Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 1 - Unicorns

Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 1 - Unicorns

Welcome to the first issue of a new weekly news article!  I hope you enjoy it, and please, show the featured artists some love and recognition through pageviews, 's and 's!


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This week's creature feature is:  The Unicorn.
The unicorn is a long-standing staple in fantasy and myth.  Though it may vary a bit in physical description depending on the particular story, the unicorn is always revered as a magical and pure beast.  From Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn :

"A unicorn (from Latin unus 'one' and cornu 'horn' ) is a mythological creature. Though the modern popular image of the unicorn is sometimes that of a horse differing only in the horn on its forehead, the traditional unicorn also has a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and cloven hooves-these distinguish it from a horse. Marianna Mayer has observed (The Unicorn and the Lake), "The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison."


Some "facts" about unicorns:

• They were often displayed in Medieval art, such as tapestries, sculptures and heraldry
• They can only be tamed (or in some cases, approached or even seen) by maidens
• They have appeared in many ancient writings, such as the King James version of the Bible, the writings of Herodotus,  and Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis
• There is a U.S. patent on the surgical procedure to form a unicorn from a two-horned animal (for real, patent #4429685, inventor Timothy G. Zell, look it up!)
• They are featured on the royal coat of arms of both Scotland and the United Kingdom

Now, for the features!  Works are featured from various categories, in no particular order:


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Thank you so much for viewing, and come back next week for a different inhabitant of the Realms of Fantasy and Myth!


~Arah