Unicorn - St Mary's church - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - Epic Beings and Creatures on Waymarking.com

"In 1930 the churchwardens placed the Supporters of the Royal Arms – a lion and a unicorn dated c.1705– on pedestals facing east at the west end of the church. They had been in the clergy vestry for many years. Above the great west door is the cushion and crown. In 1705 the Lion, Unicorn with cushion and Crown were situated on the organ of that time. In 1765 the church was broken into and money taken, the thieves decorated the lion and unicorn with two of the clergymen’s surplices."

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"The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian. The Bible also describes an animal, the re'em, which some versions translate as unicorn.

In European folklore, the unicorn is often depicted as a white horse-like or goat-like animal with a long horn and cloven hooves (sometimes a goat's beard). In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was commonly described as an extremely wild woodland creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. In the encyclopedias its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness. In medieval and Renaissance times, the tusk of the narwhal was sometimes sold as unicorn horn.

In heraldry, a unicorn is often depicted as a horse with a goat's cloven hooves and beard, a lion's tail, and a slender, spiral horn on its forehead (non-equine attributes may be replaced with equine ones). Whether because it was an emblem of the Incarnation or of the fearsome animal passions of raw nature, the unicorn was not widely used in early heraldry, but became popular from the 15th century. Though sometimes shown collared and chained, which may be taken as an indication that it has been tamed or tempered, it is more usually shown collared with a broken chain attached, showing that it has broken free from its bondage."

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Time Period: Ancient Epic Type: Mythical Exhibit Type: Figure, Statue, 3D Art Approximate Date of Epic Period: Not listed

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