The unicorn's horn, also know as alicorn, is said to have magical medicinal powers. The horn has the power to fight off poison as well as cure sickness. The medicinal power is supposed to be in the horn alone and not in the unicorn itself, so if the horn was severed from the head the power would still be present. This is why the horn was so valuable. Sometimes the horn would be ground up into a fine powder and used as protection from deadly drugs, and other times the horn was turned into a cup so if someone was to drink poison from the horn the poison would have no effect.
The price for an alicorn was very high due to its medicinal properties and its rarity. They became a proud possession to princes, emperors, nobility, and popes. But if unicorns didn't exist then where did the alicorn come from? Some hunters would cut off the tusks of narwhals and sold them as unicorn horns. Since the narwhal tusk is long, white, and has spirals on it, many people believed that it was a real unicorn horn.
The price for an alicorn was very high due to its medicinal properties and its rarity. They became a proud possession to princes, emperors, nobility, and popes. But if unicorns didn't exist then where did the alicorn come from? Some hunters would cut off the tusks of narwhals and sold them as unicorn horns. Since the narwhal tusk is long, white, and has spirals on it, many people believed that it was a real unicorn horn.