Shadhavar

Shadhavar (Arabic: شادهوار) is a legendary unicorn-like creature known from the Medieval Muslim zoological literature. Al-Qazwini said that it lives in Rûm (Asia Minor), has one horn with 42 hollow branches and when the wind passes through them, it produces a pleasant sound, that makes the animals sit around and listen. Horns of those creatures, sometimes gifted to kings, can be played on like flutes. When played on one side, they produce a cheerful sound, and when the other, the music is so sad it makes people cry.

The scholar Al-Damiri increased the number of branches to 72 and al-Mustawfi made shadhavar a ferocious carnivore. The change can be explained as a result of merging its description with another creature from Qazwini, the siranis (سيرانس), a predator that plays music to lure its victims. G. Jacob pointed out similarities between the siranis and the sirens from Greek mythology.

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