For centuries Europeans sought out the “unicorn horn” – the long and straight tusk of the arctic-dwelling narwhal whale – for its perceived magical and curative capabilities. On Friday, the tusk did indeed wield a historic force, just not in the way the queens and kings who once collected the twisted and tapered ivory likely imagined.
Instead, as the deadly knife attack unfolded on the London Bridge, a man, described in news reports as a Polish chef, grabbed the nearest arms he could find for self-defense – a narwhal tusk – and headed to help stop the melee.
The simple, heroic act in a way embodied the ancient lore of the larger-than-life tusk. The attack began by Fishmongers’ Hall, a historic building and events space on the London Bridge replete with ornate decorations, two massive narwhal tusks included.
The assailant, 28-year-old Usman Khan, had been at the hall attending a conference when he wielded a knife and fatally stabbed two people before police shot him dead. Amid the shock and horror, it struck many as quintessentially British the way the beloved “unicorn horn” suddenly surfaced to help ward off the attacker, said British historian and journalist Guy Walters.
“There’s something very British about fighting a terrorist with something as surreal as a narwhal tusk,” he said. “We don’t carry weapons in this country. But we do have narwhal tusks around." …
(The limited lawful ownership of sporting firearms in the UK does not permit their defensive use and British subjects are not even allowed to carry knives and similarly pointed objects. Naturally, terrorists and other criminals ignore all those restrictions.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/201...on-bridge/
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