9: Unicorn Symbolism in The Witcher Storyworld

9: Unicorn Symbolism in The Witcher Storyworld

Alan Lena van Beek, @thiliel, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

In this paper I analyse unicorn symbolism in „The Witcher“ Storyworld from a medievalist’s perspective to answer the question: Why do Yennefer and Geralt fuck on a stuffed unicorn?

Figure 9.1: Geralt and Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the unicorn is mostly a sex toy and a running gag, for examples in the DLC quest Land of a Thousand Fables. Yennefer likes extravagant clothes, perfumes and makeup. So is this unicorn just a fetish or does it have another significance? Sapkowski playfully taps into unicorn lore. In medieval symbolism as well as in The Witcher books, the unicorn is a mythical creature associated with purity, virginity and celibacy. Sapkowski’s fiction is highly intertextual. The entry for the unicorn in a book called Physiologus within the novel Time of Contempt is a direct reception of the medieval Physiologus and bestiary traditions (p. 56). There, the unicorn is allegorically associated with Mary, Jesus and virginal conception. So, why do Yennefer and Geralt fuck on a stuffed unicorn? The unicorn stands for Ciri.

The desert episode in Time of Contempt is a pivotal moment in the uncovering of Ciri’s identity as a carrier of the Elder Blood. It is accompanied by a young unicorn (Ihuarraquax/LittleHorse) and its herd. (p. 280) Ciri embodies mariological analogies connected to unicorn symbolism in two core ways: firstly, Ciri‘s and the Virgin Mary’s children are prophesied to rule the world by Ithlinne and Gabriel respectively; secondly, Ciri’s virginity as Unicorns, guardians of time and space, help Ciri escape men trying to forcefully impregnate her and to access her power to jump to another world. Mariological and crucifixion symbolism pervades Ciri’sdepiction: penetration by the Ihuarraquax’s horn represents the blood on the lance and defloration; being pinned by three unicorns refers to the Trinity; Ihuarraquax placing their head in Ciri’s lap refers to the virginal conception and hortus conclusus.

Yennefer and Geralt are infertile and act as Ciri’s parental figures. Their inability to conceive is being represented by the stuffed (dead) unicorn. Ciri’s identity is intertwined with unicorns in The Witcher

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books. Ultimately, the dead unicorn also foreshadows the characters‘ deaths in Lady of the Lake: They are being transferred to another world by Ciri and the unicorn Ihuarraquax (p. 528).

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