Episode 134: The Point of Unicorns
Everything you think you know about Unicorns is probably wrong. Or is it? What is the point of these creatures? Where do they come from? And what do they even look like? One thing is for sure, somehow capitalism is probably to blame.
As always, please come join the episode discussion on the Least Haunted Discord!
Enjoy the images below!
The Harappan Unicorn of Mohenjo Daro, ca. 2,500 BCE. The earliest depiction of a "Unicorn."
A "pendant" from Mohenjo Daro depicting the Unicorn Animal.
This seal depicts the Unicorn as a three headed chimera with an antelope, and a bull head. But illustrates the point that the Unicorn Animal is not a bull drawn in profile, since here we have two other two-horned animals in profile with two horns shown. c.a. 1,400 BCE.
A much later (late middle ages) depiction of a Unicorn based on a description given by the Greek physician and historian Ctesias. Ctesias lived in the 5th century BCE, and wrote of the Unicorns living in India. Possibly influenced by the Mohenjo Daro Unicorn Animal.
Early historians were pretty sure that the Unicorn or Monoceros in Greek, came from India. One particular description mentions that the unicorn has "feet like an elephant." and reports were consistent that unicorns were wild and untamable... You know what has one horn, feet "like an elephant" and is very wild and untamable? The Indian Rhinoceros.
Some early descriptions of Unicorns are definitely that of Rhinoceroses.
By the Middle Ages Unicorns are becoming more "horse-like" in description but one thing is constant, THEY DO NOT HAVE HORSE HOOVES! Their hooves are cloven like that of a goat or antelope. Or... As is the case in this 1572 painting by Maerten de Vos painting, the rhino/elephant feet of earlier descriptions.
The 1658 book, The History of Four-Footed Beasts by Howard Topsell, was a zoological encyclopedia that contained amongst entries on real animals, several "mythical" beasts as well. However at this time, many believed that Unicorns were real animals due to mistranslations of The Bible, which misconstrued the Hebrew word Re'em as meaning Unicorn. It doesn't, and as Sumerian cognate Rimu suggests, the animal described was actually the Aurochs, or wild ox.
The Cuneiform symbol for Rimu. The word translates to "Wild" or "Powerful" If drawn with the triangle point down it evokes the image of a Bull. (Wild aurochs have cleft hooves by the way…)
During the middle ages a market for Unicorn horns began. The Horn had supposed magical abilities like curing poison, or bestowing immortality. Unicorn Horns began showing up in royal and church collections. Many of these horns were procured from Danish sailors.
SURPRISE! MID EPISODE GARTH'S CORNER!
Meet the Narwhal! Narwhals are an arctic dwelling relative of the Beluga whale. Male narwhals have a single tusk that can grow up to six feet in length and are a secondary sex characteristic, which means it has a role in attracting a mate. Danish sailors hunted the Narwhal and sold the tusks to unsuspecting European nobility and clergy eager for a Unicorn Horn.
Also during the Middle Ages, it became known that the best way to catch a unicorn was to lure it in with a virgin girl. Apparently the horn is a heavy handed metaphor for the penis. (See Least Haunted Episode 107: The Dick Knight Rises)
Depictions of unicorn hunts become a recurring theme in Middle Ages art. The most noteworthy example being The Unicorn Tapestries a series of 7 large 10ftx10ft tapestries showing a unicorn hunt from start to finish. Possibly made to commemorate the marriage of King Louis XII of France in the late 1500's. It is filled with coded Christian iconography, since by this time the unicorn had also become a symbol of Christ. The hunt of the unicorn is meant to be a metaphorical telling of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to redeem the sins of the world.
This is the most famous tapestry from the series, number seven, The Unicorn in Captivity. Depicts a resurrected unicorn after the end of the hunt.
Throughout the many incarnations of Unicorns one thing was almost always constant, Unicorns were male. The Horn was meant to be a phallic image, and and unicorns came to be a symbol of the raw power of unbridled masculinity. All of that changed in 1968. In 1968 Peter S. Beagle published his book, The Last Unicorn, the titular character of which being a female unicorn. The book became a best seller and started the trend of linking unicorns to all things "Girly."
In 1982 the book was made into an animated film by the same studio that would later become Studio Ghibli. The film stars the voice talents of: Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, and Angela Lansbury, with music by the band AMERICA. (Note the cloven hooves!)
In the 1970s artist Lisa Frank began her career. Her rainbow colored unicorn artwork that was targeted specifically to girls did three things: 1) It swapped the gender of unicorns from a masculine symbol to a symbol of "Girl", 2) It introduced the rainbow colors that everyone presently expects when thinking of unicorns, and 3) It made a fuck ton of money.
The rainbow unicorn became the official logo of Lisa Frank, which in turn became a financial empire through the 1980s and 90s.
And copycats followed. Unicorns were now marketed specifically to girls. So successful was marketing that by the early 90s Unicorns also came to stand in for something else…
The gender transition of Unicorns from a masculine symbol to a feminine marketing juggernaut as well as the new found rainbow connection, really spoke to the queer community. Part of this was also the book The Last Unicorn as well. The feeling of being a rare "one of a kind" creature that many treat as mythical really spoke to the queer community. Also, would be remiss if I did not mention the 1985 film Legend, which is about Unicorns, and features Tim Curry as the embodiment of "Darkness" a role and costume which I have been told was the queer awakening for many...
The film also played with the old Maiden and Unicorn entrapment trope as well!
Today Unicorns are the second most ubiquitous "Mythical" creature next to Dragons. Cultural variants are many. They are also a marketing and capitalistic gold mine!
Used mostly to reinforce marketable gender roles unfortunately.
I, for one, am glad that the queer community can take Unicorns back to their wild roots, and reclaim the enigmatic, fluid, and strong imagery.
And lastly, have to shout out Enigma, and the 1990's cultural touchstone of the Pure Moods CD TV ads.
