. Smith, and the A'nasa of Kordofán mentioned by M. D'Abbadie. Writing from countries in which this supposed fabulous creature is believed to inhabit, I may perhaps be allowed to add my testimony.

When I ascended the Niger, now nearly five years ago, I frequently heard allusions to an animal of this nature, but at that time I set it down as a myth. Since then, however, the amount of testimony I have received, and the universal belief of the natives of all the countries which I have hitherto visited, have partly shaken my scepticism, and at present I simply hold that its non-existence is not proven. A skull of this animal is said to be preserved in a town in the country of Bonú, through which I hope to pass in the course of a few weeks, when I shall make every possible inquiry. Two among my informants have repeatedly declared to me that they have seen the Bones of this animal, and each made particular mention of the long, straight, or nearly straight, black horn. In countries to the E. and S.E., as Márgi and Bagirmi, where the one-horned rhinoceros is found, the hunters carefully distinguished between it and the supposed Unicorn, and give them different names. In the vast forests and boundless wastes which occur over Central Africa, especially towards the countries south and east from Lake Tsád, Bórnú, Bagirmi and Adamáwa, are doubtless numerous zoological curiosities as yet unknown to the man of science, and among them possibly may exist this much-talked-of, strange, one-horned animal, even though it may not exactly correspond with our typical English unicorn.

The following is a list of names by which this animal is called in various countries, from Lake Tsád to the Gulf of Guinea:—

 A'zbentsi (Tawárek) | Tenések.

William Balfour Baikie
Douglas Ainslie

**Grant Duff Douglas Ainslie**

## Text

### The Legend of Barlaam and Joasaph

#### English original

Then Barlaam made the Prince to know
how that the world with snares was full,
and told the tale of the man who fell
through fear of death into a well.
"He from an unicorn did flee
and heeded not the well till he
had fallen therein, but caught perchance
on his downward path at the little branch
of a tree that clung within a crevice;
and deep below in the abyss
he gazing sees a dragon lying
him with red cruel eyes espying;
and by the stone where his toes do rest
an aspic with a fourfold crest,
while the frail branch to which he clings
as over the abyss it swings,
two mice, one white and the other black,
behold! with busy jaws attack.
But lo! some drops of honey slipping
adown the bough he would be lipping
(for ah! so sweet), and at once with scorn
drives from his thoughts the unicorn,
the mice, the aspic's fourfold crest,
the waiting dragon and the rest,
and only thinks how he shall try
some drops of the honey to come by.
The unicorn, O Prince, is death,
the well is the world, where every breath
is drawn in peril, the two mice
are the night and the day which eat away
the branch of life, and the honey dripping
the joys of the world which man entice,
yet always from his lips are slipping.
The aspic with the fourfold crest
figures the elements at rest
within our body, which resolved
the human frame is quick dissolved.
The dragon, cruel and flamboyant,
is the vast belly of Hell aye waiting
for those who in lust's arms do pant,
careless of all but pleasure's sating."
Thomas Blundeville

**Thomas Blundeville** (c. 1522 – c. 1606) was an English humanist writer and mathematician.

## Text

### A plaine and full description of *Petrus Plancius* his vniuersall Map...

#### English original

Of the Vnicorne.

The Vnicorne, as *Lewes Vartiman* testifieth, who saw two of them in the towne of *Mecha*, is of the height of a yoong horse or colt of 30. moneths old, which is two yeares and a halfe olde, hée hath the head of a Hart, and in his forehead he hath a sharpe pointed horne thrée cubites long, hée hath a long necke, and a mane hanging downe on the one side of his necke, his legges are slender, as the legges of a Goat, and his féete are clouen much like to the Goate, his hinder féete are hairy, and his haire in collour is like to a bay horse. This beast in countenance is cruell and wilde, and yet notwithstanding mixt with a certaine swéetnes or amiablenes. His horne is of a merueilous greate force and vertue against Venome and poyson. The Vnicorne is founde in *Aethiopia*, like as the Indian Asse is found in *India*, which hath likewise one onely horne in his forehead,
Robert Brown/Foreword

