"A" is for Alicorn

Aaaack!  April and the A-Z Challenge has arrived.
The idea is to blog on a topic beginning with a letter of the alphabet every day, except Sundays, and complete the alphabet by April 30th.

Originally, I thought I'd start the challenge with "A" is for Alliteration, one of my favorite rhetorical  devices. However, it's Friday and I can't imagine anyone wanting to kick off the weekend with a grammar lesson.

TGIF! and Friday's are reserved for Fantasy. So, in keeping with my muse's theme of the moment, I'm going with "A" is for Alicorn.  An alicorn is a unicorn's magical horn; although, in modern fantasy the term is linked to a hybrid of the unicorn and a pegasus.

Photo: http://thecreme.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/whimsy-you-sly-devil-you/

Medieval physicians crafted cures from the powder ground from an alicorn and sold the remedies at top dollar. Drinking from a cup made of alicorn or waving an alicorn wand was thought to cure food borne sickness and counteract poisons. Alicorn powder was also used an aphrodisiac. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, owned an alicorn. Francis I Frederick III of Denmark had a throne made almost entirely of alicorn. And, the most famous alicorn, The Horn Of Windsor, belonged to Queen Elizabeth I.

Photo: Glenn Williams

Of the known alicorns still in existence, all have been found to be narwhal tusks. Narwhals are Arctic whales that have a long tusk extending from their upper left jaw.


Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy film "Legend" featured the magick of the unicorn horn and a quest to save the world from eternal darkness.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/synopsis

If you've seen the film, I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you haven't seen it, let me know if you might consider watching it and why.