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A few years before the birth of Christ, a well-respected Greek, Apollonius of Tyana, claimed to have seen a Unicorn in India. However, it was not until a few centuries later that the Unicorn really became part of
the Western culture mainly because of its associations with the Bible and with
Christ.
How to Catch a Unicorn
During the middle ages a fable was told that although the Unicorn was
impossible to hunt down, it was so impressed by the presence of a lovely virgin
that it would run up to her and submissively lay its head in her lap. Marco
Polo's editor Colonel Yule affirms athat the Unicorn was supposed to be
attracted noty by the lay's beauty or chastity, but by the perfumes of her
dress. Still legends that spread throughout Europe stated that it was
impossible to catch a Unicorn by force. The only way to capture one was for a
maiden to wait alone where Unicorns were known to be found. When he saw the
maiden, the Unicorn would run up and lay its head in her lap - at which point
it could be easily taken by the hunters hiding nearby.
Unicorn in the Sky
The first mention of the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn, was by Jakob
Bartsch around 1624. The stars of the Unicorn were described in detail in the
catalog of Hevelius in 1690. The Milky Way runs through the center of this
constellation. There are 146 stars in Monoceros that are visible to the naked
eye.
Unicorns In the Bible
"My horn shall be exalted like the horn of the Unicorn."
The Book of Psalms
"He hath as it were the strength of a unicorn"
The Book of Numbers
"Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee?"
Job
According to the book of Genesis, God gave Adam the task of naming everything
he saw. In some translations of the Bible, the Unicorn was the first animal
named; thereby, elevating it above all other beasts in the universe. When Adam
and Eve left paradise, the Unicorn went with them and came to represent purity
and chastity. Thus, the Unicorn's purity in the Western legends stems from its
Biblical beginnings.
The Bible also offers an explanation about why the Unicorn has not been seen
for so long. During the flood that engulfed the world for 40 days and 40
nights, Noah took two of each animal to safety ; but Unicorns were not among
them. A Jewish folk tale mentions they were originally on board but demanded so
much space and attention that Noah banished them. They either drowned or
managed to swim during the flood and still survive somewhere in the world or,
as some believe, evolved into the narwhale.
In addition, there are seven clear references to the Unicorn in the Old
Testament; although, there is now doubt about the original translations that
may have erroneously named another animal as a Unicorn.
The Jewish Talmud also makes many similar references to the Unicorn. In Jewish
folklore it is the fiercest of all animals and is able to kill an elephant with
a single thrust from its horn.
Throughout history, the church has interpreted the Unicom in a number of
different ways. In medieval times, it became a symbol of Christ himself, and
its horn was symbolic of the unity of Christ and God. Some medieval paintings
show the Trinity with Christ represented by a Unicom. On the other hand, the
Unicom also appears as a symbol of evil in the book of Isaiah. Overall,
however, the Unicom has come to be regarded as a pure and virtuous animal.
Regardless of the place of the Unicom in Biblical theory, it is evident that
there was a strong belief in the animal's existence in Biblical times, as well
as in the following centuries. After all, it appears so often in the Old
Testament that it can hardly be overlooked in the Christian world. The fact
that it appears in the Bible meant that no devout Christian could doubt its
authenticity.
Unicorn Saves India from Genghis Khan's Hordes
In medieval times, Asia was a place of great mystery; and the stories of
Unicorns only made it more wondrous. For example, Prester John ruled over a
vast Asian empire in the mid- 1100's; and he was reputed to have a number of
tame Unicorns. To Europeans, this was a sign of his wealth and power.
The legend of the Unicorn gained a new chapter a century later when Mongolian
warrior Genghis Khan conquered much of Asia to build a great empire. However,
the intervention of a Unicorn made him abruptly turn back on the brink of
adding India to his empire.
As Genghis Khan and his army prepared to invade for what would probably have
been an easy victory, a Unicorn approached and knelt before him. Genghis Khan
was taken aback, but realizing this was a sign from heaven not to attack, he
turned his army away. One of the most ruthless and fearless warriors in history
had been "tamed" by a simple Unicorn, and India was saved from
invasion.
Historically, this was the last significant and reliable Unicorn sighting. In
the late 1200s, though, Italian trader Marco Polo became famous for his
accounts of travel in China and Southeast Asia. He even reported seeing a large
Unicorn, almost as big as an elephant. His detailed description was almost
certainly a rhinoceros, but the retelling of his tales and the illustrations
that accompanied them usually made the Unicorn fit in with the traditional
Western horse-like creature.
Unicorns in Modern Times
The desire to discover a Unicorn exists to this day, and many attempts have
been made in the 20th century to "create" Unicorns. In the 1930s, Dr.
W. Franklin Dove of Maine manipulated a calf's horn buds to make a bull with a
single horn growing out of the middle of its head. Although this experiment did
not offer an explanation about the existence of Unicorns, it did show that it
is possible for animals to grow single ohms.
Fifty years later, the same procedure was used on white goats to produce
Lancelot, the "Living Unicorn" that became a great attraction at the
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This "Unicorn"
resembled the small Unicorns often depicted in medieval paintings and
tapestries. These animals were small enough to sit on the laps of young
maidens.
The Royal Unicorn
Since the
reign of King Robert III in the late 1300s, the Unicorn has been a part of the
official seal of Scotland. Robert III turned to the purity and strength of the
Unicorn for inspiration in rebuilding his nation; and the Unicorn was soon
incorporated into the royal seal.
When James VI of Scotland became King James I of both England and Scotland on
the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, he drew up a new royal coat-of- arms that
included both the traditional English lion as well as the Scottish Unicorn.
