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Drow (Dungeons
The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of Elf (Dungeons & Dragons), elves connected to the Subterranea (geography), subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil goddess Lolth. However, later editions of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons), alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth. Creative origins The word "drow" is from the Orcadian dialect, Orcadian and Shetland dialect, Shetland dialects of Scots language, Scots, an alternative form of "Trow (folklore), trow", which is a cognate with "troll". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives no entry for "drow", but two of the citations under "trow" name it as an alternative form of the word. Trow/drow was used to refer to a wide variety of evil sprites. Everything a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drow
The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of Elf (Dungeons & Dragons), elves connected to the Subterranea (geography), subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil goddess Lolth. However, later editions of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons), alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth. Creative origins The word "drow" is from the Orcadian dialect, Orcadian and Shetland dialect, Shetland dialects of Scots language, Scots, an alternative form of "Trow (folklore), trow", which is a cognate with "troll". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives no entry for "drow", but two of the citations under "trow" name it as an alternative form of the word. Trow/drow was used to refer to a wide variety of evil sprites. Everything a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trow (folklore)
A trow (also trowe, drow, or dtrow) is a malignant or mischievous fairy or spirit in the folkloric traditions of the Orkney and Shetland islands. Trows may be regarded as monstrous giants at times, or quite the opposite, short-statured fairies dressed in grey. Trows are nocturnal creatures, like the troll of Scandinavian legend with which the trow shares many similarities. They venture out of their 'trowie knowes' (earthen mound dwellings) solely in the evening, and often enter households as the inhabitants sleep. Trows traditionally have a fondness for music, and folktales tell of their habit of kidnapping musicians or luring them to their dens. Terminology The trow , in the Scots dialect, is defined as a ‘sprite or fairy’ of mischievous nature in dictionaries of Scots, particularly Orkney and Shetland dialects. Etymology The standard etymology derives the term trow from ''troll'' ( no, trold; non, troll) of Scandinavian folklore. It should be borne in mind that Norwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR, Inc
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Turnbull (game Designer)
Don Turnbull was a journalist, editor, games designer, and an accomplished piano and pinball player. He was particularly instrumental in introducing ''Dungeons & Dragons'' into the UK, both as the managing director of TSR UK Ltd and as the editor of the ''Fiend Folio''. Early career In his early career Turnbull was as a high-school teacher of mathematics in the north of England. However, he was an early and enthusiastic follower of wargaming, subsequently winning awards as a designer. A feature which assisted his work as a game developer was the use of correspondence to run board games. ''Albion'' magazine In July 1969 he published the first issue of ''Albion'' magazine, one of the first European zines, supporting correspondence play of the board game ''Diplomacy''. Although it only had a few subscribers, ''Albion'' was influential and ran to fifty issues. In 1974 it won the Charles S. Roberts Award for ''Best Amateur Wargaming Magazine''. It was an informal publication that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiend Folio
''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters. The bulk of the material in the first edition came from the British gaming magazine ''White Dwarf'', rather than being authored by Gary Gygax, the game's co-creator. Readers and gamers had submitted creatures to the "Fiend Factory" department of the magazine, and the most highly regarded of those appearing in the first thirteen issues were selected to be in the publication. Publication history ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st edition Games Workshop, with Don Turnbull editing the project, originally intended to produce and publish the ''Fiend Folio'' tome () in late 1979. The ''Fiend Folio'' was intended to be the second volume of the ''Monster Manual'', and would be officially recognized by TSR as an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' product, with the monsters mostly taken from su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greyhawk
Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson's ''Blackmoor (campaign setting), Blackmoor'' campaign predated it by over a year—the world of Greyhawk closely identified with early development of the game beginning in 1972, and after being published it remained associated with ''Dungeons & Dragons'' publications until 2008. The world itself started as a simple dungeon under a castle designed by Gary Gygax for the amusement of his children and friends, but it was rapidly expanded to include not only a complex multi-layered dungeon environment, but also the nearby city of Greyhawk, and eventually an entire world. In addition to the campaign world, which was published in several editions over twenty years, Greyhawk was also used as the setting for many adventures published in support of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes. Publication history Creative origins The Magic-User class was inspired by the spell-casting magicians common in folklore and modern fantasy literature, particularly as portrayed in Jack Vance's ''The Dying Earth'' short stories, and John Bellairs's novel ''The Face in the Frost''. Gandalf and Saruman from Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and Merlin of King Arthur fame also influenced this class. Wizards memorize their spells, then forget them when cast in the fashion of magicians from Jack Vance's ''Dying Earth'' series of novels. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' In the original version of the game, magic-user was one of the base character classes. Magic-User was one of the three original classes, the other two being Fighting Man (renamed Fighter in later editions) and Cleric. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics. Fighter is a generic and broad class; individual fighters have diverse backgrounds and different styles. Bodyguards, adventurers, former soldiers, invading bandit kings, or master swordsmen are all fighters, yet they come from all walks of life and backgrounds and often find themselves on very different alignments, goals, and sides in a conflict. Publication history ''Dungeons & Dragons'' The "Fighting Man" was one of the three classes in the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game; the other two classes were Magic-User and Cleric. The paladin was introduced in '' Supplement I - Greyhawk'' (1975), as a subclass of Fighting Man. ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st edition The fighter was one of the standard character classes available in the original ''Player's Han ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Manual
The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for ''D&D''. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as the monster's Experience point#Level-based progression, level or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the ''Player's Handbook'' and ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', the ''Monster Manual'' is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the ''D&D'' game. As such, new editions of the ''Monster Manual'' have been released for each edition of ''D&D''. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Editions Of Dungeons & Dragons
Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the game. However, many ''D&D'' fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions. After the original edition of ''D&D'' was introduced in 1974, the game was split into two branches in 1977: the rules-light system of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and the more complex, rules-heavy system of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D''). The standard game was eventually expanded into a series of five box sets by the mid-1980s before being compiled and slightly revised in 1991 as the ''Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia''. Meanwhile, the 2nd edition of ''AD&D'' was published in 1989. In 2000 the two-branch split was ended when a new version was designated the 3r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Keightley (historian)
Thomas Keightley (17 October 1789 – 4 November 1872) was an Irish writer known for his works on mythology and folklore, particularly ''Fairy Mythology'' (1828), later reprinted as ''The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves, and Other Little People'' (1978, 2000, etc.). Keightley was as an important pioneer in the study of folklore by modern scholars in the field. He was a "comparativist" folklore collector, drawing parallels between tales and traditions across cultures. A circumspect scholar, he did not automatically assume similar tales indicated transmission, allowing for the possibility that similar tales arose independently. At the request of the educator Thomas Arnold, he authored a series of textbooks on English, Greek, and other histories, which were adopted at Arnold's Rugby School as well as other public schools. Life and travels Keightley, born in October 1789, was the son of Thomas Keightley of Newtown, County Kildare, and claimed to be related to Thomas Keig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ''Prose Edda'', which is a major source for what is today known as Norse mythology, and ''Heimskringla'', a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in ''Ynglinga saga'' and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of ''Egil's saga''. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway. Biography Early life Snorri Sturluson was born in (commonly transliterated as Hvamm or Hvammr) as a member of the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar clan of the Icelandic Commonwealth, in AD 1179. His parents were ''Sturla Þórðarson the Elder'' of ''Hvammur'' and his second wife, ''Guðný Böðvarsdóttir''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
