1.
John Tenniel
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Sir John Tenniel was an English illustrator, graphic humourist, and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. He was knighted for his achievements in 1893. Tenniel was born in Bayswater, West London, to John Baptist Tenniel, Tenniel had five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. One sister, Mary, was later to marry Thomas Goodwin Green, Tenniel was a quiet and introverted person, both as a boy and as an adult. He was content to remain out of the limelight and seemed unaffected by competition or change. His biographer Rodney Engen wrote that Tenniels life and career was that of the supreme gentlemanly outside, in 1840 Tenniel, while practising fencing with his father, received a serious eye wound from his fathers foil, which had accidentally lost its protective tip. Over the years Tenniel gradually lost sight in his eye, he never told his father of the severity of the wound. Tenniel became a student of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1842 by probation—he was admitted because he made copies of classical sculptures to provide the necessary admission portfolio. So, it was here that Tenniel returned to his earlier independent education, Tenniel studied classical sculptures through painting, however, Tenniel was frustrated that he was never taught how to draw. It was in these studies that Tenniel learned to love detail, however, Tenniel was blessed with a photographic memory, undermining his early training and seriously restricting his artistic ambitions. Another formal means of training was Tenniels participation in an artists group, in the mid-1840s Tenniel joined the Artists Society or Clipstone Street Life Academy, and it could be said here that Tenniel first emerged as a satirical draftsman. Tenniels first book illustration was for Samuel Carter Halls The Book of British Ballads, Tenniel planned to enter the 1845 House of Lords competition amongst artists to win the opportunity to design the mural decoration of the new Palace of Westminster. Despite missing the deadline, he submitted a 16-foot cartoon, An Allegory of Justice, for this he received a £200 premium and a commission to paint a fresco in the Upper Waiting Hall in the House of Lords. At Christmas 1850 he was invited by Mark Lemon to fill the position of joint cartoonist on Punch and he had been selected on the strength of his recent illustrations to Aesops Fables. He contributed his first drawing in the initial letter appearing on p.224 and his first cartoon was Lord Jack the Giant Killer, which showed Lord John Russell assailing Cardinal Wiseman. Tenniels cartoons published in the 1860s made popular the portrait of the Irishman as a subhuman being, wanton in his appetites and most resembling an orangutan in both facial features and posture. In his career Tenniel contributed around 2,300 cartoons, innumerable minor drawings, many cartoons for Punchs Almanac and other special numbers. By 1866 he was able to command ten to fifteen guineas for the reworking of a single Punch cartoon as a pencil sketch, according to the Bank of England inflation calculator, £800 in 1866 would buy goods and services worth over £85,000 in 2015
2.
American literature
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American literature is the literature written or produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States, during its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path, the New England colonies were the center of early American literature. The revolutionary period contained political writings by Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, in the post-war period, Thomas Jeffersons United States Declaration of Independence solidified his status as a key American writer. It was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that the nations first novels were published, in 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson started a movement known as Transcendentalism. Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden, which urges resistance to the dictates of organized society, the political conflict surrounding abolitionism inspired the writings of William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe in her world-famous Uncle Toms Cabin. Nathaniel Hawthorne is notable for his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne influenced Herman Melville who is notable for the books Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. Americas two greatest 19th-century poets were Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, American poetry reached a peak in the early-to-mid-20th century, with such noted writers as Wallace Stevens, T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Hart Crane, and E. E. Cummings. Mark Twain was the first major American writer to be away from the East Coast. Henry James was notable for novels like The Turn of the Screw, at the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists included Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, and Jack London. Experimentation in style and form is seen in the works of Gertrude Stein, American writers expressed disillusionment following WW I. The stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald capture the mood of the 1920s, ernest Hemingway became notable for The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, in 1954, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. William Faulkner is notable for novels like The Sound and the Fury, American drama attained international status only in the 1920s and 1930s, with the works of Eugene ONeill, who won four Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize. In the middle of the 20th century, American drama was dominated by the work of playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, Depression era writers included John Steinbeck, notable for his novel The Grapes of Wrath. Henry Miller assumed a place in American Literature in the 1930s when his semi-autobiographical novels were banned from the US. From the end of World War II up until, roughly, Americas involvement in World War II influenced the creation of works such as Norman Mailers The Naked and the Dead, Joseph Hellers Catch-22 and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. s Slaughterhouse-Five. John Updike was notable for his novel Rabbit, Run, Philip Roth explores Jewish identity in American society
3.
