The Unicorn

My favorite legendary creature, the unicorn becomes a chameleon in this book. Author Nancy Hathaway, after a brisk introduction to these elusive creatures, states that she is going to present legends of unicorns, "transformed--sometimes in small ways, sometimes in large--to create a series of visions of that wondrous being, the living unicorn." While I was reading "The Unicorn" I was never sure if the various stories were actually part of an historical mythology, or whether the author had created the story whole-cloth from her imagination. That bothered me. Even though this book is not presented as anthropology, it was a bit like reading Frasier's "Golden Bough" without knowing whether the author was recording and interpreting a tribe's origin myths, or making the whole thing up for his own amusement. Hathaway seems to be inserting unicorns into historical events like the birth of Confucius, the military campaigns of Alexander the Great, and the biblical story of the prophet, Daniel. Or is she? Were unicorns actually part of the legends that were told about these famous men? I checked the internet on the above three examples and found unicorn references for all three men. Even though I'm still confused, I found the stories interesting, although the author's language was occasionally a bit twee. Hathaway reveals that unicorns aren't just pretty white horses with horns. A Chinese unicorn, the k'i-lin, resembles a combination of horse and dragon. A Persian unicorn, the karkadann looks a bit like a striped, one-horned water buffalo. The unicorns of the Septuagint were as big as mountains. The unicorn was universally fierce, a symbol of death (except in the presence of maidens). Medieval Europeans developed a strong linkage between Mary, mother of Jesus, and the unicorn. Sometimes the unicorn was symbolic of Christ Himself, who saved mankind from Satan's poison. "The Unicorn" is beautifully illustrated with tapestries, woodcuts, paintings, miniatures, and sculpture from all cultures who revered this mythical beast. In fact, the illustrations might provide more insight into the unicorn than the author's stories.

From the DJ: Of all the legendary animals of art, folklore, and literature, the unicorn is the one with the greatest hold on our imaginations. In this magnificently illustrated book, the author takes us on a tour of unicorn lore - from China and Japan to India, the Near East, and Europe - from ancient times through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and into the present. Tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures and paintings, zoological illustrations, advertisements, and original art especially commissioned for this book will captivate all of us who are willing to submit to the magical charms of this fabulous and irresistible creature.

I am one of you, ephemeral being. A lunar autumn creature shadow veined, cobweb mane. My favorite legendary creature, the unicorn becomes a chameleon in this book. Author Nancy Hathaway, after a brisk introduction to these elusive creatures, states that she is going to present legends of unicorns, "transformed--sometimes in small ways, sometimes in large--to create a series of visions of that wondrous being, the living unicorn." While I was reading "The Unicorn" I was never sure if the various stories were actually part of an historical mythology, or whether the author had created the story whole-cloth from her imagination. That bothered me. Even though this book is not presented as anthropology, it was a bit like reading Frasier's "Golden Bough" without knowing whether the author was recording and interpreting a tribe's origin myths, or making the whole thing up for his own amusement. Hathaway seems to be inserting unicorns into historical events like the birth of Confucius, the military campaigns of Alexander the Great, and the biblical story of the prophet, Daniel. Or is she? Were unicorns actually part of the legends that were told about these famous men? I checked the internet on the above three examples and found unicorn references for all three men. Even though I'm still confused, I found the stories interesting, although the author's language was occasionally a bit twee. Hathaway reveals that unicorns aren't just pretty white horses with horns. A Chinese unicorn, the k'i-lin, resembles a combination of horse and dragon. A Persian unicorn, the karkadann looks a bit like a striped, one-horned water buffalo. The unicorns of the Septuagint were as big as mountains. The unicorn was universally fierce, a symbol of death (except in the presence of maidens). Medieval Europeans developed a strong linkage between Mary, mother of Jesus, and the unicorn. Sometimes the unicorn was symbolic of Christ Himself, who saved mankind from Satan's poison. "The Unicorn" is beautifully illustrated with tapestries, woodcuts, paintings, miniatures, and sculpture from all cultures who revered this mythical beast. In fact, the illustrations might provide more insight into the unicorn than the author's stories.

The books by Nancy Hartaway are wonderful. My favorite book is The Unicorn. I love unicorns and by reading this it made me feel that they really do exsist. I want to write screen plays and I am starting one right now. It is about unicons and I got the idea for writing the story about unicorns fron all the wonderful pitcures in the book. It was exsiting to read. Ashley=)

The book details unicorn lore from all over the world, from India's karkadann to the Japanese kirin. It is full of pictures, from the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters to a Sunkist orange label from the 1930s. It made me look at unicorns in a new way. If you are a hard-core unicorn lover, I recommend it!