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The '''Unicorn''' is a mythical beast, commonly depicted as resembling a white horse with a single horn grown out of its forehead.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unicorn</ref>
==Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition==
The word "unicorn" is included in the text of the [[King James Version|King James]] translation of [[The Bible]] nine times<ref>http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/what_about_the_unicorn_and_the_satyr</ref>.
The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical, however some young earth believing [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] have advanced various arguments that the biblical Unicorn was not a fantasy animal and that the animal did not have one horn. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i2/unicorn.asp</ref> In the original texts, unicorns go by the [[Hebrew]] name ''Re-em'' whereas the [[Greek]] [[Septuagint]] used the word ''monokeros'', meaning "one-horned".<ref name="dinobible">[http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/bible/bible.htm "Dinosaurs in the Bible"], Genesis Park</ref> The English word "unicorn" is derived from the [[Latin]], ''ūnicornis'', also meaning "one-horned".
While popularly characterized as a horned member of the horse [[baramin]], it is likely that the "unicorn" was actually quite un-horselike. One recognized theory is that "unicorn" actually refers to a [[rhinoceros]], and a growing number of Creation researchers are theorizing that the unicorn was actually a member of the [[triceratops | ceratopsian]] baramin. However no fossil evidence of unicorns has been found to date.<ref name="dinobible"/> In the past, narwhal tusks, with their distinctive spiraled shape, have often been mistaken for or inaccurately advanced as unicorn horns.
<div style="text-align:center">[[Image:reem.png|Remains of hypothetical two horned ceratopsian ''re-em'']]</div>
==Symbolic & Heraldic Usage==
[[Image:unicorn.vinycomb1907.png|right|Heraldic rendering of a unicorn|200px]]
Unicorns in [[heraldry]] typically have the body and head of a horse, the tail of a [[lion]], the limbs and hoofs of a stag, and a twisted horn growing from the forehead<ref name="vinycomb">''Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with special reference to their use in British Heraldry'', by John Vinycomb, 1907</ref>. It is typically used to symbolize virtue of mind and strength of body, but has also been used as an emblem of [[Christ]] as the horn of our [[Salvation]]<ref name="vinycomb"/>.
==Artificial Unicorns==
In 1984 the U.S. patent office granted patent number 4,429,685 to Timothy G. Zell for his development of a surgical procedure to create a "unicorn" from a horned animal<ref>Patent 4,429,685 [http://colitz.com/site/4429685/4429685f.htm]</ref>. The basis for the patent was "Lancelot the living unicorn" (actually a goat) bred by Timothy "Otter" Zell and his wife Morning Glory Zell<ref>Lancelot[http://www.lair2000.net/Unicorn_Dreams/Unicorns_Man_Made/unicorns_man_made.html]</ref>.
==References==
<references/>
==See Also==
[[Leviathan]], [[Behemoth]]
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Biblical animals]]