In the Harry Potter Novels, killing a Unicorn is considered a grave sin against nature. But Lord Voldemort still kills the creature because its blood is believed to give eternal life to those who drink it. Such is the reverence given to this mysterious creature. But did it really exist in this world? or did it only appear in the imagination of fiction writers?
Unicorns in history
In modern legends that emerged in the Middle Ages, the Unicorn is described as a horse-shaped creature with a single horn on its head.
In a more traditional version, this creature is described as having cloven hooves, a goatee-like beard, and a lion-like tail. But one thing that traditional and modern descriptions have in common is the presence of one horn on its head.
The first time this creature was known was through ancient Indian cultures. On the 2,500-year-old seals found at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, we can see an ancient form of a Unicorn along with inscriptions that are still unsolved.
Besides India, China also has its own Unicorn. This creature is known as Qilin. In Japan, it is known as Kirin, and is described as having a deer-like body, green scales and a long horn on its head.
In the Middle Ages, the influence of the Unicorn reached Europe and began to be used as an object of art and symbols of nobility. At this time, the character Unicorn has changed into a creature that really resembles a horse entirely with one horn on its head.
Along with the rise of humanism, the Unicorn gained its own place as a symbol of pure love and faithful marriage.
According to the legend circulating in Europe, called the Unicorn can only be conquered by a virgin. For this reason, virgins are often used as bait to catch these creatures in the wild.
In more popular belief, the horn of the Unicorn is said to neutralize poison. Because of this, according to legend, its horn was once used as an ingredient in ceremonial glass used by the royal family, although many believe that the actual horn used was not the horn of the mythological animal Unicorn, but the horn of the Narwhal, the Unicorn whale.
Then, the question is whether this mysterious creature really existed in the world?
Another unicorn
Actually we have Unicorn creatures in modern times.
For example, the creatures that we have commonly encountered, namely rhinos.
Or the Narwhale, the Unicorn whale whose horn can reach up to 3 meters in length.
Apart from animals that do have these characteristics, we also have Unicorns which are caused by uncommon abnormalities.
For example, the Unicorn deer born in Italy.
Or the Unicorn man who comes from China.
The artists who were so eager to have their own Unicorn went even further. They perform implantation or manipulation procedures on animal horns to produce Unicorns.
As we can see in this goat.
Or this cows.
But, of course we do not discuss the creatures above. We're talking about this mighty creature:
Could he ever exist in the world?
Modern science records that such a creature never existed. However, there are past records that seem to indicate that this mysterious creature may have lived in several parts of the world.
This is reinforced by the fact that we can hardly find information about Unicorns in Greek mythology. The ancient Greek writers who once alluded to this creature assumed that this creature really existed, to be precise in India. This confirms the discovery of the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa stamps.
The author, who first mentioned the existence of this creature was Ctesias who described the Unicorn as a wild donkey with one white, red, and black horn 1.5 cubits long.
Ctesias describes the creature as follows:
"Unicorn is native to India. It is about the size of a donkey with a reddish-purple head. It has a white body, blue eyes with a horn protruding from its forehead. The tip of the horn is bright red, the middle is black and white at the base. Length is approx. 18 inches"
Ctesias was also the first to report that Unicorn horns could be used to neutralize poison.
Another writer, Strabo, has also mentioned the existence of a horned horse in the Caucasus region.
A more complete description was later given by the Roman historian, Pliny the elder. Regarding the Unicorn, he wrote:
“This extremely ferocious creature is called Monoceros and has the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a wild boar, while the rest of its body is like that of a horse. It makes a low, deep voice and has a single black horn that sticks out from the middle of its forehead with a about two inches long."
Some historians dispute this description of Pliny. Some think that he only described a rhinoceros and not a horned horse. But the rhino does not appear to "have a head like a deer and the rest of the body like a horse".
Besides Pliny, Julius Ceaser also mentioned this creature with a description similar to Pliny's. According to him:
"The head is like a deer, the legs are like an elephant, the horns are about 90 cm long with a tail like a wild boar."
Are they talking about a rhino?
