UNICORNS AND BLUE BLOOD

BLUE BLOOD

• The blood that flows in the veins of old and aristocratic families.

• A literal translation of the Spanish 'sangre azul', attributed to some of the oldest families of Castile, who claimed never to have intermarried with Moors, Jews, or other races.

• The expression probably originated in the blueness of the veins of people of fair complexion.

UNICORNS

• In older stories, this creature had a short, colored horn and the body of a goat.

• Usually a horse's body, often with cloven hooves like a goat; sometimes the entire body looks like a goat's.

• Long, white spiraled horn--but early Greek naturalists described a shorter, blunter horn colored red, black and white.

• Tail of a lion--but some descriptions include the tail of a horse, goat, or boar.

• Art historians have long considered the unicorn to be a symbol for Christ, a link seen most clearly in the story of a maiden capturing a unicorn.

• For instance, the unicorn's placing his head in the lap of the young maiden, or virgin, recalls baby Jesus lying in the lap of the Virgin Mary.

• In other stories and artworks, the unicorn dips its horn into poisoned water to purify it for the other animals to drink, a reference to the story of Christ's sacrifice to cleanse the sins of mankind.

SCOTTISH ROYAL COAT OF ARMS

BRITISH ROYAL COAT OF ARMS