Did unicorns ever REALLY exist????

Question

Well, what do you think- really, there's a chance they died out.

Answer 1

believe or not believe that is your choice. i prefer to believe.
never stop believing in the magic, ;-)

Job 39:9-10 (King James Version)
9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

Psalms 29:6: He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
Numbers 24:8: ...he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn.

Answer 2

Not in the way we think of unicorns. However, there were animals that were new to travelers and were mistaken for unicorns (e.g., Marco Polo saw a "unicorn" on his travels, but it was likely a Rhino.)

The myth may have originated from an extinct animal sometimes called the "Giant Unicorn" but known to scientists as Elasmotherium, a huge Eurasian rhino native to the steppes, south of the range of the woolly rhinoceros of Ice Age Europe. Elasmotherium looked little like a horse, but it had a large single horn in its forehead. It seems to have become extinct about the same time as the rest of the glacial age megafauna.

However, according to the Nordisk familjebok and science writer Willy Ley the animal may have survived long enough to be remembered in the legends of the Evenk people of Russia as a huge black bull with a single horn in the forehead.

There is also testimony by the medieval traveller Ibn Fadlan, who is usually considered a reliable source, which suggests that Elasmotherium may have survived into historical times:

"There is nearby a wide steppe, and there dwells, it is told, an animal smaller than a camel, but taller than a bull. Its head is the head of a ram, and its tail is a bull’s tail. Its body is that of a mule and its hooves are like those of a bull. In the middle of its head it has a horn, thick and rouisnd, and as the horn goes higher, it narrows (to an end), until it is like a spearhead. Some of these horns grow to three or five ells, depending on the size of the animal. It thrives on the leaves of penof trees, which are excellent greenery. Whenever it sees a rider, it approaches and if the rider has a fast horse, the horse tries to escape by running fast, and if the beast overtakes them, it picks the rider out of the saddle with its horn, and tosses him in the air, and meets him with the point of the horn, and continues doing so until the rider dies. But it will not harm or hurt the horse in any way or manner.

"The locals seek it in the steppe and in the forest until they can kill it. It is done so: they climb the tall trees between which the animal passes. It requires several bowmen with poisoned arrows; and when the beast is in between them, they shoot and wound it unto its death. And indeed I have seen three big bowls shaped like Yemen seashells, that the king has, and he told me that they are made out of that animal’s horn."

Even if Elasmotherium is not the creature described by Ibn Fadlan, ordinary rhinoceroses may have some relation to the unicorn.

Answer 3

I think that it is highly possible for a horse to maybe have a horn. after all there are many animals that have horns. I heard somewhere (in myth i think) that the horn was used as an aphrodisiac. If this was true how long would such animal last in the sex driven society of old world. That's of course if unicorns existed. Thank you

Answer 4

I suspect not. There is evidence to suggest that people living in coastal areas found narwhale horns and, having never seen a narwhale, believed that the horns came from unicorns. In much the same way, the idea of the Cyclops arose from the discovery of elephant or mastodon skulls, with their large nasal opening.

Answer 5

Well, there are narwhals and horned animals that have lost one horn, but that's as close to a unicorn as ever existed. Unicorns were invented some time ago just like god all other mythical creatures.

Answer 6

imagine being a voyager thousands of years ago - little ship - stormy seas, uncharted lands... hanging onto a rope and... voila!! in the middle of a huge wave, a mermaid!!!

darn - another beluga.

what about dragons? ever think that might have started been someone who saw his first comodo dragon?

maybe someone saw a sable antelope once a very long time ago and though it only had one horn - they look like a horse or unicorn if viewed from the side.

no hun - unicorns only exist in the mind of the beholder.

Answer 7

A unicorn corresponds to the description made by Greeks who first saw a rhinoceros. They compared to the animal that resembled it more according to their knowledge: a corpulent horse with a horn on its forehead. After that, it was added to their mythological zoo and its image was transmitted through art to the rest of the world and ages.

Answer 8

I believe they did exist. It makes sense that horses would have evolved horns so they could stab all those crummy people who subjugated those beautiful mustangs and made them perform in stupid races and take the whip and spur all day.

Answer 9

I'm not a big bible reader and this may be a rumor but I heard there is some kind of evidence in the bible

Answer 10

yes i think they were real once and died out... look at the dinasaurs.. if they could exisit why not unicorns...