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PART 3

The Narwhal

The unicorn horns often found in cabinets of curiosities and other contexts in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, were very often examples of the distinctive straight spiral single tusk of the narwhal (Monodon monoceros), an Arctic cetacean, as Danish zoologist Ole Worm established in 1638.

They were brought south as a very valuable trade, and sold as horns from the legendary unicorn; being of ivory, they passed the various tests intended to spot fake unicorn horns. As these ‘horns’ were considered to have magic powers, Vikings and other northern traders were able to sell them for many times their weight in gold.

Elizabeth I of England kept a “unicorn horn” in her cabinet of curiosities, brought back by Arctic explorer Martin Frobisher on his return from Labrador in 1577. The usual depiction of the spiral unicorn horn in art, derives from these. The truth of the tusk’s origin developed gradually during the Age of Exploration, as explorers and naturalists began to visit regions themselves.

In 1555, Olaus Magnus published a drawing of a fish-like creature with a “horn” on its forehead.

The Oryx



The oryx is an antelope with two long, thin horns projecting from its forehead. Some have suggested that seen from the side and from a distance, the oryx looks something like a horse with a single horn (although the ‘horn’ projects backward, not forward as in the classic unicorn).

Conceivably, travellers in Arabia could have derived the tale of the unicorn from these animals. However, classical authors seem to distinguish clearly between oryxes and unicorns.

The Peregrinatio in terram sanctam, published in 1486, was the first printed illustrated travel-book, describing a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and thence to Egypt by way of Mount Sinai. It featured many large woodcuts by Erhard Reuwich, who went on the trip, mostly detailed and accurate views of cities. The book also contained pictures of animals seen on the journey, including a crocodile, camel, and unicorn—presumably an oryx, which they could easily have seen on their route.

The Eland

In Southern Africa, the eland has somewhat mystical or spiritual connotations, perhaps at least partly because this very large antelope will defend itself against lions and is able to kill these fearsome predators.

Eland are very frequently depicted in the rock art of the region, which implies that they were viewed as having a strong connection to the other world, and in several languages the word for eland and for dance is the same; significant because shamans used dance as their means of drawing power from the other world.

Eland fat was used when mixing the pigments for pictographs, and in the preparation of many medicines. This special regard for the eland may well have been picked up by early travellers. There is a purported unicorn horn in the castle of the chief of the Clan MacLeod in Scotland, which has been identified as that of an eland.

Genetic disorders of horned animals

A new possibility for the inspiration of the unicorn came in 2008 with the discovery of a roe deer in Italy with a single horn. Single-horned deer are not uncommon; however, the placement of the horn in the middle is very unusual.

Fulvio Fraticelli, scientific director of Rome’s zoo, has said “Generally, the horn is on one side (of the head) rather than being at the center. This looks like a complex case.” Fraticelli also acknowledges that the placement of the horn could have been the result of some type of trauma in the life of the deer.

According to Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Science in Prato, “this single-horn deer is conscious to its uniqueness and does not come out a lot, always hiding.”