Foreword
I. The Heraldic Unicorn→

This little brochure is a contribution, however humble, to the science of psychology; not merely a notice of curious, still less of idle, fancies. The study of man to be successful must commence with his earlier, that is to say, simpler, phases. The 'solar myth,' vaguely so called, is often ridiculed but never by anyone who has carefully examined it; and the history of the Lion and the Unicorn exhibits one aspect of the ideas of Time and Kosmic Order as shown in the most obvious divisions of period—Day and Night. The indirect influence of our present civilization and the repetition of phenomena produce a sadly deadening effect upon the vast majority of minds as regards appreciation of the external world, and render it extremely difficult for us to place ourselves near the mental standpoint of primitive, or even of archaic, man. We do not wonder at the sun, or at the genius which has contrived by the use of only ten signs to express any number, or indeed at anything which, though marvelous in itself, is somewhat familiar to the senses and ordinary apprehension. Even scientific research often resolves itself into an anatomical dissection, which is equivalent to the knowledge of the way about a cathedral, combined with an appreciation of the principles of masonry, but accompanied by total ignorance of, or utter indifference to, the real forces which produced the building.

With respect to the evidence adduced in the particular case, its *combined* weight is specially to be considered; the various points are not links in a chain, the failure in any of which is fatal, but items in a description.

As, according to Prof. Ludwig Noiré, the discovery of the axe assured the triumph of the kingdom of man upon the earth, so the idea of Time, solar (day), lunar (week-month), and sidereal (year), was a mighty mental axe with which Thought hewed its way to noble victories. I treat here merely of the Day and of that which by division makes it—the Night, and of but one mythic phase of these; yet, be it remembered, the idea of Day contained the germ of the idea of Eternity, so far as such a concept is possible to man; for Time is Division, a Day the primary division, and Eternity merely infinitely reduplicated Time.

Barton-upon-Humber;

*Oct.* 1, 1881

Foreword
I. The Heraldic Unicorn→
Elisserion

**Elisserion** is the supposed name of a gigantic Egyptian unicorn. D. J. Conway attributes information about it to Brunetto Latini, but it appears to be nonexistent.

According to Bartholomeus Anglicus, there are three kinds of unicorns:

* the rhinoceros, which, according to Pliny, is the size of an elephant but has shorter legs. It has one horn on its nose.
* the monoceros, with the body of a horse, the head of a stag and the feet of an elephant.
* the egloceron, whose name is garbled αιγόκερως and means "capricorn", very small and similar to a kid. The name was rendered by Jules Berger de Xivrey in French as "eglisseron". This creature was first described in the book called the Physiologus, written in the second century in Alexandria in Christian Egypt.

The elisserion was likely born by merging the descriptions of the rhinoceros (huge size) and the egloceron.
Luis de Urreta

#### Spanish original

Y dexando estas figuras de hombres fabulosos, empecemos a tratar de algunos animales los mas esquisitos y raros, que no se hallan en la Europa, dexando otros muchos por no ser largo. Sea el primero el mas indomito de todas las bestias siluestres, que es el Rhinoceronte, que en España llamaron Abada; su figura ya es cosa muy conocida, porque le vieron en Madrid mucho tiempo, y ay muchos retratos y estampas del en los libros: es de color amarillo como la madera de box, su grandeza sera como la de tres bueyes juntos, y aun mas; baxo de piernas, segun la grandeza del cuerpo; la cabeça muy gráde, las orejas pequeñas, y puntiagudas, leuantadas en alto, como de canallo; los ojos muy pequeños para la grandeza del cuerpo; la cola pequeñita y pelada; todo el està armado de vnas costras, y como corazas tan fuertes, que ni lança, ni saeta, ni arma ninguna le puede hazer mella, ni ay escopeta, ni mosquete que le pueda falsar el pellejo. Eencima de la nariz tiene vn cuerno, que por esso le Ilaman Rhinoceronte, que quiere dezir, cuerno lobre la nariz: porque en Griego Rhinas significa la nariz, y Noceros el cuerno: el qual es muy gruesso, y adelgazandose, remata en punta, reboluiendose para la parte de arriba, de quatro pies de largo, tan duro y agudo, que no encuentra cosa que no la barrene, o auiente; y al tiempo de pelear lo aguza y amuela en vna piedra. Es animal siluestre, indomito, fortissimo, feroz, soberuio, y tan poderoso, que ni por arte, ni por fuerça, ni mañas, ni por atmas, ni con redes, lazos, ni trampas puede ser preso, sino consola vna industria, con la qual le matan: porque cogelle viuo es cosa muy dificultosa, sino es que sea pequeño; y como nunca se domestica, no se desuela, ni procuran de cogelle viuo.

