The EV-WEB
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Perceptions of the Unicorn from
--The Butterfly: ". . . visible only to those who search and trust."
--Schmendrick:"I know you. If I were blind, I would know what you are."
--Prince Lir: "I wish to be whatever she has most need of."
--Molly Grue:
"How dare you?! How dare you come to me now, when I am . . . this?!" - -
- "It *would* be the last unicorn in the world that came to Molly Grue . . . It's all right. I
forgive you."
--The Unicorn:
"I can never regret. I can feel sorrow . . . but it's not the same thing."
--Mommy Fortuna:
"Well bless my old husk of a heart! And here I thought I'd seen the last of them!"
--King Haggard: "I must have them! I must have all of them, all there are, for
nothing makes me happy, but their shining, and their grace."
Like The Neverending Story, The Last Unicorn is one of the more spiritually honest films
I have ever seen. It is also one of the few times I can ever recall preferring the film version to the
book. The Peter Beagle who wrote the classic fantasy novel *The Last Unicorn* is clever but still unpolished,
with a weakness for meandering and a less mature fantastical perspective overall. The Peter Beagle who wrote the
brilliant screenplay for the fantasy film *The Last Unicorn* is wiser, more mature, more savvy about the world yet
still as playful, so he can now present a tighter and ultimately more mythic -more true - storyline.
*The Last Unicorn* is often considered an honorary Animé,
and a web of connections can be made with the film in Furry and in Pagan
Christianity and Myth, Legend, Folklore. *The Last Unicorn* is
a beautiful film spiritually, but it is also a potent film mythologically
and a delightful subject for myth analysis. The conflict between the Unicorn and the Red Bull embodies a number
of mythic echoes in the many meanings attributable to these two: the lunar Unicorn [the moon] against the solar Bull [the
sun], the Unicorn [the element of water] against the Red Bull [the element of fire], the Unicorn [yin or the
'feminine' principle] against the Bull [yang or the 'masculine' principle], the Unicorn
[yet another symbol of Christ] against the Red Bull [a symbol of Mithras, the religion which came closest to challenging
Christianity in the earliest days of the faith], and so forth. Similarly, the Harpy Celano represents
the overcast moon, adding to her conflict with the lunar Unicorn; Celano also represents starvation, which
directly contrasts with the Unicorn's image of plenty - an image solidified in her human naming as Amalthea, for Amalthea
is the name given to the goat (one of the early animals often mistaken for unicorns) who provided the cornucopia or horn of
plenty.
Good internet sites for both novel and film version include
Marc Hairston with his insightful comments on *The
Last Unicorn*, Cubbi's The Last Unicorn Page, and
Jewelle's The Last Unicorn WebSite.
Unicorns can also be found under Furry and Myth,
Legend, Folklore.
For unicorn mythology in general, a good website is Robin Alison Michaels'
Unicornicopia.
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