Ballad of the Unicorns
Medieval European folk-ballad

I stood in May time meadows
By roses circled round,
Where many a fragile blossom
Was bright upon the ground

And as though the roses called them
And their wild hearts understood,
The little birds were singing
In shadows of the wood
The nightingale among them
Sang sweet & loud & long,
Until a louder voice than hers
Rang out above her song;

For suddenly, between the crags,
Along the narrow vale,
The echoes of a hunting horn
Came clear upon the gale.
The hunter stood beside me
Who blew that mighty horn;
I saw that he was hunting
The gentle unicorn-

But the unicorn is noble
They know their gentle birth,
They know that Nature
has chosen them
Amongst all beasts of earth.

©2000 Ruth Thompson. Read the legal information	©Elmore Productions, Inc.

But the unicorn is noble;
She keeps them safe & high
Upon a narrow path & steep
Climbing to the sky;
And there no man can take them

They scorn the hunter's dart
And only a faerie's magic power
Shall tame their haughty hearts.
What would be now the state of us
But for Fae Unicorns,

And what would be the fate of us,
Poor humans, lost, forlorn ?
Oh, may they lead us on & up,
Unworthy though we be,
Into the sweet Fae's Otherworld
To dwell eternally

In Japan, people refer to unicorns as "ikkakujuu": i- is a contraction of ichi, which means "one"; kaku means "horn" and juu, "beast."

In medieval Christendom the unicorn was endowed with symbolic qualities, both religious and secular.

Some early translations of the Hebrew scriptures mentioned the unicorn (modern versions tend to call the same animal a "wild ox"), and as a biblical beast it acquired ecclesiastical associations.

It represented chastity and purity. Though it would fight savagely when cornered, it could be tamed by a virgin's touch.

Many examples of medieval art including woodcuts, illuminations, and tapestries depict the unicorn, particularly the hunt for it. In some Christian interpretations the unicorn is associated with the Virgin Mary; in others it represents Christ the Redeemer. Unicorns were also popular emblems in medieval heraldry.

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