Edgar Allan Poe
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Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and he is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the countrys earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a difficult life. Poe was born in Boston, the child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year, thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. They never formally adopted him, but Poe was with them well into young adulthood, tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money, Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name. It was at time that his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with the anonymous collection of poems Tamerlane and Other Poems. With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement, however, Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point, declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, and he ultimately parted ways with John Allan. Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the several years working for literary journals and periodicals. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, in Richmond in 1836, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845, Poe published his poem The Raven to instant success and his wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. For years, he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn, Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, a number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre. He was born Edgar Poe in Boston on January 19,1809 and he had an elder brother William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister Rosalie Poe. Their grandfather David Poe Sr. had emigrated from Cavan, Ireland to America around the year 1750, Edgar may have been named after a character in William Shakespeares King Lear, a play that the couple were performing in 1809
4.
Supernatural
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One complicating factor is that there is disagreement about the definition of natural and the limits of naturalism. Concepts in the domain are closely related to concepts in religious spirituality. Sometimes we understand by nature the established course of things, as when we say that nature makes the night succeed the day, nature hath made respiration necessary to the life of men. Sometimes we take nature for the universe, or system of the works of God, as when it is said of a phoenix, or a chimera. And sometimes too, and that most commonly, we would express by nature a semi-deity or other kind of being. Parapsychologists use the term psi to refer to a unitary force underlying the phenomena they study. Views on the supernatural vary, for example it may be seen as, from this perspective, some events occur according to the laws of nature, and others occur according to a separate set of principles external to known nature. For example, in Scholasticism, it was believed that God was capable of performing any miracle so long as it didnt lead to a logical contradiction, others believe that all events have natural and only natural causes. They believe that human beings ascribe supernatural attributes to purely natural events, such as lightning, rainbows, floods, the supernatural is a feature of the philosophical traditions of Neoplatonism and Scholasticism. In contrast, the philosophy of Metaphysical naturalism argues for the conclusion that there are no supernatural entities, objects, most religions include elements of belief in the supernatural while also often featuring prominently in the study of the paranormal and occultism. Process theology is a school of thought influenced by the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. It is not possible, in process metaphysics, to conceive divine activity as an intervention into the “natural” order of events. Process theists usually regard the distinction between the supernatural and the natural as a by-product of the doctrine of creation ex nihilo, in process thought, there is no such thing as a realm of the natural in contrast to that which is supernatural. On the other hand, if “the natural” is defined more neutrally as “what is in the nature of things, in Whiteheads words, “It lies in the nature of things that the many enter into complex unity”. It is tempting to emphasize process theisms denial of the supernatural, dreams as a Source of Supernatural Agent Concepts. Riekki T, Lindeman M, Raij T. T, Supernatural Believers Attribute More Intentions to Random Movement than Skeptics, An fMRI Study. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Purzycki Benjamin G, the Minds of Gods, A Comparative Study of Supernatural Agency. Unresolved Mourning, Supernatural Beliefs and Dissociation, A Mediation Analysis, vail K. E, Arndt J, Addollahi A
5.
Talking animal
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A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. e. Researchers have been successful in teaching some animals to make similar to sign language. However, these fail to reach one or more of the criteria accepted as defining language. The term refers to animals which can imitate human speech, parrots, for example, repeat things nonsensically through exposure. It is an anthropomorphism to call this human speech, as it has no semantic grounding, clever Hans was a horse that was claimed to have been able to perform arithmetic and other intellectual tasks. After formal investigation in 1907, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was not actually performing these mental tasks, but was watching the reaction of his human observers. The horse was responding to cues in the body language of his trainer or other people who asked the horse questions. A formal language requires a communication with a syntax as well as semantics and it is not sufficient for one to communicate information or even use symbols to communicate ideas. Researchers have attempted to teach great apes spoken language with poor results, however, even the best communicating great ape has shown an inability to grasp the idea of syntax and grammar, instead communicating at best at the same level as a pidgin language in humans. They are expressive and communicative, but lack the formality that remains unique to human speech, the statement that syntax is the key difference between human and animal language is dubious. Research done by Dr. Irene Pepperberg indicates that parrots are capable of speaking in context, one of Pepperbergs parrots, Alex, an African grey parrot, demonstrated the ability to assemble words out of letters. An owner hears a dog making a sound that resembles a phrase says the phrase back to the dog, eventually the dog learns a modified version of the original sound. Dogs have limited vocal skills, so these sounds usually need to be shaped by selective attention. A dog on Americas Funniest Home Videos named Fluffy, made noises that to some viewers resembled I want my momma after being asked Do you want your momma. Other videos showed other dogs making noises which to some viewers resembling Run around, I want it, I love momma, odie, a pug who produced noises resembling I love you on demand, made appearances on several television shows. Paranormal researcher Charles Fort wrote in his book Wild Talents of several alleged cases of dogs that could speak English, Fort took the stories from contemporary newspaper accounts. A husky which produces vocalisations that to some viewers sound like no has appeared in the Daily Mail, the Mirror and the Huffington Post, amongst others. Footage of this cat, nicknamed Oh Long Johnson from one of the spoken, was featured on Americas Funniest Home Videos in 1998
6.
