-In Inuit legend, the narwhal's tusk was created when a woman with a harpoon rope tied around her waist was dragged into the ocean after the harpoon had struck a large narwhal. She was transformed into a narwhal herself, and her hair, which she was wearing in a twisted knot, became the characteristic spiral narwhal tusk.

-Some medieval Europeans believed narwhal tusks to be the horns from the legendary unicorn.

-As these horns were considered to have magic powers, such as the ability to cure poison, Vikings and other northern traders were able to sell them for many times their weight in gold.

-The tusks were used to make cups that were thought to negate any poison that may have been slipped into the drink.