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Lyngbakr
Lyngbakr ( Icelandic, ''lyngi'' " heather" + ''bak'' "back") is the name of a massive whale-like sea monster reported in the '' Örvar-Odds'' saga to have existed in the Greenland Sea. According to the saga, Lyngbakr would bait seafarers by posing as a heather-covered island, and when a crew landed on his back, he sank into the sea, drowning the crew. Örvar-Odds saga As Örvar-Oddr and his crew were sailing southwesterly through the Greenland Sea in vengeance against the troll Ögmundr Floki, slayer of Eythjof, the deck officer Vignir knew this area would be dangerous, and made Oddr agree to sail the ship beginning the next day, to which Oddr requested Vignir advise him. As they sailed, they spotted two rocks which rose out of the water. The presence of these rocks puzzled Oddr. Later, they passed by a large island covered in heather. Curious, Oddr made up his mind to turn back and send five men to check out the island, but as they approached where the island had been before, ...
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Aspidochelone
According to the tradition of the ''Physiologus'' and medieval bestiaries, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or vast sea turtle, and a giant sea monster with huge spines on the ridge of its back. No matter what form it is, it is always described as being so huge that it is often mistaken for an island and appears to be rocky with crevices and valleys with trees and greenery and having sand dunes all over it. The name ''aspidochelone'' appears to be a compound word combining Greek '' aspis'' (which means either " asp" or " shield"), and ''chelone'', the turtle. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors with its island appearance to make landfall on its huge shell and then the whale is able to pull them under the ocean, ship and all the people, drowning them. It also emits a sweet smell that lures fish into its trap where it then devours them. In the moralistic allegory of the ''Physiologus'' and ...
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Örvar-Oddr
Örvar-Oddr ( non, Ǫrvar-Oddr , "Arrow-Odd" or "Arrow's Point") is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous Icelander wrote a ''fornaldarsaga'' in the latter part of the 13th century. ''Örvar-Odds saga'', the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs. He also appears in '' Hervarar saga'' and, concerning the battle on Samsø, in '' Gesta Danorum''. Plot summary Prophecy Oddr was the son of Grímr Loðinkinni and the grandson of Ketill Hængr (both of whom have their own sagas) of Hålogaland. When he was an infant, a völva predicted that he would be killed by his own horse Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may very well signify 360, as a ''hundred'' by the time was a unit of numbers denoting 120, rather than 100 - which have been called a petty hundred). In order to undo the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leav ...
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Aspidochelone
According to the tradition of the ''Physiologus'' and medieval bestiaries, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or vast sea turtle, and a giant sea monster with huge spines on the ridge of its back. No matter what form it is, it is always described as being so huge that it is often mistaken for an island and appears to be rocky with crevices and valleys with trees and greenery and having sand dunes all over it. The name ''aspidochelone'' appears to be a compound word combining Greek '' aspis'' (which means either " asp" or " shield"), and ''chelone'', the turtle. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors with its island appearance to make landfall on its huge shell and then the whale is able to pull them under the ocean, ship and all the people, drowning them. It also emits a sweet smell that lures fish into its trap where it then devours them. In the moralistic allegory of the ''Physiologus'' and ...
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Sagas Of Icelanders
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early eleventh centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They were written in Old Icelandic, a western dialect of Old Norse. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature. They are focused on history, especially genealogical and family history. They reflect the struggle and conflict that arose within the societies of the early generations of Icelandic settlers. The Icelandic sagas are valuable and unique historical sources about medieval Scandinavian societies and kingdoms, in particular in regards to pre-Christian religion and culture. Eventually many of these Icelandic sagas were recorded, mostly in the 13th and 14th centuries. The 'authors', or rather recorders of these sagas are largely unknown. One saga, ''Egil's Saga'', is beli ...
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Hafgufa
( non, haf "sea" + non, gufa "steam"; "sea-reek"; "sea-steamer") is a legendary massive sea monster (or whale), purported to inhabit Iceland's waters (Greenland Sea) and southward towards Helluland. When the creature remains stationary it is mistaken for an island. The hafgufa is mentioned in the mid-13th century Norwegian tract called the ''Konungs skuggsjá'' ("King's Mirror"). Later recensions of ''Örvar-Oddr, Örvar-Odds'' saga feature ''hafgufa'' and ''lyngbakr'' as similar but distinct creatures. According to the Norwegian didactic work, this creature uses its own vomit like chumming bait to gather prey fish. In the ''Fornaldarsaga'', the hafgufa is reputed to consume even whales or ships and men, though Oddr's ship merely sailed through its jaws above water, which appeared to be nothing more than rocks. Nomenclature This creature's name appears as in Old Norse in the 13th century Norwegian work. In the ''Snorra Edda'', the ''hafgufa'' ("sea-steamer") appears in the ...
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Fictional Whales
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and context of ...