cont.
Mencius

#### English translation (James Legge)

You Ruo said, "Is it only among men that it is so? There is the Qi-lin among quadrupeds, the Feng-huang among birds, the Tai mountain among mounds and ant-hills, and rivers and seas among rain-pools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind. So the sages among mankind are also the same in kind. But they stand out from their fellows, and rise above the level, and from the birth of mankind till now, there never has been one so complete as Confucius."
Bartholinus (disambiguation)

**This article is a disambiguation page for Bartholinus (disambiguation)**

The following is a list of links to pages that might share the same title.

Please follow one of the disambiguation links below or search to find the page you were looking for if it is not listed. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

*Bartholinus* may refer to the following people:

* Caspar Bartholin the Elder
* Thomas Bartholin, son of Caspar
The Dead Marches of Warothornia

*"I see before me: Marches as far as the eye can see. The water Green and bubbling with vile ooze, Giant clouds of swarming bugs and maggots feasting on the corpses of those foolish enough to wander in here, I've also seen Zombies, Wicked spectres, insane phantoms roaming and shambeling across the marches unrivaled until they are enslaved to one of the inhabitants: Hooded men in black robes escorted by men armored from tip to toe in a sickly coloured armor with death motifs all over. All I wish is to get out of here...."* -Garret Garretsson alledgedly succumbing to the vile fumes.

The dead marches of Warothornia was founded by Fouzad The eternal who was thrown out of the holy empire of Evil Wizard Satanists for being too dark and edgy and not worshipping Satan. It is a realm of paradise for all necromancers who time and time again have tried to gain access into supreme death hell however only a few necromancers have actually achieved this feat leading to them becoming the head of state, created by a council of people in black robes who thought it'd be a good idea to make a nation with dead people in it.
Heraldic unicorn

## Unicorn (heraldic)

The **heraldic unicorn** is a result of increasing secular interest in unicorns in Europe. While the bestiaries described the creature as very small and similar to a kid, later depictions favored the horse-like unicorn of Pliny. An important inspiration was Ludovico di Varthema, who saw two unicorns in the temple in Mecca, which had the body of a horse, the head of a hind and slender legs with cloven hooves, like those of a goat.

Pliny said the unicorn cannot be caught alive, but scholars of the Renaissance could not accept this assertion without a supporting explanation. And so it was answered, as Guillim tells us, that such is the greatness of his mind that he more readily chooses death over being caught alive. In this, he is similar to a valiant man, as they both so far contemn death, that they prefer to die than be compelled to any base servitude or bondage.

While people of the Middle Ages ascribed beneficial properties to all parts of the unicorn's body, especially the heart, later the virtues were concentrated in the horn. And so in the Greek bestiaries we read that in the evening all animals gather at the watering place, but find that a serpent has left its venom floating on the surface. Seeing or smelling the venom, they do not dare to drink, but instead wait for the unicorn. When at last he approaches, he dips his horn in the water, neutralizing poison and making it safe for all again. Therefore, the unicorn represents both strength and courage, as well as virtuous dispositions and the ability to do good. For to have the strength of the body without the virtues of the mind is but the property of an ox. But where both concur, that may truly be called manliness.

The lion is the unicorn's enemy and rival in the contest over who should be the king of beast. Great is the lion's strength, but even he is afraid of his opponent's sharp horn. Therefore, he resorts to a trick: he stands in front of a tree and taunts the unicorn, who then charges at him in full gallop, trying to gore him. A moment before impact, the lion slips aside, and lets the unicorn pierce the tree and be unable to remove the horn. Then the lion kills his foe.

