Unicorn and Mörel, Switzerland: Difference between pages

Revision as of 14:39, 5 March 2007

Revision as of 23:33, 2 July 2007

Line 1:

{{Infobox Swiss town

{{this|the legendary creature}}

| subject_name = Mörel

| municipality_name = Mörel

| municipality_type = municipality

| imagepath_coa = |pixel_coa=

| map =

| languages = French

| canton = Valais

| iso-code-region = CH-VS

| district = [[Raron (district)|Raron]]

| lat_d=46|lat_m=21|lat_NS=N|long_d=8|long_m=2|long_EW=E

| postal_code = 3983

| municipality_code = 6179

| area = 1.2

| elevation = 746|elevation_description=

| population = 491|populationof=December 2002

| website = www.moerel.ch

| mayor = |mayor_asof=|mayor_party=

| mayor_title = |list_of_mayors =

| places =

| demonym =

| neighboring_municipalities=

| twintowns =

|}}

'''Mörel''' is a [[Municipalities of Switzerland|municipality]] in the district of [[Raron (district)|Raron]] in the [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] of [[Valais]] in [[Switzerland]].

The '''unicorn''' (from [[Latin]] ''unus'' 'one' and ''cornus'' 'horn') is a [[legendary 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 has a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and cloven hooves, which distinguish him from a horse.<ref> Coincidentally, these modifications make the horned ungulate more realistic, since only cloven-hoofed animals have horns.</ref> 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."

[[Image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Closet-3-Shelf-16160.jpg|thumb|right|380px|The gentle and pensive virgin has the power to tame the unicorn, in this fresco in [[Palazzo Farnese, Rome]], probably by [[Domenichino]], ca 1602]]

==Uses of unicorn horn==

horns were sold as unicorn horns, which were highly sought-after as a defence against poison. One of many references is [[Ctesias|Ctesias's]] reports on the unicorn (or perhaps the rhinoceros) in [[India]]:

:''Those who drink out of cups made from [the horn] are proof against convulsions, epilepsy, and even poison, provided that before or after having taken it they drink some wine or water or other liquid out of these cups.''<ref name="Ctesias">{{cite book

| last =Ctesias

| authorlink =Ctesias

| title =Indica

| date =390 BC

| chapter =45

| url = http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/ctesias/photius_indica.html}} (quoted by [[Photius]])</ref>

The ability of unicorn horns to neutralize poison has been touted since the time of Aristotle.<ref>{{cite web

| last = Hallakarva

| first = Gunnora

| title = The Silent Weapon - Poisons and Antidotes in the Middle Ages

| date = 1994-08-30

| url = http://www.florilegium.org/files/UNCAT/poisons-art.text

| accessdate = 2007-01-20 }}</ref> The English ambassador to the French court was treated in [[1596]] with medicine containing "musk, amber, gold, pearl and unicorn’s horn", the efficacy of the ingredients being directly related to their rarity and expense.<ref>{{cite journal

| last = Eggleston

| first = Edward

| title = Some Curious Colonial Remedies

| journal =American Historical Review

| volume =5

| pages =199-206

| date =1899

| url = http://www.dinsdoc.com/eggleston-1.

| accessdate = 2007-01-20 }}</ref>

==External links==

Though the ''[[qilin]]'' ({{zh-c|c=麒麟}}), a creature in [[Chinese mythology]], is sometimes called "the Chinese unicorn", it is a hybrid animal that looks less unicorn than [[chimera (mythology)|chimera]], with the body of a [[deer]], the head of a [[lion]], green scales and a long forwardly-curved horn. The Japanese version (called a ''kirin'') more closely resembles the Western unicorn, even though it is based on the Chinese qilin.

* [http://www.moerel.ch Official website] {{fr icon}}

{{Municipalities of the district of East Raron}}

i hate wikipedia all they have to do is write articles and beat thier dick to internet porn

[[Category:Municipalities of Valais|Morel]]

==Medieval unicorns==

Medieval knowledge of the fabulous beast stemmed from biblical and ancient sources, and the creature was variously represented as a kind of wild ass, goat, or horse. By AD 200, [[Tertullian]] had called the unicorn a small fierce [[Goat|kidlike]] animal, and a symbol of [[Christ]]. [[Ambrose]], [[Jerome]] and [[Basil the Great|Basil]] agreed.

