Unicorns

Unicorns — page 3 — Bartholomew was in love with Isabel Bartholomew was no ordinary young man He rode a lion He was known as the Knight of the Lion Isabel soon fell in love with him too Kidnapped One day a messenger came to Isabel and lied to her He told her Bartholomew was dead Isabel was heartbroken Then the messenger kidnapped her and took her to a castle far away A dragon guarded the castle The Knight of the Lion soon learned Isabel The Lion and the Unicorn In the Middle Ages symbols were used to identify different European groups These symbols appeared on shields known as coats of arms A coat of arms could represent a family an army or even an entire nation In the 1500s England and Scotland were ruled separately England’s coat of arms had two lions Scotland’s coat of arms had two unicorns In 1603 King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne He changed his name to King James I He combined the two countries coats of arms This represented the unification of England and Scotland 6

Unicorns — page 4 — A stone unicorn stands guard outside a Scottish castle had been captured He knew he had to save her Bartholomew rode to the castle on his lion When he got there the dragon looked big and scary 7

Unicorns — page 5 — In most Western legends the unicorn resembles a white horse with a single horn coming out of its forehead Bartholomew wasn’t sure how he would save Isabel But he made up his mind to attack the dragon Bartholomew drew his sword Riding his lion he attacked the dragon The dragon blew fire and smoke at him Bartholomew had to retreat He tried to get closer to stab the dragon with his sword But every time he got within striking distance the heat from the dragon drove him back How could he possibly 8

Unicorns — page 6 — get close to the dragon without burning himself and his lion alive The Unicorn Saves the Day Just as Bartholomew was about to give up he heard hooves beating on the ground Looking back he saw Isabel’s unicorn coming up the path toward the dragon The unicorn ran at the dragon its horn lowered to strike As the unicorn got closer the dragon blew fire and Real-Life Unicorns Few people believe in unicorns today But a narwhal could be a close cousin of the mythical creature A narwhal is a sea mammal similar to a dolphin porpoise or whale Narwhals live in the Arctic Ocean Each narwhal has a large tooth that spirals out of its upper lip The tooth looks a lot like a horn coming out of its forehead This tooth can grow to be up to eight feet 2 4 m long For hundreds of years people mistook narwhal teeth for unicorn horns smoke at the creature But nothing happened The fire bounced off the unicorn’s skin The unicorn plunged its horn into the dragon killing it 9

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