Raven
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A raven is one of several larger-bodied species of the genus Corvus. These species do not form a taxonomic group within the genus. The largest raven species are the common raven and the thick-billed raven, the modern English word raven has cognates in all other Germanic languages, including Old Norse hrafn and Old High German raban, all of which descend from Proto-Germanic *hrabanaz. Obsolete collective nouns for a group of ravens include unkindness and conspiracy, in practice, most people use the more generic flock
7.
Athena
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Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena, Athena is known for her calm temperament, as she moves slowly to anger. She is noted to have fought for just reasons. Athena is portrayed as a companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her city, Athens. Veneration of Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes, in her role as a protector of the city, many people throughout the Greek world worshipped Athena as Athena Polias. While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name, Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name, because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earliest times. Mycenae was the city where the Goddess was called Mykene, at Thebes she was called Thebe, and the city again a plural, Thebae. Similarly, at Athens she was called Athena, and the city Athenae, Athena had a special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the names of the goddess and the city. According to mythical lore, she competed with Poseidon and she won by creating the olive tree, the Athenians would accept her gift and name the city after her. In history, the citizens of Athens built a statue of Athena as a temple to the goddess, which had piercing eyes, a helmet on her head, attired with an aegis or cuirass, and an extremely long spear. It also had a shield with the head of the Gorgon on it. A large snake accompanied her and she held Nike, the goddess of victory, therefore, Mylonas believes that Athena was a Mycenaean creation. On the other hand, Nilsson claims that she was the goddess of the palace who protected the king, a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja is also found in Linear A Minoan, the final part being regarded as the Linear A Minoan equivalent of the Linear B Mycenaean di-u-ja or di-wi-ja. Divine Athena also was a weaver and the deity of crafts, whether her name is attested in Eteocretan or not will have to wait for decipherment of Linear A. Perhaps, however, the name Theonoe may mean she who knows divine things better than others. Thus for Plato her name was to be derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Plato also noted that the citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped a goddess whose Egyptian name was Neith, and which was identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period, in addition, ancient Greek myths reported that Athena had visited many mythological places such as Libyas Triton River in North Africa and the Phlegraean plain
8.
Folklore
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
9.
Classical antiquity
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It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwestern Asia. Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the emergence of Christianity and it ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity, blending into the Early Middle Ages. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures, Classical antiquity may refer also to an idealised vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poes words, the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with influences from the ancient Near East, was the basis of art, philosophy, society. The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse, the 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century BC, in the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean, carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. The Etruscans had established control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic. According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21,753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth and it was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, the people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretias kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus, summoned the Senate and had Superbus, after Superbus expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word Rex meaning King became a dirty and hated throughout the Republic. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony, but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC
10.
