Winged unicorn

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Winged unicorn
Manege d'Andrea cheval.JPG
A winged unicorn on Le Manège d'Andrea
Creature information
Other name(s)Flying unicorn, Cerapter, Alicorn, Pegacorn, Unisus, Unipeg
Grouping Popular culture
Sub grouping Syncretism
Family Mythological horses
Origin
Country Assyria

A winged unicorn or flying unicorn is a mythical ungulate, typically portrayed as a horse, with feathered wings like a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. [1] It further features in modern popular culture and fiction.

Contents

Origin

Etymology

In some literature and media, it has been referred to as an alicorn, a word derived from the Italian word alicorno, [2] or as a pegacorn, a portmanteau of pegasus and unicorn.

Origin and Symbolism

As a combination of the unicorn and Pegasus, who are characterized as symbols of purity, poetry, reverie, and magic, winged unicorns naturally carry both portfolios of symbolism, and are depicted in drawings and cited in channeling-type visions.

Ancient depictions

Detail of the embroidered dress of an Apkallu, showing four-legged winged and horned animals. From Nimrud, Iraq. 883-859 BCE. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul Detail of the embroidered dress of an Apkallu, showing 4-legged winged and horned animals. From Nimrud, Iraq. 883-859 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul.jpg
Detail of the embroidered dress of an Apkallu, showing four-legged winged and horned animals. From Nimrud, Iraq. 883–859 BCE. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul

Winged unicorns have been depicted in art. Ancient Achaemenid Assyrian seals depict winged unicorns and winged bulls as representing evil, but winged unicorns can also represent light. [3] [4]

A sculpture of a pegasus with a horn in Lapseki, Turkey Lampsakos Heykeli.JPG
A sculpture of a pegasus with a horn in Lapseki, Turkey

See also

References

  1. "Citations:cerapter". 24 June 2020.
  2. Shepard, Odell (2008) [1930]. The Lore of the Unicorn. London: Unwin and Allen. ISBN   9781437508536.
  3. Brown, Robert (2004). The Unicorn: A Mythological Investigation. Kessinger Publishing. p. 18. ISBN   9780766185302.
  4. Von Der Osten, Hans Henning (June 1931). "The Ancient Seals from the Near East in the Metropolitan Museum: Old and Middle Persian Seals". The Art Bulletin. 13 (2): 221–41. doi:10.2307/3050798. JSTOR   3050798.
  5. Ward, David (Spring 1982). "Yeats's Conflicts with His Audience, 1897–1917". ELH. 49 (1): 155–6. doi:10.2307/2872885. JSTOR   2872885.