The unicorn, dispelling the myth?

JUst reading a thread on the unicorn about how they existed but were elusive, an antelope or the like with 2 horns or antlers, look as if they only have one from the side at certain angles.

My theory is that in ancient times hunters saw this an antelope (or the like) in just this way and thought they had seen a one horned creature, when they did catch an antelope or just see both its horns, they saw it had two and thought, "this must be a different species from this elusive beast we name a unicorn"

Just a thought!

I don't understand why the idea of an animal with one horn is such a hard thing to imagine? What's the big deal? If there are animals with two horns....why not one? It's not something that is outrageous or "out there" to imagine

im not saying it cant have existed but we have no physical evidence, and i was under the impression that if a "horse" at one stage had a horn then why does it no longer have a horn, or remnants in the shape of its skull? plus if it had a horn then it would not be able to graze pastures because its mouth would not be able to reach the ground.

Originally posted by fanthorpe
because its mouth would not be able to reach the ground.

Why not?

because its horn is supposedly of such a length and angle that it would touch the ground thus preventing the unicorn from getting its mouth to the ground

Originally posted by LadyV

Originally posted by fanthorpe
because its mouth would not be able to reach the ground.

Why not?

Excellent question. The rhinocreous does it all the time. By the way, with a complete absence of proof, my opinion is that the rhinocreous and the unicorn are the same thing.

I don't think it is so hard to imagine. I was going to site the rhino for example but you guys already brought it up. But there is far weirder and more mysterious. You all know what the gnarwhale is right?

first of all the rhino has a different type of horn in that it is much shorter in comparision with its head and it angles backwards, added to this is the fact that a rhino's physical structure is rather different to a horse, with its head low to the ground and anyway a rhino is in no way related a horse which is what unicorns have always been depicted as

Originally posted by Ajax
. You all know what the gnarwhale is right?

Do you mean the fish?

first of all the rhino has a different type of horn in that it is much shorter in comparision with its head and it angles backwards, added to this is the fact that a rhino's physical structure is rather different to a horse, with its head low to the ground and anyway a rhino is in no way related a horse which is what unicorns have always been depicted as

I know of no other four footed one horned animal existing now. I know of no fossil record of any other four footed one horned animal. Most often a Unicorn is depicted as a horned horse, but I have seen goats represented that way also. Mythical animals can be represented almost any way. Legends grow and right or wrong, the animal is always depicted the same way. An other example would be the Flying Horse, Pegasus. As far as I know this is one animal that exists no place but mythology. Without the rhino, that is where the Unicorn belongs, too.

i know no four footed one horned animal existing now actually
rhinos have 2 horns, even if it is just a wee one!

I remember reading somewhere that so-called 'Unicorn horns' actually came from Narwhals caught by whalers. When I googled for it, I came across this site: members.aol.com...

Originally posted by fanthorpe
i know no four footed one horned animal existing now actually
rhinos have 2 horns, even if it is just a wee one!

I just did a search and found a couple Rhino pictures. Some look to have one horn. Some, two horns, a couple even may have two horns sharing one base. afunk.com...">afunk.com...

Also found, in the Encyclopedia Mythica at www.pantheon.org...">www.pantheon.org...
,Go to the Bestiary section. Look at Unicorn. I found the following. I will only print the first part of a short article.
"...The unicorn is a legendary animal. It is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead, although its appearance and behavior differs, depending on the location. In the west it was usually considered wild and untamable, while in the Orient it was peaceful, meek and thought to be the bringer of good luck. There it is usually depicted as a goat-like creature, with cloven hooves and a beard. In Japan it is called Kirin, and in China Ki-lin.
The word "unicorn" is based on the Hebrew word re'em ("horn"), in early versions of the Old Testament translated as "monokeros", meaning "one horn", which became "unicorn" in English. The creature is possibly based on the rhinoceros or the narwhal, a marine creature with one horn..."

ok fair call but you contradict your argument by including.....
"...The unicorn is a legendary animal. It is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead"
you would have had me if you hadnt included that!

Awesome link Ravenna. And to whoever asked, yes I did mean the fish. If you'll notice I brought up the narwhal because I believe it is the only creature with a horn that resembles that of a unicorn's. I read somewhere that the largest narwhal horn can grow like 5 or 6 feet long, fascinating.

Edit: Spelling and I just read that the horn can grow 10 FEET LONG, WOW!!!

[edit on 6-10-2004 by Ajax]

I remember reading about this in a book of Unicorns(don't remember wich one ,sorry)
Their were some people at Barnum and Baailey's circus who actually turned a young goat into a unicorn, by operating on it's horns at a young age. so that it only had one horn growing out of it's head.They did alittle careful grooming and showed him off as a unicorn.
I'm not making this up but I can't find any useful links,Help please?
And I know that technicaly that's not the real thing (they didn't pretend that he was) but it was a very interisting idea, Manufactured Unicorns...

You mean this?


(Theres the thread about this at www.abovetopsecret.com... )

Originally posted by fanthorpe
ok fair call but you contradict your argument by including.....
"...The unicorn is a legendary animal. It is usually portrayed as a slender, white horse with a spiraling horn on its forehead"
you would have had me if you hadnt included that!

I'm not sure why quoting the article contradicts anything. The article also said it is sometimes depicted as a goat and may be based on either the narwhal or the rhinoceros.
In my first post on this thread I stated

By the way, with a complete absence of proof, my opinion is that the rhinocreous and the unicorn are the same thing.

I stand by that. The topic of this thread IS The unicorn, dispelling the myth, is it not? The unicorn, I think, is a legendary, mythological creature based on the reality of the rhino, or possibly the narwhal. Until I see fossilized evidence to the contrary, I will continue to believe that.

Originally posted by MrDead
You mean this?


(Theres the thread about this at www.abovetopsecret.com... )

No, I meant this: lair2000net...
But thanks anyway. The Unicorn is admitted as being a goat that undergoes a surgury at a young age, as well as some grooming but is kinda cool I think anyway. As they say it does have one horn, and it's not like they tried to hide what they were doing or abused it. Wonder if goats are decended from Unicorns?

The unicorns in the circus were a natural mutation, whose offspring also usually (but not always) manifested the same mutation, of the horn buds growing together at a young age. Some breeders did experiment with "budding" goats though, to achieve the same result.

I simply find it amazing that almost every culture has a depiction of a unicorn. To me, I find it very possible that such a creature existed, as many horse mutations and variants existed at the close of the last ice age... The horn was likely keratin, not bone, and this would account for the lack of a fossil record I'd think... Perhaps unicorns have been found fossilized, but not interpreted correctly? Who knows? Like dragons, there must be some basis for this mythical creature, depicted from all over Europe, the Americas, and even the Orient....

Originally posted by Gazrok
The unicorns in the circus were a natural mutation, whose offspring also usually (but not always) manifested the same mutation, of the horn buds growing together at a young age. Some breeders did experiment with "budding" goats though, to achieve the same result.

NOpe, we are either not talking abouthe same unicorn or you may just be misinformed. The people behind this stated that they had performed a harmless surgury whenit was young to; make it one horned, it was not a mutation.