The Unicorn (Unicornus) is a horse-like creature with cloven hooves, the beard of a goat (as well as, sometimes, a goat-like mane) and a single magical healing horn that was said to purify the water it touched and acted as antidote against poison. It was said to be only tamable to virgins, often laying on them and falling asleep, before being hunted. This description of the unicorn was common among Europe.
By Mythologysleuth (Cyclone62)
As of Modern days, typical Unicorns are similar to their Medieval/Middle Ages counterparts but with one-toed horse hooves, the lack of goat-like characteristics, and rainbow-colored or solid-color manes. This does not apply to all modern unicorns though. The elusive unicorn is one of the most popular creatures in modem day, stories of this beast were wide spread even when it was conceived. a rare beast which horn was said to cure any poison either by crushing it down or drinking out of it like a cup. it would also use it's horn to purify water. it also became a symbol of purity as it is said the only way for a unicorn to be caught was to have a young virgin maiden sit down in the forest and wait. The unicorn would calmly sit with the maiden, laying it's head in her lap, sometimes even suckling from her breast for some reason.
History of unicorns[]
These creatures were shown to the people as a miracle, and not without good reason due to their rarity and strange nature. One of them, much taller than the other, looked somewhat like a colt of thirty months in age. It had only one horn growing from its forehead, pointing straight forward, and the horn was three cubits long. The other one was much younger, only a year old, and resembled a young colt. Its horn was four handfuls in length. This creature had the color of a weasel and a head similar to that of a deer but without a long neck. It had a thin mane hanging only on one side, and its legs were slender and thin like those of a fawn or a hind. The hooves of its front feet were split, resembling those of a goat. The outer part of its hind feet was covered in a lot of hair. Despite appearing wild and fierce, these unicorns had a certain grace about them. These unicorns were given as a precious and rare gift to the Sultan of Mecca. They were sent to him from Ethiopia by a king of that region, who intended to please the Sultan of Mecca with this present. Lobo left two accounts of Abyssinia, one of which was translated to French from the unpublished manuscript and out of French to English by Samuel Johnson in his grub street years. This familiar book contains the following passage: 'In the province of Agus has been seen the unicorn, that beast so much talk'd of and so little known; the prodigious swiftness with which this creature runs from one wood into another has given me no opportunity of examining it particularly, yet I have had so near sight of it as to be able to give some description of it. The shape is the same as that of a beautiful horse, exact and nicely proportioned, of a Bay colour with a black tail. Which in some provinces is long, in others very short; some have long manes hanging to the ground. They are so Trimerous that they never feed but surrounded with other beasts that defend them’.