[kach22i]

Originally posted by kach22i
December 13, 2005
It's Sensitive. Really.
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
For centuries, the tusk of the narwhal has fascinated and baffled.

Narwhal tusks, up to nine feet long, were sold as unicorn horns in ages past, often for many times their weight in gold since they were said to possess magic powers. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth received a tusk valued at £10,000 - the cost of a castle. Austrian lore holds that Kaiser Karl the Fifth paid off a large national debt with two tusks. In Vienna, the Hapsburgs had one made into a scepter heavy with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

many times their weight in gold

Finding a narwhal horn on the shore must have been like hitting the lottery in medieval times.