Summer of Alana: Planet Unicron Heeeeyyyyy....

It is Pictures like this that make life worth living!

Found this gem ( Not the picture- the video) on one of my favorite sites: www.cuteoverload.com I check it daily. It is a YouTube clip, the 1st and 2nd episodes of Unicorn Planet- each is about 2 minutes long. It is pretty awesome and not highly offensive so it's work friendly- but you do need sound to get the full effect. So, bored at work? watch it, or at home later tonight when you are pre-gaming or already drunk and I am sure it will be THAT much better (That means you Will Van der Veen)--- Whoever the 'gay little boy' was who imagined them into existence-- I thank you.

And now some pictures of Unicorns and some useless but interesting facts:

The First traces of the legend of Unicorns come from as far back as Sumerian times in the Indus Valley- and the beast looks much like a bull in profile. The ancient Hebrews (you know them as Jews) and J.K. Rowling refer to them as Re'em-- supposedly Hermione could buy some Re'em blood on the black market and it would giver her super-strength.

Surprisingly there are no unicorns in Greek Mythology- they actually recored them in their natural histories- saying that they could be found in India, and were white and red with a bit of black.

Then there is the Chinese Qilin or Japanese Kirin (Yes, like the beer) with a voice of tinkling bells and lived a 1000 years.

It says in my coloring book (I am not joking- I color) that the Kirin is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage; it is a good omen, and looks something like this:

In Persia and Arabia, the unicorn was called Karkadann, a beast so ferocious it could attack and kill an elephant. It was a violent, warlike unicorn, born in blood and vehement in battle. It had the body of a rhino and a tail like a lion. Each leg had three hooves, one in front and two in back. The only person known to have tamed one was Alex the Great-- it was his horse- Bucephelus. (the name is Macedonian means Ox- head) The Death of Bucephelus in one of Alex's last battles was the portent of his changing luck.
India was saved from Ghenghis Khan's armies by the appearance of a Qilin as he waited on a hill preparing to attack and convinced him to turn back.

Medieval Unicorns were 'pure' beings and often were associated with the virgin Mary and as a symbol for incarnation. I recall in Mallory's Morte d'arthur that Unicorns (in England) were shiny and an ever changing shade of rainbow colors. They could only be captured or touched (and in some cases only seen- they were vary illusive) by virgin girls. Their horns were thought to neutralize poisons- and I am pretty sure Harry potter has a strand of unicorn hair in his wand.

Marco Polo described a rhino when he described a unicorn on his travels.

The Royal Throne of Denmark was made of Unicorn Horn

'The Hunt of the Unicorn' is a famous series of tapestries depicting the capture of a Unicorn. Here the Hunters are attacking it. The Tapestries can be found in the MET.

One Suggestion is that the unicorn is based on 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 rhino of the last ice age. It sees to have become extinct about the same time as the rest of megafauna of that era.
According to an Irish Drinking Ditty by the Rovers the Unicorns were silly beasts that were playing and forgot to get on Noah's boat. silly beasties.