If not, are there other, more modern records confirming the existence of this creature?
The answer: yes.
Sighting report
In 1486, Berhanrd Von Breydenbach, an elder in the Mainz cathedral, told an interesting story about an encounter with a Unicorn. He put it in a book called "Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam" or "Journey to the Holy Land".
This encounter occurred in 1483 when he and a group of 150 people went to the Middle East to make a spiritual pilgrimage. On this trip, they departed from Venice for Jaffa, then on to Ramala by caravan.
From there they continued on to Jerusalem and visited all the holy places there. After that the group went to the Sinai desert and visited the Santa Catharina monastery. At that place, one of the pilgrims named Felix Fabri and a group of people who were with him saw the Unicorn standing on a hill near the foot of Mount Sinai. Felix and his entourage watched this creature carefully for some time. This apparition occurred on September 20, 1483.
In 1530, Ludovica de Bartema, an Italian aristocrat who traveled to Egypt, Arabia, and India also met this mysterious creature. When he was about to enter Mecca, he used the pseudonym Mussulman so he could blend in with the other caravans of pilgrims. In that city, Bartema said she saw two unicorns. The body of the creature is yellow brown. Its head is like that of a deer with a long neck and mane. His legs are short and have goat-like hooves. According to local residents, the two animals were gifts from the king of Ethiopia who were about to present them to the sultan of Mecca.
Bartema's testimony suggests that at that time, unicorns probably lived in Ethiopia or Africa. This is confirmed by another testimony from Don Juan Gabriel, a Portuguese colonel who lived in Ethiopia for several years. According to him, he had seen a Unicorn in the province of Damota. The creature was about the size of a horse and dark in color. Several other Portuguese people living in the country also reported seeing a unicorn grazing on a hill in the district of Namna.
In a more modern century, reports of unicorn sightings were told by a Swedish naturalist named Dr.Sparrmann. In 1772-1776, he did research at Good Hope and wrote in his journal about a man named Jacob Kock.
Kock, who was traveling to southern Africa at that time, found rocks with unicorns carved on them. These stones turned out to be carved by a local tribe called Hottentots. Based on Kock's interview with members of the tribe, it is known that the Unicorn is actually well known among the Hottentots tribe. The tribesmen say that the Unicorn has a shape like a horse with one horn on its head. This creature can also run very fast.
The story told by Dr. Sparrmann was later confirmed by another story told by Mr. Henry Cloete in 1792 to the New Zealand Academy of Sciences.
Mr. Cloete told about the experience of Gerrit Slinger, a member of the Hottentots tribe who, while at war with the Bushmen, encountered nine Unicorns and shot one of them. According to Slinger:
"The creature resembled a horse with a light gray color. Under its jaws was a white line. It also had a single horn growing right down the middle of its head. The head of this creature was like that of a horse and about the same size."
Mr. Cloete also confirmed that this animal had been confirmed by the Hottentots tribe.
Interesting.
Although it may not be exactly like the image we have in fiction books, it seems that a one-horned horse-like creature really did exist in the world!
Elasmotherium
Of course some researchers will still deny its existence and consider the Unicorn only as a fictional creature or a mythological creature like a dragon. However, there are some researchers who try to see the basis for forming beliefs about unicorns.
They believe that the Unicorn might be a creature called Elasmotherium, a Eurasian rhino that became extinct millions of years ago.
Even though it is thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago, oddly enough, in some ancient tribes in the world there are legends about a large animal with hair that is shaped like a cow with one big horn on its head. Just like Elasmotherium.
The legends of this tribe are believed to have formed the basis for the formation of the modern Unicorn legend.
However, did Elasmotherium appear to have had the body of a horse as described by ancient writers? Does not seem.
If so, is it possible that there are still mysterious animals out there that we know as Unicorns?
In the Harry Potter Novels, killing a Unicorn is considered a grave sin against nature. But Lord Voldemort still kills the creature because its blood is believed to give eternal life to those who drink it. Such is the reverence given to this mysterious creature. But did it really exist in this world? or did it only appear in the imagination of fiction writers?
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