Are Unicorns Real?

Lord Voldemort: Harry Potter. We meet again.
Harry: Voldemort?
Lord Voldemort: Yes. You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another, a mere parasite! Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can; something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket!

Harry Potter fans would recognize this dialog from Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, which is the first harry potter book as well as movie. What caught my interest in this dialog is the mention of unicorns. Ever thought about these unicorns? I mean most of us know that these are mythical creatures, but what really are these creatures and how real are they? Well, in this article we are going try and unveil this mystery behind these unicorns, so hop on as we go on a journey to see whether unicorns are real!

Unicorns - The Legend

To open the gates of discussion, let's see what exactly is a unicorn and what makes it so magnificent. Unicorn is a mythical creature, which traditionally has a billy goat beard, tail of a lion and cloven hooves. The popular perception of unicorn is that of a horse having a horn on its forehead. This mythical creature has got a mention from the Bible to almost all the ancient scriptures. But contrary to the common knowledge, apparently they are not found in Greek mythology. Instead they have got a mention in natural history. In every age there has been a different interpretation and varied mention of this beautiful creature. One thing was sure though, in every age, its strength, wildness and ferocity was never doubted. The legend has it that unicorn's horn has magical healing powers. This horn is called alicorn. If mixed into potion, the dust from the horn was considered as a protection against deadly diseases and perhaps even provided immortality. This is precisely the reason Lord Voldemort insists on killing a unicorn and so on. Unicorns have been believed to be a symbol of chastity, virginity and purity as well as they were supposed to be proud and untamed. It was once said that only a virgin would be able to tame this creature.

Are Unicorns Real or Not?

Yesteryear Stories
Okay, now we have come to a very difficult part. For starters, this above mentioned legend of the virgin's bait and the hunter then catching the unicorn became an allegory to the Christ's incarnation. But then, it was rebuked by the Council of Trent, as there was no proof of the existence of unicorns. Rather, no proof was found supporting their existence in the contemporary world. However, the belief that unicorns are real was very much there in England even till 1700s. Medieval pharmacists in fact, devised some way to check or verify whether unicorns are real or fake. For instance if you place scorpions under a dish with a piece of horn and the scorpions die in a few hours, the horn is real.

Science Says
In addition to this, there has apparently been a breakthrough in the issue - unicorns fact or fiction. A couple of years back, there was a report of a deer, from the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, near Florence, having a genetic flaw resulting in one horn growing in the center of its head. It is actually a roe deer and the director of the park was reported to have said that the myth of unicorns is turning into reality. So this genetic defect in bulls or deer may prove to be a plausible answer to the dilemma of whether unicorns real or imaginary. Then you never know, even when in ancient times these were seemingly spotted, it could be a genetic defect, which then was not known, obviously because genetics and life science was almost non existent.

So, are unicorns real? That is for you to decide, I guess! I would like to believe they are real just for the desire of seeing that awesome creature! But my brain tells me that after all it is a mythical creature. It is actually good that there has been no concrete proof of it being existent otherwise, it would have been extinct due to the sheer greed of us humans. If not the scriptures, that would certainly have made them mythical!