They would only like it if…
1- It could bleed.
2- It could feel pain.
3- They pounded it into mirrors to admire themselves in.
It’s the act of being shoed, not the shoes. As Captain Amazing noted above, Jason Ogg imposed Humanity’s will upon the unicorn by shoeing it. That takes it forever from the realm of Elves.
Bonus points if pounding it into a mirror hurts it and makes it bleed.
This is the book, right, where Magrat (the youngest witch) gets frightened and angry enough to shoot a crossbow bolt through a key hole? Somehow that speaks to me about the danger of messing with those who don’t really know what they’re capable of.
Oh, and don’t mess with Morris dancers. Just don’t.
“…one, two…spin…ready…one, two…back…back…one, two…turn…KILL…and back, one, two…”
The concept itself comes from a 1930s children’s fantasy novel entitlled “Unicorn with Silver Shoes”. I’ve nmever read it, but in a nutshell the hero sets out to learn how to shoe a unicorn, using silver of course because iron would kill a unicorn. By the time he has finished the job the unicorn itself has ceased to exist. Hence the line in the novel about the silver shoes lasting no time at all, and Granny’s repsonse to the effect that “They’ll last long enough, She will never get it back”. The implication being that by the time the shoes wear away the unicorn will have ceased to exist in the Discworld world one way or another.
Animals with cloven hooves have been, and can be, shod, viz and to wit, oxen.
And it’s a lot less complicated bit of metalworking, just a couple of flat plates, no messing about with trying to make the curve fit the hoof perfectly.
And the other important question. Does the unicorn chew its cud?
Only here would we have a discussion on the relative kosherness of a unicorn. I love this place.
As far as I can tell, traditional unicorns–the ones with cloven hooves and billy-goats’ beards–would be kosher. Unicorns that resemble horses, except for the horns on their heads, would be right out.
Dragons are okay, if you don’t count them as birds of prey or lizards/snakes. Phoenixes probably don’t count either. Dunno about kraken…
If we accept the standard view of kraken as very large calamari, this would appear to mean they are not kosher.