If you were born anywhere on planet earth, regardless of your culture, you've certainly heard about the myth of the Unicorn. This is undoubtedly one of the most well-known mythological characters on the planet. I venture to say that it is perhaps, in fact, the most well-known myth, due to how much pop culture has appropriated the image of this character.
People who, like me, are over 26 years old, surely remember Uni from Dungeons & Dragons. I think this is the first animation involving unicorns that I can remember. I watched Dungeons & Dragons a lot when I was a child, it was a very popular animation here in Brazil, I don't know in the rest of the world, but even if you haven't watched animations and movies about unicorns in your life, surely you must have I've seen birthday cakes, clothing prints or even cute little girls with unicorn tiaras.
In games, I don't remember that there were so many unicorns, and I confess that I'm not a person who knows so many games; for you to have an idea my favorite game is Fortnite, and I usually like online games in general. There happens to be a unicorn in Fortnite, and it's a character I think is pretty cool:
But enough rambling; let's talk about the unicorns of Splinterlands and the myth that inspired this character that we can see in any side of pop culture we can look at.
In Splinterlands, we have two unicorns, they've been known to me for a long time and I confess I was surprised for there are only two. I mean, I could be wrong, so if you know any Splinterlands unicorns besides these two, please comment here.
Unicorn Mustang – It is a beautiful rare card. A brown unicorn with 10 health, 3 attacks, 4 speeds, and your ability is Void. The creator of this card was really inspired when developing it, it's one of the most potent earth element cards even in its most basic configuration. Anyone who has it in their deck is very lucky.
Sacred Unicorn – The Sacred is a legendary card, and its ability is a healing power, which makes a lot of sense considering that the character is a unicorn. Part of the mythology of this being is the longevity and prolonging the life of people who hold the unicorn's horn; and like the Mustang, this card has a high health value, able to last a long time in your battle especially if you have a card that can grant you some shield.
Unlike other mythologies, there is no primordial story that gave rise to this mythological being, what exists are several stories about the appearance and magical powers that this animal had. The truth is that today much of the belief that exists about unicorns arose through the bones of an animal, nowadays known as pre-Horic Elasmotherium, or Big Horn Rhinoceros. Estimate that this species lived more than 200 thousand years ago in Siberia and weighed around 4 tons.
Another source for the appearance of these beings is the horns of a whale called a Narwhal, known as the unicorn of the sea. Their horns, when found on Greenland's beaches, soon became a capitalized commodity due to the local people creating myths about the animals that owned them. Then, in the 12th century, Narwhal horns were considered sacred, kept as treasures in churches, and sometimes used to make candlesticks. And without a doubt, what is most mystical about this fabulous animal is the magical properties of its horns, which are said to be able to boil water and purify it in addition to detoxifying poisoned food.
In Europe, the main continent where this legend was disseminated, it was said that because the Unicorn was a pure being, only a virgin would be able to enchant him. Others said that the difficulty of catching a unicorn is because they would be very fast and elusive; in the 20th century a French car manufacturer launched a car called ''Licorne'' which means Unicorn in French, the car had that name for a reference to the legendary speed of the creature.
Well, there are many more things that should be said about the unicorn myth. For example, the fact that scientists in North Korea claim the existence of these animals, mentioning how interesting the symbolism of this myth is in Harry Potter and in other works. However, there would be loose ends. Because, unlike other tales, there is no main story about this mythology, just several stories that are used as references for one or another pop culture narrative.
So, not to expand further, I end this subject here. Thanks again for reading and feel free to comment with what you think.
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