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Unicorns
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Unicorns
In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, a mystical creature known as the unicorn made many appearances. As described throughout much of literature, the unicorn is reputed to look somewhat like a white horse, although it has a long, twisted horn protruding from its forehead.1 The earliest description of the unicorn was by Ctesias (400 BC) (The New Book of Knowledge, Vol. U-V 19: 391). Unicorns have cloven hooves that are somewhat yellow in color; some are said to have a lion-like tail. Male unicorns can be distinguished from their female counterparts mainly in part of the goat-like beard beneath the chin. Also, the females are more elegant and have a slimmer muscle frame. The typical European unicorn has a coat of hair that is pure white, and has eyes that are either deep sea blue or fiery pink. Long and silky strands of white hair hand down from its mane and forelock. In his book, The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle describes this mythological creature as looking nothing like a horned horse...[as she was] smaller and cloven-hoofed (1). In his book, Beagle's unicorn was the color of sea foam when it was young; as it aged, its color changed to the color of snow falling on a moonlit night (1). A unicorn's horn is white, silver, or golden in color, is about two to three feet in length, and is said to have special healing powers. Throughout time, there have been many varied descriptions of the unicorn. In Asia, for example, mention of the animal dates back as far as 26 centu...
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