Are you still on the fence about whether unicorns are real and ever roamed the earth? Do you know anything about unicorns aside from them being a horse with a horn on its head?
Keep reading to find out more about them with my 20 interesting facts about unicorns.
1. Unicorns are mythical creatures
Unicorns do not roam the earth and are considered mythical or legendary creatures. They are often depicted as looking like a horse or goat with a long pointy horn on their forehead.
A mythical creature is something that we can’t prove existed but is described in ancient texts or stories before we had official and verified accounts of everything in modern times.
2. The word unicorn means “one-horn.”
Modern English got the word unicorn from the ancient Greeks, and it literally means one-horn. It entered English in the 1200s, but descriptions of this type of animal go far back into our past and may even describe multiple animals.
Some think a unicorn was a real and distinct animal. While others believe it was a description of a rhino that was misinterpreted as looking like a horse.
3. Unicorns are most often described as being white.
Unicorns are generally considered white, but we don’t know for sure. It’s only the drawings and descriptions from the past that we can look to, and the majority of them were white, silver, or golden.
One reason unicorns are depicted as white is they were associated with purity and goodness in the past. Which had a specific color in ancient times, and that was white. Similar to why brides wear white wedding gowns.
4. Unicorns do not have wings.
If you think of unicorns as having wings, you would be wrong, based on the official definition of a unicorn and where the name comes from. Some modern stories or TV shows may depict them with wings, but this was never part of the original description.
5. The ancient Greeks were the first to write about unicorns.
The term unicorn was introduced by the ancient Greeks around 400 BC and was used to describe what they believe to be a real animal. They wrote that they could be found in the German forests and that they were ferocious beasts that were difficult to capture.
The descriptions and information on unicorns continued to change over time. They slowly moved from being ferocious to being the pure white horses with horns we think of today.
6. Unicorns are mentioned in many Asian and European myths
Unicorns have been mentioned throughout history and all over the world. There are many stories in Asian and European myths of creatures that are considered to be unicorns.
Whether this was a story that traveled or was independently created, we can’t really say. However, it’s interesting how many stories there are about them and how far back these stories go, originally considered real and not just a made-up story.
7. Unicorns are thought to have magical powers.
Unicorns are almost always depicted as having magical power, or they are an omen of coming events.
The ability to make your wishes come true is a common power. But it’s always thought the horn brings the power, so if the horn is taken, their power is gone.
8. The unicorn is the official animal of Scotland.
Whether you believe in unicorns or not, it’s a hard fact that the unicorn is Scotland’s national animal and appears on their coat of arms. It has been their national animal since around the 1500s.
9. An underwater creature called a narwhal has a horn like a unicorn.
There is a living and breathing underwater unicorn alive today, but it’s called a narwhal. The horn or tusk can be found on the males, and they can have one, two, or even none. It’s technically a protruding tooth but certainly looks like a unicorn horn.
The narwhal “horn” can grow to be 10 meters long.
10. Unicorns are depicted as living for hundreds of years.
Unicorns have been written as living for centuries; however, this is a common theme among mythical creatures.
Unicorns with their supposed magical powers do not have the same issues as regular animals as they grow older. So no disease or aging symptoms.
11. According to Jewish legends, a unicorn can kill an elephant.
Unicorns are written about in the Bible, or at least what is translated as a unicorn. These fearsome animals were thought to have battled with elephants and won.
The biblical writings of unicorns do actually fall in line with the original Greek description of unicorns as being fearsome beasts and not the friendly white animals we think of today.
12. There are nine references to unicorns in the King James Bible
The King James Bible has nine references to unicorns in it. However, scholars can’t agree if this was an accurate translation or if this was really a wild ox that was being referred to and was mistranslated.
The description of what the King James Bible refers to as a unicorn doesn’t specifically sound like an ox though, it sounds more like a rhino. It’s hard to say now what it originally was, but the King James Bible says unicorn.
13. Unicorns can’t’ fly, those are pegasi.
Original writings of unicorns do not depict them as having wings or flying. A similar animal called a Pegasi was a winged horse. Pegasus was the original example of this type of animal, and it’s not thought that they are real at all.
14. In Chinese mythology, a unicorn is known as a qilin (麒麟)
China has its own version of the unicorn, and it’s unknown how they relate to each other. However, they are called qilin (麒麟), appearing in Chinese writings from 5 BC onwards.
Qilin aren’t always depicted as having a single horn though, and they often have more of a dragon-like or deer-like appearance. However, our current view of unicorns in Western society isn’t what was initially described by the Greeks either.
15. Unicorn horns were sold as a cure for poison up to the 1700s
Unicorn horns have often been associated with the magical properties of the unicorn. So, across Europe, unicorn horns were used in various ways to stop or cure poisoning. For example, in France, you might have carried a unicorn horn as a cup to drink from while out, which would prevent you from being poisoned. In England, you would consume or drink ground unicorn horns to cure any poisoning you had.
In modern times when these are tested, it’s often found to be narwhal tusks or deer antlers or something of a similar nature.
16. There is a cave drawing from 15,000 BC that depicts a two-horned unicorn.
Unicorns are depicted as having one horn; that’s even where the name comes from. However, there are cave drawings of similar animals with two horns in both France and South Africa.
They have been written as unicorns because nobody knows what the animals really are. However, we can’t really say they aren’t unicorns or that unicorns didn’t have more than one horn. The Chinese unicorn was certainly depicted as having one or two horns.
17. Genghis Khan called off his invasion of India due to a unicorn bowing to him
Genghis Khan conquered much of the world, but it’s written that he called off his invasion of India because a unicorn bowed to him. He took this as a sign that his father was displeased with what he was doing.
Other writings of the encounter suggest that his advisor received a verbal message from the creature that they should not continue with the invasion.
18. Unicorns being associated with rainbows didn’t start until the early 1970s
When you think of unicorns, you might now think of rainbows, happiness, and sunshine. However, this imagery was not introduced to the unicorn mythology until the early 1970s as part of children’s cartoons.
These ideas were never part of the original unicorn mythology, but they appear to be now.
19. Fossils that look like unicorns have been found
Fossils have been found in Siberia and other locations that show a one-horned animal that fits the original description of a unicorn.
Whether you believe this is what we consider a unicorn or not, it shows that there are still creatures to be discovered that previously roamed the earth. There was at least one that had a single horn on its forehead.
20. The term unicorn in tech refers to a startup worth over one billion dollars
Unicorns, their names, symbol, and everything about them are used by all kinds of different groups of people these days. For example, a unicorn is a startup worth over one billion dollars in the tech industry because these companies are unique and often hard to find.
Though now, there are over 600 unicorn companies in the world. So they may be less unique than initially thought.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! 20 interesting facts about unicorns, how it all started, and how it’s going now.
I think we can safely say that there are no real unicorns now. Some accounts of unicorns have been other animals that people just didn’t know about, like rhinos. Some may have just been made-up stories. But it’s still possible that there was an animal at some point that really was a unicorn, and we just need to find the fossils to prove it.
I hope you enjoyed the facts and learned something new about unicorns.
