Charlemagne receives an elephant from Harun al-Rashid Artist's
depiction from the 1970s (appearing in an issue of National
Geographic) of the famous arrival of an elephant, named Abu
Abbas, at Aachen in 802, when Charlemagne's embassy to Harun al-
Rashid returned laden with gifts from the Caliph of Baghdad.
Note the stereotyped Arabs and Nubians, and the thick Gallic
mustache on Charlemagne's seated attendant, who seems to harbor
designs on the emperor's pretty daughter. Abu Abbas, the
elephant, lived until 810; its death is noted in the Royal
Frankish Annals. There is a young-adult fantasy novel which
features the elephant, appropriately called Charlemagne's
Elephant. Query: where would the Caliph have got a Narwhal tusk?