The Unicorn Notebook https://syspo.chillistica.online/ Field notes on unicorns in myth, art and history. en Mon, 18 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT The Lady and the Unicorn: reading the Cluny tapestries https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-cluny-tapestries.html https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-cluny-tapestries.html Mon, 18 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT Six panels for the five senses, and one enigmatic sixth tapestry that has puzzled viewers for five hundred years. Alicorn: how a narwhal's tooth became a unicorn's horn https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-narwhal-horn.html https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-narwhal-horn.html Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:00:00 GMT The medieval trade in poison-detecting "unicorn horn", and the Arctic whale that actually supplied it. The chained unicorn: a note on heraldry https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-heraldry.html https://syspo.chillistica.online/post-heraldry.html Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:00:00 GMT Why Scotland adopted the unicorn, and why the heraldic beast is almost always collared and chained.