Unicorns Fact or Fiction

Unicorns have facinated me since childhood, they seemed so real, why not believe they exist? They were always white with a beautiful solid gold horn protruding from their forehead. What a wonderous thing to see and what if I caught one? Could I really ride it over a rainbow? Would it grant me wishes?

What if !

So I recently searched the internet to find out what they really were.

The unicorn (from Latin unus 'one' and cornu 'horn') is a legendary creature.

The name unicorn is derived from the Latin unicornis which means "one-horned". This is the name that such creatures were known by in Europe and America. They had other names in the Middle East and Far East. In China the unicorn was known as Ki-lin which is a combination of their words for the male unicorn, Ki, and their word for the female unicorn, lin. In Arabia and Persia the unicorn was known as the Karkadann.

By most accounts the unicorn is said to most resemble a horse with a single horn protruding from it's forehead. There are accounts of goat-like and even man-like creatures with a single horn. But by any account the unicorn is thought to be a magical creature with special abilities.

The unicorn has been a popular subject of many authors throughout the ages. Whether the unicorn is the main subject or a background figure you will find many stories of the unicorn.

Though the modern popular image of the unicorn is sometimes that of a horse differing only in the horn on its forehead, the traditional unicorn has a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and cloven hooves - these distinguish it from a horse.[1] Marianna Mayer has observed (The Unicorn and the Lake), "The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison."