HERALDRY:THE CLUES TO HISTORY – Ephraim The Unicorn
We have considered  the origins of Heraldry  and Bri tish and European armorial bearings in particular, with emphasis on the heraldic and symbolic Lion of the tribe of Judah. The second supporter on the royal coat of arms  is the Unicorn, represented nowadays as a kind of horse with one twisted  horn.  This beast seems  as mythical  as the dragons and  gryphons of legend ,  but  we  shall  examine its origins  and  see whether our trail will lead once more to ancient Israel.
What  does the  Bible  tell  us?  Turn  to  Jacob’s blessings as recorded in Deuteronomy 33: v. 17:
“His  glory  is like  the  firstling  of his  bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the  earth: and  they  are the  ten  thousands  of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh “.
This is Jacob’s prophetic blessing  of the sons  of Joseph, in which  he likens  the tribe to an Ox and  a Unicorn.
This seems a far cry from a horse-like  creature with a twisted  horn,  but remember that one  of the sins  of the  Israelites in the  Wilderness was  to set themselves up a Golden Calf to worship, thus proving that they had a special reverence for an Ox or Bull. The twisted  horn  of the  Unicorn  could  be  the  two horns of the Bull, which  can  be imagined in profile, “pushing the  people together to  the  ends of the earth”. This is precisely  what the Tribes of Israel did after  their escape from  their captivities, for in their outward spread from the Caucasus, they pushed  the indigenous tribes  out  of the  territories which  they entered.  Another  symbol  of Joseph was a horn,  so we can see how the symbols have combined to give the fabled Unicorn.
The Ox or  Bull was  the  emblem of the  Saxons during their long journey across Europe.  Today it is used  in districts  of Denmark  and  in Iceland,  which was  colonised from  Denmark.   It is an  emblem in Swedish heraldry, and in Scottish and English armorial bearings, most notably in the Royal Arms.  The horn had a special  significance for the Nordic invaders of these islands, and  York Minster  treasures a  very ancient horn.  It is large and  has a carving of a Vine and  what  appears to be a Lion and  a Unicorn. Authorities  seem to think that this horn is of Eastern origin.  Objections have  been  raised  that  the  Lion appears to have wings like an Assyrian lion, but this is even more significant  in view of the fact that the Northern House was taken  captive  by the Assyrians, and  may logically have  been expected to have adopted some  of the Assyrian conventions. After all, they  would have been surrounded by such representations during  their stay in Assyria.  The Vikings, who colonised York, used horns for drinking wine  and  the symbolism was a feature of their mythology.  The Vine was another lsraelitish  symbol, referred  to by Jesus  in His Parables.
A significant fact which adds another piece to the puzzle,  is that  “John  Bull” is the  nickname for the English.
From a study of the history of Israel as told in the Old Testament we discover that the symbols had become typical of the Northern and Southern  houses of Israel after Solomon’s death, when  they had split into  two  Kingdoms.  The emblem of the Southern House of Judah  was a Lion and that of the Northern House, which went into Assyrian captivity before the Southern House,  was that of the Unicorn.
In Numbers  ch. 23: 22-24 and  Numbers ch. 24: vv. 8, 9, the heathen prophet, Balaam,  refers to the two Kingdoms separately under  their emblems of a Lion and a Unicorn. The Northern  House of Ephraim  had erred  before  in their  history in setting  up a Golden Calf for worship, and after Solomon’s death they soon rejected the Royal House of David and became heathen; but the Southern House  remained loyal to the House of David, and  therefore retained the Lion as their symbol.
Descendants of the Northern and Southern Houses of Israel found their way to these British Isles after many years of wandering and conquest, and eventually the two Kingdoms were re-united in the person of James VI of Scotland who became James I of England, the two Kingdoms thus becoming Great Britain.
Another interesting point  is that  the  ancient Hebrew  for the emblematic Ox was eng!,  which  is very similar to Angle. In Hosea 8:5 we read:
“Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast  thee  off”
and in v. 6
“..but the  calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces”.
Strong’s  Concordance has “calf”  as egel in each case  and  this word  has the gl root.  In Hebrew  there are no written  vowels,  and the spoken vowels often have to be inferred. The g may be “soft” or “hard”, giving a ng sound, such  as we have in “singing” for the soft consonant. Samaria was the area from which the Northern House was taken captive  to Assyria. Herodotus the historian  mentions a tribe in Bactria called the Aegli.  Bactria was an ancient name for the area in Central Asia between the Amu Darya river and the Hindu Kush mountains. The Northern  House of Israel disappeared from  view  en route to the Caucasus, which  is between the Black Sea and  the Caspian Sea.  Furthermore, in ancient times  the Crimea was known as Taurica and Tauric Scythia. This would mean  the land of the Bull, or Bull Scythia.  The Scythians  (a name  which  is very similar  to “Scots”) settled  in the Black Sea area  until they began  their westward journey.  Another  significant  point  is the bull worship  of the ancient Cretans. Some  believe that they were  Israelites  who  broke  away  from the main body round about  the time of the Exodus.
The Angles were a tribe which gave their name to England.  They settled  here from areas near present day Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark, landing mostly in Kent and East Anglia.
We have examined some  more  clues  to our very ancient  roots, but there are more of the tribes of Israel to study and to see where their emblems lead us. In isolation,  the tracing of each  symbol may seem to be mere coincidence, but the sum  of the whole is extremely significant  to those who have eyes to see.