## In Scotland

Two unicorns have long been supporters of the Royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Scotland and became one of its symbols. Carrying a unicorn on the escutcheon is often taken to signify service done to or in that country. In 1603 James VI of Scotland acceded to the throne of England and combined the heraldry of those two kingdoms; for supporters, he took the lion from the English arms and made him stand next to his Scottish unicorn. Since that time, unicorn lore became an interest of British scholars. The act of uniting the former enemies was often taken as symbolic to the reconciliation between the frequently warring nations of England and Scotland.
Brothers Grimm

#### German original

Der Schneider begerte die Tochter mit sammt dem halben Königreich; der König, als er sahe die Riesen erwürgt, deswegen er seine Tochter dem unbekannten Krieger sollt zur Eh geben, war ihn seines Verheißens sehr gereuen, gedacht, wie er doch sein mit Fügen mögt abkommen, dann er ihm die Tochter zu geben keineswegs gesinnet. Dem Schneider noch einmal sagte, wie er ein Einhorn im Walde hätte, das ihm so sehr großen Schaden an Fisch und Leut thät, wenn er dasselbige fing, wollt er ihm die Tochter geben. Der Schneider war dessen wohl zufrieden, nahm ein Stricklein, ging zum Wald, befahl seinen Zugeordneten, heraußen zu warten, er wollt allein hinein, spazierte also im Walde umher. Indem ersah er das Einhorn gegen ihn daher springen, der Meinung ihn umzubringen; der Schneider aber war nicht unbehend, wartete bis das Einhorn gar nahe zu ihm kam, und als es nahe bei ihm war, stellte er sich hinter den Baum dabei er zu allernächst war; das Einhorn aber, so sich in vollem Lauf nicht wenden konnt, mit dem Horn in den Baum lief und also darin unverwendt stecken blieb. Als solches der Schneider sah, herzuginge, dem Einhorn den Strick, so er mit sich genommen hätt, um den Hals thät und an den Baum bande, hinaus zu seinen Gesellen ging, ihnen seinen Sieg über das Einhorn anzeigt, solches hernach dem König zu wissen thät, welcher außer der Maßen traurig war, nicht wußt, wie ihm zu thun wäre, dann der Schneider der Tochter begert.

#### English translation (Margaret Hunt, 1884)

The little tailor demanded of the King the promised reward; he, however, repented of his promise, and again bethought himself how he could get rid of the hero. "Before thou receivest my daughter, and the half of my kingdom," said he to him, "thou must perform one more heroic deed. In the forest roams a unicorn which does great harm, and thou must catch it first." "I fear one unicorn still less than two giants. Seven at one blow, is my kind of affair." He took a rope and an axe with him, went forth into the forest, and again bade those who were sent with him to wait outside. He had not to seek long. The unicorn soon came towards him, and rushed directly on the tailor, as if it would spit him on its horn without more ceremony. "Softly, softly; it can't be done as quickly as that," said he, and stood still and waited until the animal was quite close, and then sprang nimbly behind the tree. The unicorn ran against the tree with all its strength, and struck its horn so fast in the trunk that it had not strength enough to draw it out again, and thus it was caught. "Now, I have got the bird," said the tailor, and came out from behind the tree and put the rope round its neck, and then with his axe he hewed the horn out of the tree, and when all was ready he led the beast away and took it to the King.
Alain de Lille

**Alain de Lille** (also **Alanus de Insulis**)

#### Latin original

Illic unicornis virginali soporatus in gremio, ab hostibus somnum mortis incurrebat.

#### English translation (Douglas M. Moffat, 1908)

The unicorn, lulled to sleep in a virgin's bosom, met in sleep the dream of death by enemies.

### Quaestiones naturales (BnF MS lat. 18081)

#### Latin original

Questio quare virginis amplexu rinocon capitur? Responsio: Rynoc'on est animal furiosissimum et valde impetuosum quia calidissime est nature...

