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Draugr
The draugr or draug ( non, draugr, plural ; modern is, draugur, fo, dreygur and Danish language, Danish, Swedish language, Swedish, and no, draug) is an undead creature from the Scandinavian saga literature and folktale. Commentators extend the term ''draugr'' to the undead in medieval literature, even if it is never explicitly referred to as such in the text, and designated them rather as a ("barrow-dweller") or an , literally "again-walker" ( is, afturganga). Overview Draugar live in their graves or royal palaces, often guarding treasure buried with them in their burial mound. They are revenants, or animated corpses with a corporeal body, rather than ghosts which possess intangible spiritual bodies. Terminology Old Norse ' is defined as "a ghost, spirit, esp. the dead inhabitant of a cairn".Cleasby; Vigfusson edd. (1974) ''An Icelandic-English dictionary''. s. vdraugr/ref> Often the ''draugr'' is regarded not so much as a ghost but a revenant, i.e., the reanimated of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revenant
In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the Old French word, ''revenant'', the "returning" (see also the related French language, French verb ''revenir'', meaning "to come back"). Revenants are part of the legend of various cultures, including Old Irish Celtic and Norse mythology, and stories of supposed revenant visitations were documented by English historians in the Middle Ages. Comparison to other folkloristic and mythological undead The term "revenant" has been used interchangeably with "ghost" by folklorists. While some maintain that vampires derive from Eastern European folklore and revenants derive from Western European folklore, many assert that revenant is a generic term for the undead. Augustin Calmet conducted extensive research on the topic in his work titled ''Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grettis Saga
''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw. Overview Grettir's saga is considered one of the Sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), which were written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and record stories of events that supposedly took place between the ninth and the eleventh centuries in Iceland. The manuscript of Grettir's saga was written down some time just before 1400 AD, making it a late addition to the tradition.. Introduction. ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', p. ix The author is unknown but it is believed that his story may have been based on a previous account of Grettir's life written by Sturla Þórðarson. Whoever the author was, the author shows an awareness of the Sagas of Icelanders tradition by making references to other sagas and borrowi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revenants
In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the Old French word, ''revenant'', the "returning" (see also the related French verb ''revenir'', meaning "to come back"). Revenants are part of the legend of various cultures, including Old Irish Celtic and Norse mythology, and stories of supposed revenant visitations were documented by English historians in the Middle Ages. Comparison to other folkloristic and mythological undead The term "revenant" has been used interchangeably with "ghost" by folklorists. While some maintain that vampires derive from Eastern European folklore and revenants derive from Western European folklore, many assert that revenant is a generic term for the undead. Augustin Calmet conducted extensive research on the topic in his work titled '' Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c.'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrow-wight
Barrow-wights are wraith-like creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth. In ''The Lord of the Rings'', the four hobbits are trapped by a barrow-wight, and are lucky to escape with their lives; but they gain ancient swords of Westernesse for their quest. Tolkien derived the idea of barrow-wights from Norse mythology, where heroes of several Sagas battle undead beings known as draugrs. Scholars have noted a resemblance, too, between the breaking of the barrow-wight's spell and the final battle in '' Beowulf'', where the dragon's barrow is entered and the treasure released from its spell. Barrow-wights do not appear in Peter Jackson's film trilogy, but they do feature in computer games based on Tolkien's Middle-earth. Origins A barrow is a burial mound, such as was used in Neolithic times. A ''wight'', from Old English: ''wiht'', is a person or other sentient being. There are tales of wights, called ''vǣttr'' or '' draugr'', undead grave-spirits with bodie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asha
Asha (; also arta ; ae, 𐬀𐬴𐬀, translit=aṣ̌a/arta) is a Zoroastrian concept with a complex and highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'order' and 'right working'... For other connotations, see meaning below. It is of cardinal importance. to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, ''aṣ̌a/arta'' represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism". qtd. in . The opposite of Avestan ''aṣ̌a'' is ''druj'', "deceit, falsehood". Its Old Persian equivalent is ''arta-''. In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ''ard-''. The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius". of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (''Aṣ̌a Vahišta'', ''Arta Vahišta''), "Best Truth". The Middle Persian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hrómundar Saga Gripssonar