The Philosophy of Composition
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The Philosophy of Composition is an 1846 essay written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, unity of effect and a method are important considerations for good writing. He also makes the assertion that the death, of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. Poe uses the composition of his own poem The Raven as an example, the essay first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Grahams Magazine. It is uncertain if it is a portrayal of Poes own method. Generally, the essay introduces three of Poes theories regarding literature, Poes explanation of the process of writing is so rigidly logical, however, that some have suggested the essay was meant as a satire or hoax. The three central elements of Poes philosophy of composition are, Poe believed that all works should be short. There is, he writes, a distinct limit, to all works of literary art - the limit of a single sitting. He especially emphasized this rule with regards to poetry, but also noted that the story is superior to the novel for this reason. Poe dismissed the notion of artistic intuition and argued that writing is methodical and analytical and he writes that no other author has yet admitted this because most writers would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes. At the fully matured fancies discarded in despair, at the cautious selections and rejections. Once this effect has been determined, the writer should decide all matters pertaining to the composition of the work, including tone, theme, setting, characters, conflict. In this case, Poe logically decides on the death, of a beautiful woman as it is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover. Some commentators have taken this to imply that pure poetry can only be attained by the eradication of female beauty. In the essay, Poe traces the progression of his creation of The Raven as an attempt to compose a poem that should suit at once the popular. He claims that he considered every aspect of the poem, for example, he purposely set the poem on a tempestuous evening, causing the raven to seek shelter. He purposefully chose a pallid bust to contrast with the plume of the bird. The bust was of Pallas in order to evoke the notion of scholar, no aspect of the poem was an accident, he claims, but is based on total control by the author
11.
Barnaby Rudge
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Barnaby Rudge, A Tale of the Riots of Eighty is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. Barnaby Rudge was one of two novels that Dickens published in his weekly serial Master Humphreys Clock. Barnaby Rudge is largely set during the Gordon Riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge was the fifth of Dickens novels to be published. It had originally planned to appear as his first, but changes of publisher led to many delays. It was Dickens first historical novel and his only other is the much later A Tale of Two Cities, also set in revolutionary times. It is one of his less popular novels and has rarely been adapted for film or television, the last production was a 1960 BBC production, prior to that, silent films were made in 1911 and 1915. Sir John intends to marry Edward to a woman with an inheritance, to support Johns expensive lifestyle. Edward quarrels with his father and leaves home for the West Indies, Barnaby Rudge, a simpleton, wanders in and out of the story with his pet raven, Grip. Barnabys mother begins to receive visits from the stranger, whom she feels compelled to protect. She later gives up the annuity she had been receiving from Geoffrey Haredale and, without explanation, takes Barnaby, when Barnaby and his mother arrive at Westminster Bridge they see an unruly crowd heading for a meeting on the Surrey side of the river. Barnaby is duped into joining them, despite his mothers pleas, the rioters then march on Parliament, and burn several Catholic churches and the homes of Catholic families. A detachment led by Hugh and Dennis head for Chigwell, intent on exacting revenge on Geoffrey Haredale, leaving Barnaby to guard The Boot, the mob loots the Maypole on their way to the Warren, which they burn to the ground. Emma Haredale and Dolly Varden are taken captive by the rioters, Barnaby is taken prisoner by soldiers and held in Newgate, which the mob plans to storm. The one-armed man turns out to be Joe Willet, who has returned from fighting against the American revolutionaries, Joe and Edward Chester turn out to be the rescuers of Gabriel Varden. The pair then rescue Dolly and Emma, Dennis is arrested and sentenced to die with Hugh and Barnaby. Barnaby, through the efforts of Gabriel Varden, is pardoned, Joe and Dolly are married and become proprietors of the rebuilt Maypole. Edward Chester and Emma are married and go to the West Indies, miggs tries to get her position back at the Varden household, is rejected, and becomes a jailer at a womens prison. Simon Tappertit, his legs crushed in the riots, becomes a shoe-black, lord George Gordon is held in the Tower and is later judged to be innocent of inciting the riots
12.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
13.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from about the age of six and her mothers collection of her poems forms one of the largest collections extant of juvenilia by any English writer. At 15 she became ill, suffering intense head and spinal pain for the rest of her life, later in life she also developed lung problems, possibly tuberculosis. She took laudanum for the pain from an age, which is likely to have contributed to her frail health. In the 1830s Elizabeth was introduced to society through her cousin. Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose and she campaigned for the abolition of slavery and her work helped influence reform in the child labour legislation. Her prolific output made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate on the death of Wordsworth, Elizabeths volume Poems brought her great success, attracting the admiration of the writer Robert Browning. Their correspondence, courtship and marriage were carried out in secret, following the wedding she was indeed disinherited by her father. The couple moved to Italy in 1846, where she would live for the rest of her life and they had one son, Robert Barrett Browning, whom they called Pen. She died in Florence in 1861, a collection of her last poems was published by her husband shortly after her death. Elizabeths work had a influence on prominent writers of the day, including the American poets Edgar Allan Poe. She is remembered for such poems as How Do I Love Thee. some of Elizabeth Barretts family had lived in Jamaica since 1655. Their wealth derived mainly from Edward Barrett, owner of 10,000 acres in the estates of Cinnamon Hill, Cornwall, Cambridge, Elizabeths maternal grandfather owned sugar plantations, mills, glassworks and ships that traded between Jamaica and Newcastle. What the family believed to be their genealogy in relation to Jamaica is unclear, the family wished to hand down their name, stipulating that Barrett should always be held as a surname. In some cases inheritance was given on condition that the name was used by the beneficiary, given this strong tradition, Elizabeth used Elizabeth Barrett Moulton Barrett on legal documents and before she was married often signed herself Elizabeth Barrett Barrett or EBB. Elizabeths father chose to raise his family in England while his business enterprises remained in Jamaica, the fortune of Elizabeths mothers line, the Graham Clarke family, also derived in part from slave labour, and was considerable. Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett was born on 6 March 1806, in Coxhoe Hall and her parents were Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett and Mary Graham Clarke, Elizabeth was the eldest of 12 children. All lived to adulthood except for one girl, who died at the age of three, when Elizabeth was eight, the children all had nicknames, Elizabeth was Ba
14.
Alliteration
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Alliteration is from the Latin word littera, meaning letter of the alphabet, and the first known use of the word to refer to a literary device occurred around 1624. Alliteration narrowly refers to the repetition of a letter in any syllables that, according to the meter, are stressed. Another example is Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Consonance is a broader literary device identified by the repetition of consonant sounds at any point in a word. Alliteration is a case of consonance where the repeated consonant sound is in the stressed syllable. There is one specialised form of alliteration called Symmetrical Alliteration, for example, rust brown blazers rule, purely and fundamentally for analytical purposes or fluoro colour co-ordination forever. Symmetrical alliteration is similar to palindromes in its use of symmetry, the Raven by Edgar Allan Poe has many examples of alliteration including the following line, And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain. Samuel Taylor Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner has the lines of alliteration, For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky. Robert Frosts poem Acquainted with the Night has the line of alliteration, I have stood still. In Walter Abishs novel Alphabetical Africa the first chapter consists solely of words beginning with A, chapter two also permits words beginning with B, and so on, until in chapter 26, Abish allows himself to use words beginning with any letter at all. In the next 25 chapters, he reverses the process, in the nursery rhyme Three Grey Geese by Mother Goose, alliteration can be found in the following lines, Three grey geese in a green field grazing. Grey were the geese and green was the grazing, another commonly recited tongue-twister rhyme illustrating alliteration is Peter Piper, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, wheres the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked, Alliteration is used in the alliterative verse of Old English, Old Norse, Old High German, Old Saxon, and Old Irish. It was an important ingredient of the Sanskrit shlokas, Alliteration was used in Old English given names. This is evidenced by the series of 9th century kings of Wessex named Æthelwulf, Æthelbald, Æthelberht. These were followed in the 10th century by their direct descendants Æthelstan and Æthelred II, the Anglo-Saxon saints Tancred, Torhtred and Tova provide a similar example, among siblings. In relation to English poetry, poets can call attention to words in a line of poetry by using alliteration. They can also use alliteration to create a pleasant, rhythmic effect, in the following poetic lines, notice how alliteration is used to emphasize words and to create rhythm, Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by Bernard ODonoghue Some papers like writers, are you a writer or a wrapper
15.
New-York Mirror
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The New-York Mirror was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, and again as a daily newspaper renamed The Evening Mirror from 1844 to 1898. The Mirror was founded by George Pope Morris and Samuel Woodworth in August 1823, the journal was a weekly publication, and it included coverage of arts and literature in addition to local news. Circulation flagged in the 1840s and at the end of 1842 the paper was closed, in 1843 Morris partnered with popular writer Nathaniel Parker Willis to revamp the business, and together they relaunched the newspaper as The Evening Mirror in 1844. In both incarnations, the paper employed many well known figures of the day. Edgar Allan Poe worked for the newspaper as a critic until February 1845, in the January 29,1845 issue, the Mirror was the first to publish Poes poem The Raven with the authors name. In his introduction to the poem, Willis called it unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification and it will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it. Willis and Morris left the publication in 1846, after Willis, the newspaper was edited by Hiram Fuller, a noted enemy of Poe. Fuller published attacks on Poe made by Charles Frederick Briggs and Thomas Dunn English in May, a letter printed by the Mirror in the July 23,1846 issue caused Poe to sue the newspaper for libel and defamation of character. Poe won the suit and was awarded $225.06 as well as an additional $101.42 in court costs, the New York Mirror at Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
16.
