Difference between revisions of "Unicorn"
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| − | The '''Unicorn''' is a mythical beast, commonly depicted as resembling a white horse with a single horn | + | 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== | ==Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition== | ||
Revision as of 03:41, May 2, 2008
The Unicorn is a mythical beast, commonly depicted as resembling a white horse with a single horn grown out of its forehead.[1]
Contents
Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition
The word "unicorn" is included in the text of the King James translation of The Bible nine times[2]. Many other versions translate the ancient texts differently.
The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical, however some young earth believing Christian apologists have advanced various arguments that the biblical Unicorn was not a fantasy animal and that the animal did not have one horn. [3] In the original texts, unicorns go by the Hebrew name Re-em whereas the Greek Septuagint used the word monokeros, meaning "one-horned".[4] 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 ceratopsian baramin. However no fossil evidence of unicorns has been found to date.[4] In the past, narwhal tusks, with their distinctive spiraled shape, have often been mistaken for or inaccurately advanced as unicorn horns.
Symbolic & Heraldic Usage
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[5]. 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[5].
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[6]. The basis for the patent was "Lancelot the living unicorn" (actually a goat) bred by Timothy "Otter" Zell and his wife Morning Glory Zell[7].
See Also
References
- ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unicorn
- ↑ http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/what_about_the_unicorn_and_the_satyr
- ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i2/unicorn.asp
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Dinosaurs in the Bible", Genesis Park
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with special reference to their use in British Heraldry, by John Vinycomb, 1907
- ↑ Patent 4,429,685 [1]
- ↑ Lancelot[2]