{{Valais-geo-stub}}

The predecessor of the medieval [[bestiary]], compiled in [[Late Antiquity]] and known as ''[[Physiologus]]'', popularized an elaborate allegory in which a unicorn, trapped by a maiden (representing the Virgin Mary) stood for the [[Incarnation]]. As soon as the unicorn sees her it lays its head on her lap and falls asleep. This became a basic emblematic tag that underlies medieval notions of the unicorn, justifying its appearance in every form of religious art.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morel}}

[[de:Mörel VS]]

The unicorn also figured in [[courtly love|courtly terms]]: for some thirteenth-century French authors such as [[Thibaut of Champagne]] and [[Richard of Fournival]], the lover is attracted to his lady as the unicorn is to the virgin. This courtly version of salvation provided an alternative to God's love and was assailed as [[heresy|heretical]] {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. With the rise of [[Renaissance humanism|humanism]], the unicorn also acquired more orthodox secular meanings, emblematic of chaste love and faithful marriage. It plays this role in Petrarch's ''Triumph of Chastity''.

[[fr:Mörel]]

[[it:Mörel]]

The royal throne of Denmark was made of "unicorn horns". The same material was used for ceremonial cups because the unicorn's horn continued to be believed to neutralize poison, following classical authors.

[[lmo:Mörel]]

[[nl:Mörel (Zwitserland)]]

[[Image:Pisanello Medal of Cecilia Gonzaga.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Medal of Cecilia Gonzaga by [[Pisanello]] ,1447]]

[[pt:Mörel]]

The unicorn, tamable only by a virgin woman, was well established in medieval lore by the time [[Marco Polo]] described them as:

:''scarcely smaller than elephants. They have the hair of a buffalo and feet like an elephant's. They have a single large black horn in the middle of the forehead... They have a head like a wild boar's… They spend their time by preference wallowing in [[mud]] and slime. They are very ugly brutes to look at. They are not at all such as we describe them when we relate that they let themselves be captured by virgins, but clean contrary to our notions.''

It is clear that Marco Polo was describing a [[rhinoceros]]. In [[German language|German]], since the sixteenth century, ''Einhorn'' ("one-horn") has become a descriptor of the various species of rhinoceros.

In popular belief, examined wittily and at length in the seventeenth century by Sir [[Thomas Browne]] in his ''[[Pseudodoxia Epidemica]]'', unicorn horns could neutralize poisons.<ref> {{cite book

| last =Browne

| first =Thomas

| authorlink = Thomas Browne

| title = Pseudodoxia Epidemica

| date =1646

| chapter =23 (Book 3)

| url = http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo323.html}}</ref> Therefore, people who feared poisoning sometimes drank from goblets made of "unicorn horn". Alleged [[aphrodisiac]] qualities and other purported medicinal virtues also drove up the cost of "unicorn" products such as [[milk]], [[hide]], and [[offal]]. Unicorns were also said to be able to determine whether or not a woman was a virgin; in some tales, they could only be mounted by virgins.

==The Hunt of the Unicorn==

[[Image:Französischer Tapisseur (15. Jahrhundert) 001.jpg|thumb|right|Tapestry, Maiden with Unicorn, 15th century,([[Musée de Cluny]], Paris)]]

One traditional method of hunting unicorns involved entrapment by a [[virgin]].

[[Leonardo da Vinci]] wrote the following on the unicorn:

:''"The unicorn, through its intemperance and not knowing how to control itself, for the love it bears to fair maidens forgets its ferocity and wildness; and laying aside all fear it will go up to a seated damsel and go to sleep in her lap, and thus the hunters take it."''

The famous late Gothic series of seven [[tapestry]] hangings, ''[[The Hunt of the Unicorn]]'' are a high point in European tapestry manufacture, combining both secular and religious themes. The tapestries now hang in [[the Cloisters]] division of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York. In the series, richly dressed noblemen, accompanied by huntsmen and hounds, pursue a unicorn against ''millefleurs'' backgrounds or settings of buildings and gardens. They bring the animal to bay with the help of a maiden who traps it with her charms, appear to kill it, and bring it back to a castle; in the last and most famous panel, “The Unicorn in Captivity,” the unicorn is shown alive again and happy, chained to a [[pomegranate]] tree surrounded by a fence, in a field of flowers. Scholars conjecture that the red stains on its flanks are not blood but rather the juice from pomegranates, which were a symbol of fertility. However, the true meaning of the mysterious resurrected Unicorn in the last panel is unclear. The series was woven about 1500 in the [[Low Countries]], probably [[Brussels]] or [[Liège (city)|Liège]], for an unknown patron. There is a set of six [[engraving]]s on the same theme, treated rather differently, by the French artist [[Jean Duvet]], created in the 1540s.

