I'm starting a roleplaying game soon where all of the players play as princesses from various myths, stories, fables, etc. I had the idea of trying to play as a unicorn princess, but I can't find a reference to any kind of unicorn royalty before the 80s.
Is there a myth that specifically references a unicorn that is royalty? It doesn't matter to me if the unicorn is a queen, princess, or given any other royal title, as long as it is royal in some way.
Taking a somewhat broad interpretation of "unicorn" and "princess", we have Indrik
From russian folklore, a huge chimerical creature, who is referred to as the mother (or lord, or father) of all beasts. It has a horn, and it's name derives from the Russian word for unicorn. I've seen it described in a number of places as having the body of a bull and the head of a horse, however, I was surprised to find I couldn't find a good source for that. The source linked below does draw the conclusion that the creature may have been a combination of more familiar unicorn myths with the rhinoceros (page 162).
P. 269
Our Indrik beast is mother to all beasts,
It lives in the holy mountain
And prays to God for the holy mountain.
When this beast starts playing,
It is like the clouds under heaven.
...
P. 280
And he (Indrik) drinks and eats from the blue sea,
Does nobody any harm,
And he goes by means of his horn under the earth
Like the sun under heaven.
When this beast turns with his horn,
All the earthly beasts bow down to him.From "The rime of the Book of the Dove (Stikh o Golubinoi knige): From Zoroastrian cosmology and Armenian heresiology to the Russion novel" By James R. Russell, From Daēnā to Dîn , page 183. Attributed to: Sbornik Kirshi Danilova, Moscow 1977, ed. tr. by J. R. Russell.
There is no direct textual support for the idea of a female souvereign of unicorns!
There is however is a legend of The Unicorn and the Virgin. Many Christians, especially Catholics, take this virgin to symbolize the Virgin Mary.
The idea of a princess or queen of the unicorn could possibly taken from the Hebrew meaning of the name of Mary. This Wikipedia link states that "the Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, (in Latin Domina) means lady or sovereign."
In the Litany of Loretto in honour of the Virgin Mary there are twelve invocations of Mary under the title queen:
Queen of Angels, pray for us.
Queen of Patriarchs, pray for us.
Queen of Prophets, pray for us.
Queen of Apostles, pray for us.
Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.
Queen of Confessors, pray for us.
Queen of Virgins, pray for us.
Queen of all Saints, pray for us.
Queen conceived without original sin, pray for us.
Queen assumed into heaven, pray for us.
Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.
Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Thus, I conclude that the only princess or queen of the unicorn could possibly be symbolized in person of the Virgin Mary.
