Additionally, South goes on to discuss the unicorn’s role in the Garden of Eden, describing how the unicorn and its mate refused to enter the ark. “Some accounts say that the unicorn drowned in the Flood, but others say that he survived by swimming until the waters went down” (South 1987:18). South’s tale is unique because it acts as a reasonable explanation for many people as to why unicorns are not present in the world anymore: they were wiped out by the flood.
The religious symbolism of the unicorn did not only impact works of literature. Late medieval and Renaissance pictures of a virgin holding a slain unicorn on her lap resemble those of pietadepictions of Mary holding the dead Christ” (Sax 2013:9). Given this information, it is evident that while the unicorn impacted the works of writers, it also impacted the works of artists. The religious symbolism of the unicorn helps to define the creature’s significance in past societies; more specifically, seventeenth century England. The unicorn, in many ways, represented the English Civil War (Sax 2013).
Reverend Edward Topsell’s book, History of Four-Footed Beasts, was published during the decline of the Elizabethan era and the ascent of Puritanism (Sax 2013). For Tospell and others, the “lore of exotic animals became a refuge for the fantasy that was constantly discouraged by Puritan codes” (Sax 2013:13). The English Civil War, which took place between 1642-1651, was fought between the Royalists, who were mostly Catholics, and the Parliamentarians, who were mostly Puritan. With religious tensions rising, King Charles I was tried for treason and executed in 1649, putting England into the hands of Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Puritans.
Cromwell was extremely unpopular and died in 1658, which, not so coincidentally, was the year that Topsell published his book about fantastic beasts (Sax 2013). The lore of the unicorn was incorporated in many Catholic traditions. Therefore, during the war, the unicorn was a representation of the Catholic side. Once Cromwell died, and Topsell ended the unicorn’s silence, the Catholic people were released from oppression, and freedom was won. The unicorn’s “silence” during the English Civil War, represents an oppression of freedom because the unicorn is known to be a wild and free animal.
While playing a historical role in seventeenth century England, the unicorn also played a cultural one. As mentioned previously by Sax (2013), the unicorn symbolized many aspects of Catholicism in 17th century England because the lore of the unicorn incorporated many elements of the Catholic tradition. The unicorn was the miracle which Christians, especially Catholics, used to prove their faith (Sax 2013). According to Sax, Topsell seemed to regard anyone who did not believe in the existence of unicorns as almost an atheist (Sax 2013).
In fact, Topsell’s exact words were: Of the true unicorn, whereof there were more proofs in the world, because of the nobleness of his horn, they have ever been in doubt; by which distraction it appears unto me that there is some secret enemy in the inward degenerate nature of man, which continually blunted the eyes of God to his people from beholding and believing the greatness of God his works (Sax 2013:7). Especially in 17th century England, the unicorn’s cultural role was to represent the fantasy and freedom, aspects the Puritans seemed to strongly disapprove of.
The unicorn represented a ray of light for the Catholics in an otherwise, what seemed to them, to be a dark world. This version of the “pure white” or Western unicorn has been the most popular description of the unicorn for centuries. Although society has changed drastically in this time, this depiction and magnitude of impact of the Western unicorn has remained constant.
Why? Although in today’s world, religion has become an extremely sensitive and avoided topic for many, the unicorn still serves as symbol for Christ and god-fearing people still “feel bad” for forgetting the creature. Yet, even so, society is generally less Christian today than it was during Topsell’s time. So why do people still use the unicorn as a symbol for benevolence? This is because the unicorn “has, over millennia, acquired an iconic power that now transcends any system of belief” (Sax 2013:17). Beyond the religious aspect, people do not want to forget the unicorn because forgetting the unicorn would mean disregarding everything the creature symbolizes.
The innocence benevolence, and purity that the unicorn symbolizes are all qualities that are favorable to and desired in society. For this very reason, the unicorn has been able to impact many so many culturally diverse societies, not just in the West, but also in the East. The East has various descriptions of unicorn depending on culture. The Japanese unicorn, or the sin-you, is said to resemble a lion (South 1987). The Muslim unicorn, known as the karkadann, is sometimes represented with wings, and is usually a very fierce creature (South 1987).
The karkadann usually takes the form of a bovine creature such as a deer, horse, or antelope (South 1987). The Persian unicorn, also called the three-legged ass, has a “white body, six eyes, nine mouths, and a golden horn that is hollow” (South 1987:6). The Persian unicorn’s horn also has a thousand branches coming out of it. However, while there are many Eastern depictions of the unicorn, the most popular one is the Ki’lin, or Chinese unicorn. The first description of the Ki’lin dates back to 2900 B. C. China.
According to the All About Unicorns website, a popular source, the Chinese “great unicorn radiated exquisite colors, had a voice like a thousand chimes… , and had a horn twelve feet long” (“Chinese Unicorns”). The Ki’lin is said to have walked “So softly its hooves made no sound. Some [believe] this is because it was so soft-hearted it did not want to crush the blades of grass beneath its feet” (“Chinese Unicorns”). The significance of the benevolent and gentle qualities of the Ki’lin do not stop here, however. Nigg (1995) states that in Chinese culture, the Ki? lin had a horn,