## External links

* De planctu naturae in the Latin Library
* The Complaint of Nature in Fordham University's Internet History Sourcebooks
* Quaestiones naturales in Gallica
Escornau

**Escornáu** or **Ehcornáu** is a legendary creature known in Spanish Extremadura. Sometime around XVI century, it terrorized the village of Ahigal and its surroundings.

There are two versions of the legend. According to the first, it was send by God as punishment for the sins of the village inhabitants. In various reports, it was born from a stallion and a sow, or from a mare and a boar, or from a stallion and a cow, or from a bull and a mare. It had the hindquarters of a horse, the forequarters of a bull, the head of a boar and a single spiral horn rising vertically from the middle of its forehead. According to the other version, it was born out of a foul union between a lonely shepherd and one of his sheep. In this case, it was a mixture of a ram and a boar with scaly skin and a single horn.

Its only weapon was its horn, measured by some informants at three meters in length. It sharpened it on the rocks and attacked everyone, including shepherds, peasants and cattle, goring them to death. While it left dead men on the ground, it held special wrath towards women, as it pierced them and carried their lifeless bodies around like a trophy. The Escornau sometimes ate humans, but more frequently killed them for the sole pleasure of killing, as its favorite food was pigeons living along the nearby stream.

The people of Ahigal tried unsuccessfully to kill the creature, but arrows and bullets bounced off its thick skin. Finally they understood that if it was a divine punishment for their sins, only by divine power will they be able to vanquish it. Procession organized by the Order of the True Cross ended in tragedy after the monster attacked the praying people. However, another one, presided by the Order of the Rosary, was successful. When the beast moved towards women carrying the banner of the Holy Virgin, a divine force paralyzed it, made it swell and burst into pieces. The hill on which this happened was named "Canchu la sangri", from the red coloration left by Escornau's blood.

The village's population was overjoyed. The horn of the creature was brought to Ahigal and displayed in the Hermitage of Christ in remembrance of the tragedy that affected the village. Soon it became famous for medicinal properties and rose to the status of a relic. Around 50 years later, the bishop of Coria visited the village and was shocked to find the people trusting more in magical powders from the horn than in prayers to Christ. He decided that the only possible solution is to take the horn away. Its later whereabouts are unknown.

## Origin

The story is unmistakably inspired by the unicorn legend, which says the unicorn is a wild animal impossible to capture by hunters but possible to be tamed by a virgin (the Holy Virgin in this case) and killed.

A similarity can be pointed between the Escornau and the Kubanochoerus – a prehistoric species of boar, growing to huge sizes and sporting a single horn-like protrusion on its skull.

## Bibliography

* José María Dominguez Moreno. "La Leyenda del Escornau. Una versión extremeña del Mito del Unicornio". Revista de Folklore no. 68. 1986.
Strabo

**Strabo**

#### Greek original

Ἔχει μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα πολλὴν ἀήθειαν πρὸς τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν͵ ἔτι μέντοι μᾶλλον τὰ τοιάδε. φησὶ γὰρ τοὺς τὸν Καύκασον οἰκοῦντας ἐν τῶι φανερῶι γυναιξὶ μίσγεσθαι καὶ σαρκοφαγεῖν τὰ τῶν συγγενῶν σώματα· πετροκυλιστὰς δ᾽ εἶναι κερκοπιθήκους͵ οἳ λίθους κατακυλίουσι κρημνοβατοῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς διώκοντας· τά τε παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἥμερα ζῶια τὰ πλεῖστα παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις ἄγρια εἶναι· ἵππους τε λέγει μονοκέρωτας ἐλαφοκράνους· καλάμους δέ͵ μῆκος μὲν τριάκοντα ὀργυιῶν τοὺς ὀρθίους͵ τοὺς δὲ χαμαικλινεῖς πεντήκοντα͵ πάχος δὲ ὥστε τὴν διάμετρον τοῖς μὲν εἶναι τρίπηχυν τοῖς δὲ διπλασίαν.

