nahvalr

Old Norse combined nar (corpse) and hvalr (whale) to name the narwhal - literally 'corpse whale.' The mottled gray-white coloring of narwhals resembled drowned bodies, and these Arctic whales were often found floating at the surface. Vikings named what they saw: a whale colored like death.

But it was the tusk that made narwhals famous far beyond Scandinavia. Male narwhals grow a single spiraling tusk up to ten feet long - actually an elongated tooth. Medieval Europeans who encountered these tusks believed they came from unicorns. Narwhal ivory sold for many times its weight in gold, treasured for supposed magical properties.

Thrones were made from narwhal tusks; they were carved into drinking cups said to neutralize poison; they became scepters and sword hilts. The 'alicorn' or unicorn horn was one of the most valuable substances in medieval Europe - and it came from an Arctic whale named for corpses.

When naturalists finally identified narwhal tusks as whale teeth in the 17th century, the unicorn myth collapsed but the fascination endured. The narwhal's tusk remains mysterious: scientists still debate its function, from sensing to fighting to attracting mates. The corpse whale keeps its secrets.