Mythical beasts / The unicorn

I have always liked mythological beasts. In most myths, these creatures symbolize the shadow side of nature and the hero usually kills them (It is his duty, so no bitter tears are shed for the dragons and other similar beasts). Sometimes, mythological creatures are helpers or messengers. One of these more peaceful creatures is the unicorn. The unicorn looks like a horse (or in earlier stories like a deer) and it has a horn coming out from the middle part of his skull. Although a fierce creature, the unicorn is seldom hostile and it is often described as beautiful.


Unicorns were imagined and described quite differently throughout the ages.
This is an old image of a unicorn from the beginning of the seventeenth century. In this picture, the little goat-like beard and the deer-like hooves (cloven hooves) can be seen really well. According to legends, the unicorn can only be tamed by maidens.
















The Maiden and the Unicorn
(Domenico Zampieri, 1602)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DomenichinounicornPalFarnese.jpg


There are more mystical unicorns in the history of art. Some depictions are quite surrealistic. 'The Happy Unicorn', painted by Salvador Dali in 1977, shows a horse-like animal with small trees growing out of its back and a flower at the end of its horn. Some parts of the figure are almost transparent, which creates a dreamlike atmosphere:













The Happy Unicorn
(Salvador Dali, 1977)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5177/art.html

The image of the unicorn appears in films, too. In the science-fiction film 'Blade Runner', the hero called Deckard daydreams about a unicorn. Deckard is a special cop, whose job is to terminate replicants (androids with a humanoid intelligence). These replicants are said to have implanted visions and feelings in their brains to give them something similar to what we call dreams and memories. So, Deckard dreams about a unicorn and we cannot be sure whether it is just a normal daydream or Deckard himself is a replica too, and the dream was just an implanted vision in his brain.



If you feel like it you can do some exercises about the words and expressions in this entry.

Here you can read a short story about a unicorn by James Thurber. In the story the slang expression 'booby hatch' is used. It is an institution for mentally ill people. Another expression used in the story is 'crazy as a jay bird', which means completely mad. Enjoy the story!