Another famous set of six tapestries called the ''[[The Lady and the Unicorn|Dame à la licorne]]'' (Lady with the unicorn) in the [[Musée de Cluny]], Paris, were also woven in the [[Southern Netherlands]] before 1500, and show the five senses (the gateways to temptation) and finally Love ("A mon seul desir" the legend reads), with unicorns featured in each piece.

Facsimiles of the unicorn tapestries are currently being woven for permanent display in [[Stirling Castle]], [[Scotland]], to take the place of a set recorded in the Castle in the [[16th century]].

==Heraldry==

In [[heraldry]], a unicorn is depicted as a horse with a goat's cloven hooves and beard, a lion's tail, and a slender, spiral horn on its forehead. 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 fifteenth century. Though sometimes shown collared, which may perhaps be taken in some cases 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 and cannot be taken again.

It is probably best known from the royal [[coat of arms|arms]] of [[Scotland]] and the [[United Kingdom]]: two unicorns [[supporter|support]] the Scottish arms; a lion and a unicorn support the UK arms. The arms of the [[Society of Apothecaries]] in [[London]] has two golden unicorn supporters.

{{MultiCol}}[[Image:Licorne Edimbourg Scotland.JPG|thumb|left|300px|[[Arms of Scotland]]]]

{{ColBreak}}[[Image:Old State House Unicorn zoom.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Oblique view of the [[Old State House (Boston)|Old State House]] in Boston, Massachusetts, showing the Lion and Unicorn heraldic symbols that existed when the building was the seat of British colonial government from 1713 to 1776.]]

{{EndMultiCol}}

==Possible origins==

===Alleged skeletal evidence===

[[Image:Unicornhoax.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The German unicorn skeleton allegedly discovered in 1663]]

A unicorn [[skeleton]] was supposedly found at [[Einhornhöhle]] ("Unicorn Cave") in [[Germany]]'s [[Harz Mountains]] in [[1663]]. Claims that the so-called unicorn had only two legs (and was constructed from [[fossil]] bones of [[mammoth]]s and other animals) are contradicted or explained by accounts that [[souvenir]]-seekers plundered the skeleton; these accounts further claim that, perhaps remarkably, the souvenir-hunters left the [[skull]], with horn. The skeleton was examined by [[Leibniz]], who had previously doubted the existence of the unicorn, but was convinced thereby.

[[Georges Cuvier|Baron Georges Cuvier]] maintained that as the unicorn was cloven-hoofed it must therefore have a cloven skull (making impossible the growth of a single horn); to disprove this, Dr. [[W. Franklin Dove]], a [[University of Maine]] professor, artificially fused the horn buds of a [[calf]] together, creating a one-horned bull.<ref> {{cite web

| title = Dr Dove's Unicorn Bull

| url = http://www.unicorngarden.com/drdove.htm

| accessdate = 2007-01-20 }}</ref>

[[P.T. Barnum]] once exhibited a unicorn skeleton, which was exposed as a [[hoax]].

Since the [[rhinoceros]] is the only known land animal to possess a single horn, it has often been supposed that the unicorn legend originated from encounters between Europeans and rhinoceroses. The [[Woolly Rhinoceros]] would have been quite familiar to Ice-Age people, or the legend may have been based on the surviving rhinoceroses of Africa. Europeans and West Asians have visited Sub-Saharan Africa for as long as we have records. <!--The [[Phoenicians]] are reliably recorded as having sailed all round Africa on a mission sponsored by an Egyptian [[Pharaoh]]. How "reliable" is this?-->

Chinese from the time of the [[Han Dynasty]] had also visited East Africa, which may account for their odd legends of 'one-horned ogres'. The [[Ming dynasty]] voyages of [[Zheng He]] brought back [[giraffe]]s, which were identified by the Chinese with another creature from their own legends, the [[Qilin]], a deerlike creature, also with a single horn.

