The Maid and the Unicorn
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Fritz Eichenberg. The Maid and the Unicorn. Wood engraving.
Although no edition of T. H. White's The Once and Future King illustrated by prolific illustrator Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990) was ever published, he did create a number of engravings based on the novel, including such scenes as 'Merlyn and Archimedes,' 'The Boar Hunt,' 'The Wart and the Hawks,' 'St. Toirdealbhach's Tale,' and 'The Maid and the Unicorn.' In the last of these, Gawain and his brothers use a kitchen maid to trap a unicorn so they can present its head to their mother. The scene suggests the deep dysfunctionality of the Orkney clan: The brothers slaughter the beautiful animal, and their mother is oblivious to the gift they present to her because she is preoccupied with flirting with visiting knights from Camelot.