One of the themes in the Eoss trilogy is unicorns. Although Eoss and Clexa do not have a horn, they are white horses and are connected with the unicorn legend.

According to the stories the unicorn is a symbol of purity and is drawn to virgins; it can only be captured when it meets a virgin and lays its head reverently in her lap. Eoss and Clexa instinctively choose riders who are young girls. In Platara Mountain, Eoss has gone to a parallel world, and a superstition arises there that her riders must remain virgins, but the modern girl who rides her hopes that this is not necessary.

In Mount Clexa, Clexa is aware of parallels with the unicorn legend in the experiences she has, and re-interprets them in a contemporary way.

My main source for the legend was ‘Elidor’ by Alan Garner which I read when I was a child. His children’s stories are based on fanciful interpretations of ancient mythology, and they are definitely visionary fiction. In ‘Elidor’ the unicorn Findhorn crosses paths with some children, three brothers and a sister, and is destined to lay his head in the lap of the sister and sing a dying song.

Picture from Fairies, Myths and Magic by Sherri