===Elasmotherium===

One suggestion is that the unicorn is based on an extinct animal sometimes called the "Giant Unicorn" but known to scientists as ''[[Elasmotherium]]'', a huge [[Eurasia]]n rhinoceros native to the [[steppes]], south of the range of the [[woolly rhinoceros]] of [[Ice Age]] Europe. ''Elasmotherium'' looked little like a horse, but it had a large single horn in its forehead. It seems to have become extinct about the same time as the rest of the glacial age [[megafauna]].

However, according to the ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'' and science writer [[Willy Ley]] the animal may have survived long enough to be remembered in the legends of the [[Evenks|Evenk]] people of [[Russia]] as a huge black bull with a single horn in the forehead.

There is also testimony by the medieval traveller [[Ibn Fadlan]], who is usually considered a reliable source, which suggests that ''Elasmotherium'' may have survived into historical times:

:''"There is nearby a wide steppe, and there dwells, it is told, an animal smaller than a camel, but taller than a bull. Its head is the head of a ram, and its tail is a bull’s tail. Its body is that of a mule and its hooves are like those of a bull. In the middle of its head it has a horn, thick and rouisnd, and as the horn goes higher, it narrows (to an end), until it is like a spearhead. Some of these horns grow to three or five ells, depending on the size of the animal. It thrives on the leaves of penof trees, which are excellent greenery. Whenever it sees a rider, it approaches and if the rider has a fast horse, the horse tries to escape by running fast, and if the beast overtakes them, it picks the rider out of the saddle with its horn, and tosses him in the air, and meets him with the point of the horn, and continues doing so until the rider dies. But it will not harm or hurt the horse in any way or manner.''

:''"The locals seek it in the steppe and in the forest until they can kill it. It is done so: they climb the tall trees between which the animal passes. It requires several bowmen with poisoned arrows; and when the beast is in between them, they shoot and wound it unto its death. And indeed I have seen three big bowls shaped like Yemen seashells, that the king has, and he told me that they are made out of that animal’s horn."''

Even if ''Elasmotherium'' is not the creature described by Ibn Fadlan, ordinary rhinoceroses may have some relation to the unicorn. In support of this claim, it has been noted that the [[13th century]] traveller [[Marco Polo]] claimed to have seen a unicorn in [[Java (island)|Java]], but his description (quoted above) makes it clear to the modern reader that he actually saw a Javanese rhinoceros.

===A mutant goat===

The connection that is sometimes made with a single-horned goat derives from the vision of Daniel:

:''And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.'' {{bibleverse||Daniel|8:5}}

In the domestic [[goat]], a rare deformity of the generative tissues can cause the horns to be joined together; such an animal could be another possible inspiration for the legend. A farmer and a circus owner also produced fake unicorns, remodelling the "horn buttons" of goat kids in such a way that their horns grew together into a single one.<ref> {{cite web

| title = Man Made Unicorns

| url = http://www.lair2000.net/Unicorn_Dreams/Unicorns_Man_Made/unicorns_man_made.html

| accessdate = 2007-01-20 }}

</ref> The Japanese kirin is depicted as a bearded one-horned goat.

===The narwhal===

[[Image:Narwhalsk.jpg|thumb|360px|Male [[Narwhal]]]]

The unicorn horns often found in [[cabinet of curiosities|cabinets of curiosities]] and other contexts in Medieval and Renaissance Europe were very often examples of the distinctive straight spiral single tusk of the [[narwhal]], an [[Arctic Ocean|Arctic]] [[cetacean]] (''Monodon monoceros''), as [[Denmark|Danish]] zoologist [[Ole Worm]] established in [[1638]].<ref>{{cite web

| title =Unicorn at Ocultopedia

| url = http://www.occultopedia.com/u/unicorn.htm

| accessdate = 2007-01-20 }}</ref> They were brought south as a very valuable trade, passing the various tests intended to spot fake unicorn horns. The usual depiction of the unicorn horn in art derives from these.

===The oryx===

[[Image:Beissaoryx3a.JPG|right|thumb|180px|The oryx]]

The [[oryx]] is an [[antelope]] with two long, thin horns projecting from its forehead. Some have suggested that seen from the side and from a distance, the oryx looks something like a horse with a single horn (although the 'horn' projects backward, not forward as in the classic unicorn). Conceivably, travellers in [[Arabia]] could have derived the tale of the unicorn from these animals. However, classical authors seem to distinguish clearly between oryxes and unicorns. The ''Peregrinatio in terram sanctam'', published in 1486, was the first printed illustrated travel-book, describing a [[pilgrimage]] to [[Jerusalem]], and thence to Egypt by way of [[Mount Sinai]]. It featured many large woodcuts by [[Erhard Reuwich]], who went on the trip, mostly detailed and accurate views of cities. The book also contained pictures of animals seen on the journey, including a crocodile, camel, and unicorn - presumably an oryx, which they could easily have seen on their route.