Parody
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A parody is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work—its subject, author, style, or some other target—by means of satiric or ironic imitation. As the literary theorist Linda Hutcheon puts it, parody … is imitation, another critic, Simon Dentith, defines parody as any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice. Parody may be found in art or culture, including literature, music, animation, gaming, the writer and critic John Gross observes in his Oxford Book of Parodies, that parody seems to flourish on territory somewhere between pastiche and burlesque. According to Aristotle, Hegemon of Thasos was the inventor of a kind of parody, in ancient Greek literature, a parodia was a narrative poem imitating the style and prosody of epics but treating light, satirical or mock-heroic subjects. Indeed, the components of the Greek word are παρά para beside, counter, against, Thus, the original Greek word παρῳδία parodia has sometimes been taken to mean counter-song, an imitation that is set against the original. The Oxford English Dictionary, for example, defines parody as imitation turned as to produce a ridiculous effect, because par- also has the non-antagonistic meaning of beside, there is nothing in parodia to necessitate the inclusion of a concept of ridicule. Old Comedy contained parody, even the gods could be made fun of, the Frogs portrays the hero-turned-god Heracles as a Glutton and the God of Drama Dionysus as cowardly and unintelligent. The traditional trip to the Underworld story is parodied as Dionysus dresses as Heracles to go to the Underworld, roman writers explained parody as an imitation of one poet by another for humorous effect. In French Neoclassical literature, parody was also a type of poem where one work imitates the style of another to produce a humorous effect, the Ancient Greeks created satyr plays which parodied tragic plays, often with performers dressed like satyrs. In classical music, as a term, parody refers to a reworking of one kind of composition into another. The term is sometimes applied to procedures common in the Baroque period. The musicological definition of the parody has now generally been supplanted by a more general meaning of the word. In its more contemporary usage, musical parody usually has humorous, even satirical intent, in which familiar musical ideas or lyrics are lifted into a different, often incongruous, context. Musical parodies may imitate or refer to the style of a composer or artist. For example, The Ritz Roll and Rock, a song and dance performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Silk Stockings, parodies the Rock. Conversely, while the work of Weird Al Yankovic is based on particular popular songs. The first usage of the parody in English cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Ben Jonson, in Every Man in His Humour in 1598, A Parodie. The next citation comes from John Dryden in 1693, who also appended an explanation, suggesting that the word was in common use, in the 20th century, parody has been heightened as the central and most representative artistic device, the catalysing agent of artistic creation and innovation
17.
Bust (sculpture)
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A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a persons head and neck, and a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual and these may be of any medium used for sculpture, such as marble, bronze, terracotta or wood. A parallel term, aust, is a representation of the part of an animal or mythical creature. Sculptural portrait heads from classical antiquity are sometimes displayed as busts, however, these are often fragments from full-body statues, or were created to be inserted into an existing body, these portrait heads are not included in this article. Herma Portraiture Livius. org, Bust gallery of famous ancient Greeks Oxford definition Dictionary. com definition
18.