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Legendary Mammals
Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film featuring Dolph Lundgren * ''Legendary'' (TV series), a 2020 American reality competition series * "Legendary" (''Legends of Tomorrow''), a television episode Music Albums * ''Legendary'' (AZ album), 2009 * ''Legendary'' (The Summer Set album) or the title song, 2013 * ''Legendary'' (TQ album) or the title song, 2013 * ''Legendary'' (Tyga album) or the title song, 2019 * ''Legendary'' (Z-Ro album), 2016 * ''Legendary'' (Zao album), 2003 * ''Legendary'', by Kaysha, 2006 * ''The Legendary'', an EP by the Roots, 1999 Songs * "Legendary" (Deadmau5 and Shotty Horroh song), 2017 * "Legendary" (Welshly Arms song), 2016 * "Legendary", by Alaska Thunderfuck from ''Anus'', 2015 * "Legendary", by Daya from '' Daya'', 2015 * "Legendary", by R ...
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Mythological Aquatic Creatures
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrative as a myth can be highly controversial. Many adherents of religions view their own religions' stories as truth and so object to their characterization as myth, the way they see the stories of other religions. As such, some scholars label all religious narratives "myths" for practical reasons, such as to avoid depreciating any one tradition because cultures interpret each other differently relative to one another. Other scholars avoid using the term "myth" altogether and instead use different terms like "sacred history", "holy story", or simply "history" to avoid placing pejorative overtones on any sacred narrative. Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. Many socie ...
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Kraken
The kraken () is a legendary sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway. Kraken, the subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern age at the turn of the 18th century, in a travelogue by Francesco Negri in 1700. This description was followed in 1734 by an account from Dano-Norwegian missionary and explorer Hans Egede, who described the kraken in detail and equated it with the ''hafgufa'' of medieval lore. However, the first description of the creature is usually credited to the Norwegian bishop, Pontoppidan (1753). Pontoppidan was the first to describe the kraken as an octopus (polypus) of tremendous size, and wrote that it had a reputation for pulling down ships. The French malacologist, Denys-Montfort, of the 19th century is also known for his pioneering inquiries into the existence of gigantic octopuses. The great man-killing octopus entered French fiction when novelist Victor Hugo (1866) introduced the ' octop ...
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Gunnbjörn's Skerries
Gunnbjörn's skerries (''Gunnbjarnarsker'') were a group of small islands lying close between Iceland and Greenland, discovered by Gunnbjörn Ulfsson in the 9th century. They became a popular stopover for ships traveling to Greenland and a brief attempt to set up a colony was made about 970. Snæbjörn Galti Snæbjörn galti Hólmsteinsson (Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ; c. 910 – c. 978) was the first Norseman to intentionally navigate to Greenland, doing so in 978 CE. His voyage followed the accidental discovery of lands west of Iceland by ... visited around 978. A later attempt succeeded and by 1391 there were 18 farms on the islands. Apparently in 1456, according to Ruysch's 1507 map, the islands "completely burned up", i.e. were destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Ivar Bardsen mentions them in his work "Description of Greenland in the Fourteenth Century". On later maps, as late as 1700, such as Jan van Keulen's "Pascaert van Groenlandt", the shoals formed by the re ...
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Icelandic Physiologus
The Icelandic ''Physiologus'' is a translation into Old Icelandic of a Latin translation of the 2nd-century Greek ''Physiologus''. It survives in fragmentary form in two manuscripts, both dating from around 1200, making them the earliest illustrated manuscripts from Iceland and among the earliest Icelandic manuscripts generally. The fragments are significantly different from each other and either represent copies from two separate exemplars or different reworkings of the same text. Both texts also contain material that is not found in standard versions of the ''Physiologus''. Summary The Icelandic ''Physiologus'' exists in two versions: Fragment A (AM 673 a I 4to) consisting of five entries, and Fragment B (AM 673 a II 4to) with eighteen. There contents are as follows: Fragment A: I. The Phoenix II. The Hoopoe III. The Siren IV. The Horsefly V. The Onocentaur Fragment B: I. The Hydra II. The Goat III. The Wild Ass IV. The Monkey V. The Heron VI. The Coot VII. The Panther VIII. ...
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Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it the 14th most species-rich family of flowering plants. The many well known and economically important members of the Ericaceae include the cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron (including azaleas), and various common heaths and heathers (''Erica'', ''Cassiope'', ''Daboecia'', and ''Calluna'' for example). Description The Ericaceae contain a morphologically diverse range of taxa, including herbs, dwarf shrubs, shrubs, and trees. Their leaves are usually evergreen, alternate or whorled, simple and without stipules. Their flowers are hermaphrodite and show considerable variability. The petals are often fused (sympetalous) with shapes ranging from narrowly tubular to funnelform or widely urn-shaped. The corollas are usually ra ...
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