===The eland===

In [[Southern Africa]] the [[Common Eland|eland]] has somewhat mystical or spiritual connotations, perhaps at least partly because this very large antelope will defend itself and others against lions, and was able to kill these fearsome predators at a time when people had only slow-acting poisoned arrows to defend themselves with. Eland are very frequently depicted in the rock art of the region, which implies that they were viewed as having a strong connection to the other world, and in several languages the word for eland and for dance is the same; significant because shamans used dance as their means of drawing power from the other world. Eland fat was used when mixing the pigments for these pictographs, and in the preparation of many medicines.

This special regard for the eland may well have been picked up by early travellers. In the area of [[Cape Town]] one horned eland are known to occur naturally, perhaps as the result of a recessive gene, and were noted in the diary of an early governor of the Cape{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. There is also a purported unicorn horn in the castle of the [[McLeod]] clan chief in [[Scotland]], which has been identified as that of an eland.

==Notes==

<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->

<div class="references-small">

<references />

</div>

==References==

*[[Rüdiger Robert Beer|Beer, Rüdiger Robert]], ''[[Unicorn: Myth and Reality]]'' ([[1977]]). (Editions: ISBN 0-88405-583-3; ISBN 0-904069-15-X; ISBN 0-442-80583-7.)

*''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', 1911: "Unicorn"

*[[Lise Gotfredsen|Gotfredsen, Lise]], ''[[The Unicorn]]'' ([[1999]]). (Editions: ISBN 0-7892-0595-5; ISBN 1-86046-267-7.) A richly illustrated cultural history.

*Shepard, Odell. ''The Lore of the Unicorn''. (1930) [http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/lou/index.htmon-line text]

==See also==

* [[Invisible Pink Unicorn]] (an atheist symbol)

* [[Shadhavar]] (a unicorn-like creature in Persian folklore)

*[[Qilin]] (sometimes called the "Chinese unicorn")

== External links ==

{{commonscat|Unicorns}}

*[http://www.allaboutunicorns.com All About Unicorns]: Historical unicorn information, plus a gallery of unicorn pictures

*[http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastbiblio140.htm Medieval bestiary:] unicorn bibliography

*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=27&letter=U ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':] "Unicorn"

*[http://www.kurtsaxon.com/those_a_t_d/chapter13.htm Rhinoceroses in the Roman arena]

*[http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/unicorns/ The Unicorn Series (by Vicki Blum)]

*[http://www.newanimal.org/unicorn.htm The Cryptid Zoo: Unicorns in Cryptozoology]

*[http://elenzil.com/orionreads/archive/2005_02_01_orionreads_archive.html Excerpt from the story "The Last Quarry" (Hunting of the Last Unicorn) by Eric Norden.]

[[Category:Unicorns| ]]

[[Category:Legendary creatures]]

[[Category:Medieval art]]

[[Category:Medieval legends]]

[[Category:Heraldic beasts]]

[[ar:يونيكورن]]

[[bg:Еднорог]]

[[ca:Unicorn]]

[[cs:Jednorožec]]

[[da:Enhjørning]]

[[de:Einhorn]]

[[et:Ükssarvik]]

[[es:Unicornio]]

[[fa:تک‌شاخ]]

[[fr:Licorne]]

[[gd:Aon-adharcach (each)]]

[[is:Einhyrningur]]

[[it:Unicorno]]

[[he:חד קרן]]

[[nl:Eenhoorn (fabeldier)]]

[[ja:ユニコーン]]

[[no:Enhjørning]]

[[pl:Jednorożec (mitologia)]]

[[pt:Unicórnio]]

[[ru:Единорог]]

[[simple:Unicorn]]

[[sl:Samorog]]

[[fi:Yksisarvinen]]

[[sv:Enhörning]]

[[ta:யுனிக்கோர்ன்]]

[[th:ยูนิคอร์น]]

[[ur:ارنا گھوڑا]]

[[zh:独角兽]]