When did we get so HORNY?
BRITS GOING MAD FOR MYTH
FIRST it was England’s football heroes getting horny during the World Cup on inflatables. Now snowflakes are ditching traditional Christmas decorations for the mythical beasts.
Britain has gone bonkers for unicorns. Here JAMES MOORE shares 15 facts about the year’s most bizarre trend
The word unicorn is Latin for “one horn”. The 5th-century Greek historian Ctesias reported them as real with white bodies and flaming red horns.
Unicorns are mentioned in the Bible nine times, Marco Polo claimed to have encountered them on his travels and legend says warrior Genghis Khan was warned off attacking India by one.
Traditionally, the lion and the unicorn are sworn enemies, but both appear on the British royal coat of arms and the unicorn is the official animal of Scotland.
Potions and powders claiming to be made of unicorn horn sold for the modern equivalent of £18,000 a shot in medieval times as people believed they could boost virility. They were probably made from the tusks of narwhals.
It’s said touching a unicorn will bring a lifetime of happiness, while its horn is able to pierce the heart of a liar.
Unicorns appeared in three of Shakespeare’s plays, the Harry Potter books, Tom Cruise movie Legend and the Blade Runner films starring Harrison Ford. Celebrity unicorn lovers such as Taylor Swift have made them trendy today. The singer once dressed as one for Halloween. England players were snapped splashing about on unicorn inflatables after beating Tunisia in the World Cup this summer. There was even a petition to get a picture of defender Harry Maguire riding a unicorn put on the new £50 note. Google searches for unicorns are up by a quarter this year and there’s now a National Unicorn Day on April 9. Unicorns top 2018’s Christmas toy lists and include one that poops glitter and a ride-on version. Argos now stocks 100 unicorn products. Knicker Locker sells women’s undies with 6in unicorn horns, while Topshop has unicorn headbands, PJs and nail polish. Peacocks even has unicorn loo paper. Mr Kipling has launched unicorn slices and Wetherspoon pubs sell glittery unicorn gin. Tesco has launched a unicorn cake inspired by Harper Beckham’s seventh birthday cake. Scientists recently found skeletons of horned beasts dubbed Siberian unicorns, which became extinct 29,000 years ago.