The unicorn is a legendary creature usually depicted with the body of a horse, but with a single – usually spiral – horn growing out of its forehead (hence its name – cornus being Latin for 'horn').

Overview

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Though the popular image of the unicorn is that of a white horse differing only in the horn, the traditional unicorn has a billy-goat beard, a lion's tail, and cloven hooves, which distinguish him from a horse. Coincidentally, these modifications make the horned ungulate more realistic, since only cloven-hoofed animals have horns. 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. The Unicorn is the uncatchable creature, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison."

It has often been suggested or shown that it is the females that are pure white. Males have been described as jet black with an orange mane and tail.

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