Description The modern unicorn is depicted as a white horse with a long spiral-shaped golden or white horn on its forehead. This was not always the case. In the Middle Ages the unicorn was considered to be the size of a donkey or goat. It was white, but had the head of a deer, the body of a horse, the tail of a lion, the beard of a goat and split hooves. It was a symbol of purity and fidelity and was considered untameable.