#### English translation (H. L. Jones, 1932)

Now these customs are very novel as compared with our own, but the following are still more so. For example, Megasthenes says that the men who inhabit the Caucasus have intercourse with the women in the open and that they eat the bodies of their kinsmen; and that the monkeys are stone-rollers, and, haunting precipices, roll stones down upon their pursuers; and that most of the animals which are tame in our country are wild in theirs. And he mentions horses with one horn and the head of a deer; and reeds, some straight up thirty fathoms in length, and others lying flat on the ground fifty fathoms, and so large that some are three cubits and others six in diameter.
Emma Phipson

#### English original

The Narwhal, or Sea-Unicorn, another semi-mythical beast of the sea, was the object of much speculation, and his horn was supposed to have the same virtue as an antidote to poison as that of the land unicorn. It is described in a letter quoted from Mr. Wormen, a Danish gentleman, as having the head of a whale, with a long pointed horn, fixed to the upper part of the left jawbone. The creature is called by the Icelanders narwhall, which implies a whale living upon a dead carcase—*wall* signifying a whale and *nar* the carcase (*Churchill's Voyages*, vol. i.).

Baffin, the discoverer, writes to Sir John Wostenholme:—

>
> "As for the sea unicorne, it being a great fish, having a long horn or bone growing forth of his forehead or nostrill, such as Sir Martin Fribisher in his second voyage found one, in divers places we saw them, which if the horne be of any good value, no doubt but many of them may be killed." (*Purchas*, vol. iii. p. 843.)
>
>
>
>

The specimen found by Frobisher is described by him in Hakluyt's *Travels*. It is a pity that the experiment recorded was not tried also on some non-poisonous insect.

>
> "On this west shore," he writes, "we found a dead fish floating, which had in his nose a horne streight and torquet, of length two yards lacking two ynches. Being broken in the top, here we might perceive it hollow, into the which some of our sailors, putting spiders, they presently died. I saw not the triall hereof, but it was reported unto me of a truth: by the vertue whereof we supposed it to be the sea unicorne." (*Hakluyt*, vol. iii. p. 59.)
>
>
>
>
Alexander Neckam

Rhinocerontis color est buxeus, in naribus cornu unicum et repandum, quod subinde attritum cautibus in mucronem excitat, eo quod adversus elephantes præliatur, par ipsis longitudine, brevior cruribus, naturaliter alvum petens, quam solam intelligit ictibus suis perviam.

Cap. CIV. Item de rhinoceronte.

Refert autem Isidorus quod tantæ est fortitudinis ut nulla venantium virtute capiatur. Virgo autem proponitur puella, quæ venienti sinum aperit, in quo omni ferocitate deposita ille caput ponit, sicque soporatus, velut inermis capitur. Nonnulli istud adaptaverunt Christo et ecclesiæ. Sed non solum ad Saulum spirantem minarum hæc queunt referri, sed ad quemcumque transeuntem ad liberam et spontaneam servitutem. Hunc enim sapientis sinu suo fovet, et amplexibus refovet spiritualibus.
Bjarndýrakóngur

The **Bjarndýrakóngur** (Icelandic: "bear king") is an Icelandic one-horned polar bear. It is larger than its kin, has red cheeks and a single amber horn on its forehead that glows at night. It is presumed to result from a union between a female polar bear and either a walrus or a bull. Normally Iceland is devoid of bears, but sometimes a stray animal visits the island.

The last known sighting happened in XVIII century on the island of Grímsey. Just before a Whitsun church service, about a dozen polar bears led by the Bjarndýrakóngur was seen passing to the south. When the procession reached the crowd of parishioners, the priest bowed to its leader; the Bjarndýrakóngur in turn returned the bow. As the bears headed into the distance, the last in the line attacked and ate a passing sheep. Not approving of this transgression, the Bjarndýrakóngur angrily pierced the perpetrator with its horn. Afterwards, the bears headed off into the sea and disappeared from view.

