Unicorns: Myths, History, and Cultural Impact
Unicorns are creatures often depicted with a single spiralling horn on their forehead.
You'll find Unicorns depicted on many of our products from dreamcatchers to incense burners. You'll find cute unicorns on water bottles and even on some of our mugs.
Unicorns have long stood as universal icons of purity, innocence, and power. They serve as a testament to the human capacity for wonder, bridging the divide between the tangible world and the realm of imagination.
Unicorns and rainbows are also closely associated (in fact, we even have products with unicorns on rainbows), as are fairies and unicorns (see our range of Fairy Gifts & Figurines if this is what interests you more).
But did you know that the origins of Unicorns can be traced back to humankind's earliest recorded civilisations and that in the long run of human history they have been revered, feared, and adored in almost equal measure?
In fact, the origins of unicorns are as enigmatic as the creatures themselves. You have to go far back in history to fully trace their story.
Facts about Unicorns: Unicorns Through the Ages
Ancient myths and civilisations form the canvas for the first unicorns. Always embodying purity, strength, and mystery, they have been represented in countless forms of art and literature.
Tracing Back to Ancient Eqypt & Indus Valley Civilization
The earliest known depictions of unicorns can be found in Ancient Eqypt, where hieroglyphs show them as ordinary animals listed alongside other horned animals. This strongly indicates the Ancient Egyptians thought of the unicorn as real.
(Check out our range of Eqyptian Figures & Statues based on ancient Eqypt symbols and culture).
In the Indus Valley Civilisation, which dates from around 2000 years BCE, seals featuring a single horned animal have been unearthed that suggest the concept of unicorns as a fantastical beast might have originated here.
One particularly intriguing find is an incense burner, adorned with the image of a single-horned creature. Take a look at our own Unicorn incense burner !
Classical Antiquity and the Evolution of The Unicorn Myth
Travel forward a thousand years or so, to the classical era, and here are Unicorns. In Greek mythology, for example, they are depicted, not as fanciful creatures of legend but more in the style of Ancient Eqypt as an actual animal. A real, fierce animal, described as akin to a wild ass, with a tail of the boar and a single black horn reputed to be a cubit long.
This portrayal evolved over time, and came to incorporate attributes like a deep lowing noise. By another thousand years forward in time this idea of the Unicorn has firmly cemented itself in the collective imagination of the European continent, where you can find Unicorns in art and artefacts from early Christian times to the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages and Renaissance: Unicorns in Art and Culture
Early Christians viewed the horn of the unicorn as a symbol of the cross, upon which Jesus had been crucified. Out of this, Medieval art frequently intertwined unicorns with the figure of the Virgin Mary where the unicorn is shown as being attracted to the purity of the virgin maiden.
It was during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when unicorns transcended the boundaries of mythical tales to become emblematic in art and culture. This era saw unicorns no longer just as wild animals but as noble creatures that could only be tamed by innocence, a theme that resonated deeply with the artistic and cultural sensibilities of the time.
Explore the Medieval period more with our Knight & Princess range of gifts, or delve into the even more phantasmagorical world of Myth & Magic (where you might also find a Unicorn).
From Mythological Creatures to Modern Mascots
Unicorns, then, have always been creatures of enchantment, dancing the thin line between what is tangible and what lies in the realm of dreams.
Their capacity to bridge the gap between reality and fantasy invites us to dream, to imagine worlds beyond our own, filled with magic and mystery.
And so they serve the modern-day as a beacon of hope and wonder, reaching out to business, politics, and all branches of our own society, encouraging us to believe in the possibility of the extraordinary within the ordinary confines of our world.
We have transformed them into mascots of our modern day.
Emblems of Success
One of the ways we can see this is in the current world of business and of venture capital. Here, the term 'unircorn' is used as a metaphor for the extraordinary potential within the venture capital industry where a startup company with the possibility to achieve a valuation of over $1 billion is referred to as a' unicorn' business.
But it is perhaps on the personal, individual level that Unicorns have had their greatest impact on the modern day, as the Unicorn has taken on greater symbolic power.
Embracing Diversity and Freedom
With their unique blend of innocence and power, Unicorns now symbolize a celebration of diversity and the freedom to be oneself. Unicorns now stand for not only the fantastical but also the limitless potential within each of us.
In today's age, their appeal lies not just in their mystical origins but in their capacity to represent a wide spectrum of ideas and values. As symbols of possibility, unicorns encourage us to embrace our differences and to acknowledge the magic that diversity brings to our shared human experience.
The Timeless Allure of Unicorns
The story of unicorns is not just a tale from ancient books; it's a narrative that has been woven into the fabric of cultures across the globe, and now into our own.
Above all, they remind us that, within the tapestry of reality, there's always room for a bit of magic and wonder, as we imagine the unimaginable and turn the impossible into the possible.
Share this sense of wonder with us with our magical Unicorn collection of water bottles, dreamcatchers, incense burners, and other amazing products.