According to folklore, however, the lion and the unicorn hate each other - a
tradition going back to the ancient Babylonians in 3,500 B.C. The fight between
the two results from the Unicorn representing Spring and the lion representing
Summer. Each year the two fight for supremacy; and each year the lion
eventually wins.
In the case of Scotland and England, the fight continued, and a popular English
nursery rhyme of the period sums up the animosity. It also recalls old wars
between England and Scotland that England invariably won:
The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown;
The lion beat the unicorn
All round about the town.
The lion and the Unicorn remain a part of the British coat-of-arms to this day,
supporting the royal shield. The Canadian coat-of-arms is modeled on the
British version, so it also features a lion and a Unicorn supporting a central
shield.
The Power of the Unicorn
Because of the Unicom's purity, its horn (known as alicom) was considered
magical and became a popular ingredient in medieval medicines. Its mere
presence was considered a strong protection against poison in food, and when
worn in jewelry, it protected the wearer from evil.
Alicorn was often worth more than its weight in gold, so kings, emperors, and
popes were among the few people able to pay the high prices demanded. They were
eager to acquire the precious horn to "guarantee" long and healthy
lives. With such a lucrative trade, false alicorn was rampant, made from bull
horn, goat horn, or in some cases from the horns of exotic animals or from
ordinary dog bones.
Complete Unicom horns were very rare. For example, a complete Unicom horn owned
by Queen Elizabeth I of England was valued at the time at £10,000 - the
equivalent of about 3,000 ounces of gold and enough money to buy a large
country estate complete with a castle. Rather than coming from unicorns, these
complete horns often turned out to be the long spirally twisted tusks of the
male narwhal, a large marine animal.
Kings often placed alicorn on the table to protect themselves against poisonous
food and drink, and until the revolution toppled the monarchy in 1789, the
eating utensils used by French kings were made of Unicom horn to counteract any
poison in the food.
How to Test Real Unicorn Horn
Medieval pharmacists believed in the power of the Unicorn as a medicine, and
the Unicorn even became the apothecaries' symbol. According to St. Hildegard, who
passionately believed in the power of the Unicorn to heal illness, the
Unicorn's strength came from the fact that once a year, it returned to drink
the waters and eat the vegetation of paradise.
Ground Unicorn horn was said to cure fever, plague, epilepsy, rabies, gout, and
a host of other ailments. Unicorn liver was a cure for leprosy. Shoes made of
Unicorn leather assured healthy feet and legs, and a belt of Unicorn leather
worn around the body warded off plague and fever. Belief in the power of the Unicorn
was widely held in England until the mid- I 700s.
In order to distinguish "real" alicorn from false alicorn, elaborate
tests were devised. Among them are the following:
* Place scorpions under a dish with apiece of horn. If the scorpions die in a
matter of hours, the horn is real.
* Feed arsenic to pigeons, followed by a dose of Unicorn horn. If the pigeons
live, the horn is genuine.
* Draw a ring on the floor with the horn. If the horn is real, a spider will
not be able to cross the ring.
* Place the horn in cold water. If the water bubbles but remains cold, the horn
came from a Unicorn.
The Hunt of the Unicorn
The Most Famous Unicorn Image
About the year 1500, a magnificent series of large tapestries was made in
Belgium to trace the history of a hunt for the Unicorn. They were bought by
John D. Rockefeller in 1922 and are now on display at the Cloisters museum in
New York.
The series of seven tapestries follows the hunt from beginning to end. The
Unicorn is discovered and chased by the party of noblemen, but they are unable
to capture it. In the fifth tapestry, a young maiden tames and captures the
Unicorn - relying on the age-old custom that a Unicorn could only be captured
by a virgin.
In the last tapestry, the Unicorn is chained to a tree within a round wooden
fence. This final scene is the most famous Unicorn image and has become the
universally accepted picture of a Western Unicorn.
"...Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn,
"If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."
-- Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
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Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries had its humble beginnings as an idea of a few artisans and craftsmen who enjoy performing with live steel fighting. As well as a patchwork quilt tent canvas. Most had prior military experience hence the name.
Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries.
Vendertainers that brought many things to a show and are know for helping out where ever they can.
As well as being a place where the older hand made items could be found made by them and enjoyed by all.
We expanded over the years to become well known at what we do. Now we represent over 100 artisans and craftsman that are well known in their venues and some just starting out. Some of their works have been premiered in TV, stage and movies on a regular basis.
Specializing in Medieval, Goth , Stage Film, BDFSM and Practitioner.
Patchwork Merchant Mercenaries a Dept of, Ask For IT was started by artists and former military veterans, and sword fighters, representing over 100 artisans, one who made his living traveling from fair to festival vending medieval wares. The majority of his customers are re-enactors, SCAdians and the like, looking to build their kit with period clothing, feast gear, adornments, etc.
Likewise, it is typical for these history-lovers to peruse the tent (aka mobile store front) and, upon finding something that pleases the eye, ask "Is this period?"
A deceitful query!! This is not a yes or no question. One must have a damn good understanding of European history (at least) from the fall of Rome to the mid-1600's to properly answer. Taking into account, also, the culture in which the querent is dressed is vitally important. You see, though it may be well within medieval period, it would be strange to see a Viking wearing a Caftan...or is it?
After a festival's time of answering weighty questions such as these, I'd sleep like a log! Only a mad man could possibly remember the place and time for each piece of kitchen ware, weaponry, cloth, and chain within a span of 1,000 years!! Surely there must be an easier way, a place where he could post all this knowledge...
Traveling Within The World is meant to be such a place. A place for all of these artists to keep in touch and directly interact with their fellow geeks and re-enactment hobbyists, their clientele.
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