## Bibliography

* Jón Árnason. *Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri*. vol 4. p. 3
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

## Text

#### Russian original

Индрик — баснословный зверь, упоминаемый в духовном стихе о Голубиной книге (см.). В многочисленных вариантах стиха имя этого зверя является в разных формах: Индрок, Индра, Кондрык, Белояндрик, Вындрик, Единорог, Единрог и Единор. Варианты имени могут быть сведены к двум: И. и Единорог. Первое название объясняется искажением либо имени енудра, т. е. выдры (греч. ένύδριος), либо еньдропа (ϋδρωψ), морского зверя, известного в славянских списках Физиолога. Зверь Индрия или Индрик упоминается также в Азбуковниках и описывается как зверек, похожий на пса, живущий в р. Ниле и убивающий крокодила (смешение с ихневмоном). Замена имени И. именем Единорог объясняется, с одной стороны, звуковым сходством обоих названий (Инрог и Индрик), с другой — одинаковым символическим значением обоих зверей. Смешение это замечается уже в Физиологах. В разных списках стиха о Голубиной книге находятся различные черты в изображении И., но во всех он называется всем зверям отец. Он ходит по подземелью, пропущает реки и кладязи, или живет на Фавор-горе; когда он поворотится, все звери ему поклоняются; или он живет на Святой горе, ест и пьет из Синего моря, никому обиды не делает; или ходит рогом по подземелью, аки солнце по поднебесью. И. зверь упоминается и в одной былине в обычной роли зверя Скимена (см. "Русские былины старой и новой записи", отд. II, № 19). Ср. Мочульского, "Историко-литературный анализ стиха о Голубиной книге" (Варшава, 1887).

Bс. М.
Suda

The **Suda** or **Souda** (Greek: Σοῦδα) is a Medieval Byzantine encyclopedia. Its title is sometimes mistaken for the name of the author.

## Text

### Suda

#### Greek original

Μονόκερως: ζῷον, ὃ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ἓν κέρας ἔλαβεν. οὕτω καὶ οἱ τῆς εὐσεβείας τρόφιμοι μίαν προσκυνοῦσι θεότητα. Δαβίδ: καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὡς μονοκέρωτος τὸ κέρας μου.

#### English translation (Catharine Roth, 2001)

Monoceros: An animal, which from its nature had one horn. Thus those who are raised of [ = in] piety honor one godhead. David [says]: "and my horn shall be exalted like the unicorn's."
Brunetto Latini

The unicorn is a fierce animal whose body resembles the horse's somewhat, but it has feet like an elephant and the tail of a deer, and its voice is tremendously scary, and in the middle of its forehead there grows a single horn which shines marvellously; and it is easily four feet long, and is so strong and sharp that it easily pierces whatever it strikes. You should also know that the unicorn is so tough and so wild that no one can overtake it or capture it with any snare in the world. Dead, it could very well be caught by a man, but no alive. Hunters send a virgin maiden to the area the unicorn frequents, for its nature is that it goes right away to the maiden, casts aside its fierceness and sweetly falls asleep on her bosom and in her clothes, and in this way the hunters trick it.

## External links

* Original in the Internet Archive
* Translation in Google Books
Sima Qian

**Sima Qian** was a Chinese historian.

#### English translation (Burton Watson, 1961)

The following year (122 B.C.E.) when the emperor went to Yong to perform the suburban sacrifice he captured a beast with one horn which looked like a unicorn. The officials announced, ‘Since your majesty has performed the suburban sacrifice with such reverence and care, the Lord on High has seen fit to reward you by presenting this one-horned beast. Is this not what is called a unicorn (lin)?’ The emperor thereupon visited the Five Altars and presented an additional burnt offering of an ox at each one. He presented the white metal coins, symbolic of the auspicious white deer, to the various feudal lords as a hint to them that he had by now received the necessary omens proving that he had found favour with Heaven.

