Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Why do Narwhals exist? They should be a mythical creature, not a real one! It's WEIRD!!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

without the narwhal the unicorn would have no animal to feud with

Father Cory said...

The unicorn's feud is with the lion, actually ;)

Sir Brian The Manly said...

ummmmmmm...

>_>

Unknown said...

ha told you so
you wrong, me right, deal with it

Father Cory said...

Actually, if you look at early Chinese mythology roots back around 2,100 B.C. where the unicorn began to become iconic within the Eastern culture, you'll find that, as legend has it, the unicorn and the lion have always been at odds with each other; battling each other in the star constellations, among the rivers of the East, etc etc. Poems, songs, literature...all point to that particular feud.

The narwhal wasn't introduced into the unicorn scene until it spread to Germany and the European areas, where people began to pulls hoaxes and sell narwhal horns as unicorn alicorns (that's the proper name of the horn)...which were revealed as hoaxes and many people went to prison.

So, as you can see, despite what some college student with a pencil might think, the unicorn's only real feud occurred between it and the lion species, and it will be so for the rest of time.


I just did an informative speech on the history and roots of unicorn legend and mythology. I know these things ;)

Unknown said...

funny that really then since lions have never been native to china.

Sir Brian The Manly said...

OMG NO FLAM WORZ oN t3h mY bl0Gz!!1

Father Cory said...

Neither were unicorns; the unicorn's nemesis was identified with the lion later on in history.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/lou/lou10.htm

"It may be implied by the symbolism of the Persepolis bas-reliefs, for we find that the same animal--closely resembling a lion but possibly intended to represent the martichore as well--which is seen springing upon the unicorn in some scenes is shown in others fighting with the King, who drives a sword through his body."


http://www.allaboutunicorns.com/legends.php
"In Western unicorn lore, the Lion and the Unicorn have traditionally been considered rivals and natural enemies destined to fight."

Read through the site and the e-book. Great reads.

Unknown said...

i dont know how much i trust that all about unicorns site, because it lists the unicorn as one of hte 4 sacred beast of china and as we all know it is not, they are a dragon, tortoise, bird and tiger

Father Cory said...

Dragon, tortoise, phoenix, unicorn (originally k'i-lin or chi'lin); the four creatures of good luck/good omen. Also here:

http://borges.uiowa.edu/vakalo/zf/html/body_the_unicorn_of_china.html
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/ssu_ling.html

It may have changed over time, I'm unsure as to the exact evolution of Chinese mythology, and though the white tiger is certainly one of China's guardians, it can't be denied that the chi'lin had a special place in the early mythological heart of the Chinese.

I was just browsing around and found an article on the Kirin (Qilin) which has a striking resemblence the to early descriptions of the unicorn as I've studied. The article doesn't necessarily describe it as such, but looking at the various historical descriptions I've read it certainly matches up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

I'm done. You can believe what you want, no worries. It's honestly not worth getting worked up over ^_^

Sir Brian The Manly said...

I'm gonna make a new post, you guys are boring! I mean you're not even swearing at each other, or calling each other insulting names!!