Much of the unicorn’s legendary abilities came from its horn, known as an alicorn. The alicorn supposedly possessed powerful medicinal qualities, so during the Middle Ages, enterprising individuals sold narwhal horns as unicorn horns, which people ground up and used as an antidote for poison or a treatment for any kind of disease, or fashioned into a cup which would prevent poisoning. With a reputation of power and discernment, unicorns were believed impossible to capture, except by a virgin, whose purity would allure them, often to their deaths. They came to symbolize purity and chivalry, power and royalty and even made their way into heraldry of the time.