## External links

* Annals in the Chinese Text Project
* Biographies in the Chinese Text Project
Damaskinos Stouditis

#### English translation

The unicorn has another property. Deep in the desert, where there are no rivers, only a tiny amount of water can be gathered in hollows in the ground. And even this water becomes bad from the heat of the sun. All the animals gather around to drink, but the water is bitter, and so they can’t. So they wait for the unicorn to come and drink. And when he bends to drink, and his horn touches the water, the water becomes fresh. He drinks of it and then the other animals follow. And it is while the other animals are gathered and waiting for the unicorn to arrive that the varied species mate with one another. And so we have the strange mixed breeds, like the panther (*pardos*) that mates with the camel to produce the giraffe (*kamelopardos*). Also, the wild wolves of India mate with the great dogs of India to produce wolfhounds (*lykokynes*), or jackals. Likewise, panthers mix with lions to become leopards (*leontopardoi*).
Benvenuto Cellini

**Benvenuto Cellini** (1500 – 1571) was an Italian goldsmith and artist.

#### English translation (John Addington Symonds, 1909-14)

It happened that Cardinal Salviati, who, as I have related, entertained an old hostility against me, had been appointed Legate to Parma. In that city a certain Milanese goldsmith, named Tobbia, was taken up for false coining, and condemned to the gallows and the stake. Representations in his favour, as being a man of great ability, were made to the Cardinal, who suspended the execution of the sentence, and wrote to the Pope, saying the best goldsmith in the world had come into his hands, sentenced to death for coining false money, but that he was a good simple fellow, who could plead in his excuse that he had taken counsel with his confessor, and had received, as he said, from him permission to do this. Thereto he added: “If you send for this great artist to Rome, your Holiness will bring down the overweening arrogance of your favourite Benvenuto, and I am quite certain that Tobbia’s work will please you far more than his.” The Pope accordingly sent for him at once; and when the man arrived, he made us both appear before him, and commissioned each of us to furnish a design for mounting an unicorn’s horn, the finest which had ever been seen, and which had been sold for 17,000 ducats of the Camera. The Pope meant to give it to King Francis; but first he wished it richly set in gold, and ordered us to make sketches for this purpose. When they were finished, we took them to the Pope. That of Tobbia was in the form of a candlestick, the horn being stuck in it like a candle, and at the base of the piece he had introduced four little unicorns’ heads of a very poor design. When I saw the thing, I could not refrain from laughing gently in my sleeve. The Pope noticed this, and cried: “Here, show me your sketch!” It was a single unicorn’s head, proportioned in size to the horn. I had designed the finest head imaginable; for I took it partly from the horse and partly from the stag, enriching it with fantastic mane and other ornaments. Accordingly, no sooner was it seen, than every one decided in my favour. There were, however, present at the competition certain Milanese gentlemen of the first consequence, who said: “Most blessed Father, your Holiness is sending this magnificent present into France; please to reflect that the French are people of no culture, and will not understand the excellence of Benvenuto’s work; pyxes like this one of Tobbia’s will suit their taste well, and these too can be finished quicker. Benvenuto will devote himself to completing your chalice, and you will get two pieces done in the same time; moreover, this poor man, whom you have brought to Rome, will have the chance to be employed.” The Pope, who was anxious to obtain his chalice, very willingly adopted the advice of the Milanese gentlefolk.
Olaus Magnus

#### Latin original

Monoceros est monstrum marinum, habens in fronte cornu maximum, quo naues obuias penetrare possit, ac destruere, & hominum multitudinem perdere. Sed in hoc pietas diuini numinis nauigantibus prouidit, cum ferox sit hæc belua, tarditas sua, quam habet maximam præuisa, timentibus eius accessum fugam concedit.
Equine unicorn

## *Monoceros equinus*

The **equine** or **modern unicorn** is the result of degeneration of the heraldic unicorn. All features distinguishing it from a horse have disappeared, save for the one horn and even that is often as short as one palm, as if it were only a stick glued to a normal horse's forehead with an adhesive that does not support anything heavier. Its hooves are solid and its tail has long hair in all its length. Its coat is usually white or bright gray, but other colors are not uncommon. There have been observations of specimens with feathered wings.

Due to the ease of portrayal, most unicorns in live-action movies are equine. Oftentimes they are companions of elves and fairies, despite having nothing to do with them in the historical lore.