Unicorn

The unicorn dates back pretty much as far back as you care to go, though the earliest references may in fact be talking about an auroch, a purely mundane animal, and not a true unicorn.¹ Several of the next most recent accounts are fairly clearly describing, in turn, an oryx and a rhinoceros.² However, these accounts are considered the basis for the animal in human accounts.³ It is in the second century that the unicorn’s docility in the presence of a maiden, or at least a virgin female (unsure how old the girl can be and still count) are first referenced.⁴

Many healing potions use unicorn’s horn, with the earliest accounts demonstrating that the horn need not be willingly given.⁵

It is unclear whether the unicorn is more goat-like or more horse like in appearance, at one point did the scarcity of the beast and the separation of the magical world start to blur the mundane accounts of the animal?⁶