Week 8 Essay Assignmnet

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Capella University *

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112

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Geography

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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doc

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Uploaded by MajorGuanacoPerson438

What marine organism gave rise to the legend of the Unicorn during the Middle Ages? What is it and where can it be found (include its scientific name)? Also who discovered these things and got the whole thing started? The narwhal, known as the unicorn of the sea, lives solely in the icy waters of the Arctic seas and rarely strays from ice. Its scientific name, Monodon monoceros, is derived from Greek: "one-tooth one-horn". In the middle Ages, many people thought that the narwhal was a mythical creature based on its appearance, a long, twisted tusk. It is in the same family as the beluga whale and, while it is comparable in size and shape to the beluga whale, it is mottled grey in color. It is one of the toothed whales, or odontoceti , which includes dolphins and sperm whales. Toothed whales have the signature teeth, one blowhole and a fatty organ called a melon packed into their foreheads. Its head is very flat and its neck is very flexible. In medieval times, many of the narwhal tusks that Viking hunting parties brought home from their travels to Arctic waters ended up in southern Europe and East Asia. Those who weren't aware of their origin speculated they were the horns of the unicorn. This belief was shared by Martin Frobisher when he set off for the Arctic in 1576 in search of a Northwest Passage to the Orient. Like others at the time, Frobisher believed that for every species of animal on land, there was a twin that lived in the sea. The narwhal was the sea's unicorn. Frobisher returned from his first trip to the Arctic with a tusk that he gave to England's Queen Elizabeth I. The narwhal tusk came to have such universal appeal that it was used as a royal scepter in England. Scientists are almost certain that the narwhal tusk is not used as a weapon because specimens rarely show any nicks or breaks that might have occurred while fighting. Source: Ed Struzik. (2009, February 7). Early explorers thought narwhal were unicorns of the water. Leader Post,G.4. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Canadian Newsstand Core. (Document ID: 1642437021). The Narwhal, a "real" legend! Retrieved December 3, 2009 from http://whales.findoutnow.org/article-3-narwhal-real- legend.html

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