Saturday, December 01, 2012
Mythical creatures and a magical season
As we moved ever closer to the magical Christmas season, the Guardian brings us news that one of the mythical creatures of our legendary past may have actually existed.
The paper reports that the Korean Central News Agency has broken the incredible news that archaeologists in Pyongyang have "recently reconfirmed" the discovery of the lair of one of the unicorns ridden by the ancient Korean King Tongmyong, founder of a kingdom which ruled parts of China and the Korean peninsula from the the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD.
Rather conveniently, the news agency goes on to state that the location happens to be 200 metres from a temple in the North Korean capital, and that its discovery was made possible due to the fact that: "A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair." The report adds that: "The carved words are believed to date back to the period of Koryo Kingdom (918-1392)."
The more sceptical amongst us might be reassured that this news story comes just days after eyebrows were raised by another news story relating to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
On that occasion, the online version of China's Communist party newspaper hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as the sexiest man alive, not realising it was satire.
We await further proof of this extraordinary find but do not be surprised if the same news agency claims in the next few weeks that proof has been found of the existence of centaurs, hobbits, elves and fairies.
The paper reports that the Korean Central News Agency has broken the incredible news that archaeologists in Pyongyang have "recently reconfirmed" the discovery of the lair of one of the unicorns ridden by the ancient Korean King Tongmyong, founder of a kingdom which ruled parts of China and the Korean peninsula from the the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD.
Rather conveniently, the news agency goes on to state that the location happens to be 200 metres from a temple in the North Korean capital, and that its discovery was made possible due to the fact that: "A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair." The report adds that: "The carved words are believed to date back to the period of Koryo Kingdom (918-1392)."
The more sceptical amongst us might be reassured that this news story comes just days after eyebrows were raised by another news story relating to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
On that occasion, the online version of China's Communist party newspaper hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as the sexiest man alive, not realising it was satire.
We await further proof of this extraordinary find but do not be surprised if the same news agency claims in the next few weeks that proof has been found of the existence of centaurs, hobbits, elves and fairies.