''Hrómundar saga Gripssonar'' or ''The Saga of Hromund Gripsson'' is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the ''rímur'' of ''Hrómundr Gripsson'', known as ''Griplur'', which were probably composed in the first half of the 14th century, but appeared in print in 1896 in Fernir forníslenzkar rímnaflokkar', edited by Finnur Jónsson. These ''rímur'' were the basis for the not very appreciated ''Hrómunds saga'' which is found in the 17th-century MS of the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, AM 587b 4°, as well as thirty-eight known later manuscripts. The saga as we now have it contains a number of narrative discrepancies, which are probably the result of the scribe working from a partly illegible manuscript of the ''rímur.'' Contents According to ''Þorgils saga ok Hafliða'', a saga included in the great compilation ''Sturlunga saga'', the original version was composed by the farmer Hrólfr of Skálmarnes and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Vampiric entities have been Vampire folklore by region, recorded in cultures around the world; the term ''vampire'' was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism. Local variants in Eastern Europe were also known by different names, such as ''shtriga'' in Albanian mythology, Albania, ''vrykolakas'' in G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guðbrandur Vigfússon
Guðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson, (13 March 1827 – 31 January 1889Jón þorkelsson, "Nekrolog över Guðbrandur Vigfússon" in ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi'', Sjätte bandet (ny följd: andra bandet), Lund, 1889, pp 156-163.) was one of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century. Life He was born of an Icelandic family in Breiðafjörður. He was brought up, until he went to a tutor's, by his kinswoman Kristín Vigfússdóttir, to whom, he records, he owed not only that he became a man of letters but almost everything. He was sent to the old school at Bessastaðir and (when it moved there) at Reykjavík. In 1849, already a fair scholar, he came to Copenhagen University in the Regense College, where as an Icelander he received four-years free boarding under the Garðsvist system. After his student course, he was appointed ''stipendiarius'' by the Arna-Magnaean trustees, and worked for fourteen years in the Arna-Magnaean Library ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him. Biography Lang was born in 1844 in Selkirk, Scottish Borders. He was the eldest of the eight children born to John Lang, the town clerk of Selkirk, and his wife Jane Plenderleath Sellar, who was the daughter of Patrick Sellar, factor to the first Duke of Sutherland. On 17 April 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, youngest daughter of C. T. Alleyne of Clifton and Barbados. She was (or should have been) variously credited as author, collaborator, or translator of '' Lang's Color/Rainbow Fairy Books'' which he edited. He was educated at Selkirk Grammar School, Loretto School, and the Edinburgh Academy, as well as the University of St Andrews and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blood-sucking
Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without great effort, hematophagy is a preferred form of feeding for many small animals, such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomatids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut, and about 75 percent of all species of leeches (e.g., ''Hirudo medicinalis'') are hematophagous. The spider Evarcha culicivora feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by specializing on blood-filled female mosquitoes as their preferred prey. Some fish, such as lampreys and candirus, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, and birds, such as the vampire finches, hood mockingbirds, the Tristan thrush, and oxpeckers also practise hematophagy. Mechanism and evolution These hemat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PSR B1257+12 A
PSR B1257+12 b, alternatively designated PSR B1257+12 A, also named Draugr, is an extrasolar planet approximately away in the constellation of Virgo. The planet is the innermost object orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12, making it a pulsar planet in the dead stellar system. It is about twice as massive as the Moon, and is listed as the least massive planet (with the mass accurately determined) known, including among the planets in the Solar System. Nomenclature The convention that arose for designating pulsars was that of using the letters PSR (Pulsating Source of Radio) followed by the pulsar's right ascension and degrees of declination. The modern convention prefixes the older numbers with a B meaning the coordinates are for the 1950.0 epoch. All new pulsars have a J indicating 2000.0 coordinates and also have declination including minutes. Pulsars that were discovered before 1993 tend to retain their B names rather than use their J names, but all pulsars have a J name that prov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jón Árnason (author)
Jón Árnason (17 August 1819 — 4 September 1888)''Mannslát'' (Obituary) in ''Ísafold''5 September 1888 was an Icelandic author, librarian, and museum director who made the first collection of Icelandic folktales. Career Jón Árnason was educated at the Latin School in Bessastaðir."Jón Arnason", ''Library of the World's Best Literature: Ancient and Modern: A-Z'', ed. Charles Dudley Warner et al., Volume 2, New York: Peale and Hill, 1896, OCLC 1182898p. 802 From 1848 to 1887, he was the first librarian at what became the National Library of Iceland in Reykjavík; in 1881 its name was changed from ''Íslands stiftisbókasafn'' (Foundation library of Iceland) and his title became ''Landsbókavörður Íslands'' (National Librarian of Iceland). Meanwhile he also served as the first librarian of the Iceland branch of the Icelandic Literary Society. He was also the first curator of the ''Forngripasafns Íslands'' (Icelandic Antiquities Collection), which became the Nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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