Prophet
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Claims of prophethood have existed in many cultures through history, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, in Ancient Greece, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and many others. Traditionally, prophets are regarded as having a role in society that promotes change due to their messages and actions which can convey the displeasure of God for the behavior of people. In the late 20th century the appellation of prophet has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics, alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are often called prophets of doom. In Hebrew, the word נָבִיא, spokesperson, traditionally translates as prophet, the second subdivision of the Hebrew Bible, TaNaKh, is devoted to the Hebrew prophets. The meaning of navi is perhaps described in Deuteronomy 18,18, where God said. and I will put My words in his mouth, thus, the navi was thought to be the mouth of God. The root nun-bet-alef is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness, to receive transcendental wisdom, cf. Rashbams comment to Genesis 20,7. In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Israelite or Jewish neviim often acted out prophetic parables in their life. For example, in order to contrast the people’s disobedience with the obedience of the Rechabites, God has Jeremiah invite the Rechabites to drink wine, the Rechabites refuse, wherefore God commends them. Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judahs pride. Likewise, Jeremiah buys a jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the nation of Judah. God instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The prophetic assignment is not always portrayed as positive in the Hebrew Bible, likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, Leave the way. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel, the life of Moses being threatened by Pharaoh is another example. According to I Samuel 9,9, the old name for navi is roeh, רֹאֶה and that could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. The seer-priests were usually attached to a shrine or temple, such as Shiloh. Canonical prophets were not organised this way, the similar term ben-navi means member of a seer-priest guild. Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh include Abraham, Moses, Miriam, Isaiah, Samuel, Ezekiel, Malachi, in Jewish tradition Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets. A Jewish tradition suggests that there were twice as many prophets as the number which left Egypt, the Talmud recognizes the existence of 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind
19.
Pluto (mythology)
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Pluto was the ruler of the underworld in classical mythology. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which more common as the name of the underworld itself. In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto represents a positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. The name Ploutōn came into usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Pluto was venerated as a stern ruler. The couple received souls in the afterlife, and are invoked together in religious inscriptions, Hades by contrast had few temples and religious practices associated with him, and is portrayed as the dark and violent abductor of Persephone. Pluto and Hades differ in character, but they are not distinct figures, in Greek cosmogony, the god received the rule of the underworld in a three-way division of sovereignty over the world, with his brothers Zeus ruling the Sky and Poseidon the Sea. His central narrative is the abduction of Persephone to be his wife, under the name Pluto, the god appears in other myths in a secondary role, mostly as the possessor of a quest-object, and especially in the descent of Orpheus or other heroes to the underworld. Plūtō is the Latinized form of the Greek Plouton, Plutos Roman equivalent is Dis Pater, whose name is most often taken to mean Rich Father and is perhaps a direct translation of Plouton. Pluto was also identified with the obscure Roman Orcus, like Hades the name of both a god of the underworld and the underworld as a place. The borrowed Greek name Pluto is sometimes used for the ruler of the dead in Latin literature, Pluto becomes the most common name for the classical ruler of the underworld in subsequent Western literature and other art forms. The name Plouton does not appear in Greek literature of the Archaic period, in Hesiods Theogony, the six children of Cronus and Rhea are Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. The male children divide the world into three realms, Hades takes Persephone by force from her mother Demeter, with the consent of Zeus. The resemblance of the name Ploutos to Plouton and it has been noted, cannot be accidental. Plouton is lord of the dead, but as Persephones husband he has serious claims to the powers of fertility, demeters son Plutus merges in the narrative tradition with her son-in-law Pluto, redefining the implacable chariot-driver Hades whose horses trample the flowering earth. Plouton was one of several names for Hades, described in the Iliad as the god most hateful to mortals. Plato says that people prefer the name Plouton, giver of wealth, the name was understood as referring to the boundless riches of the earth, both the crops on its surface—he was originally a god of the land—and the mines hidden within it. What is sometimes taken as confusion of the two gods Plouton and Ploutos held or acquired a significance in antiquity. The Roman poet Ennius, the figure in the Hellenization of Latin literature, considered Pluto a Greek god to be explained in terms of the Roman equivalents Dis Pater
20.
Allegory
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As a literary device, an allegory is a metaphor whose vehicle may be a character, place or event, representing real-world issues and occurrences. Many ancient religions are based on astrological allegories, that is, allegories of the movement of the sun, in classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Platos Republic and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa. One of the examples of allegory, Platos Allegory of the Cave. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in an all of their lives. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israels exile to Rome. Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances, if, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to the care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ. This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Mediaeval Period, following the tradition, since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognised. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. S, lewis and A Kingdom Far and Clear, The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin. The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newtons head is another famous allegory and it simplified the idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale. According to Henry Littlefields 1964 article, L. Yet, George MacDonald emphasised in 1893 that, A fairy tale is not an allegory, I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and this further reinforces the idea of forced allegoresis, as allegory is often a matter of interpretation and only sometimes of original artistic intention. Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning, some unique specimens of allegory can be found in the following works, Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene, The several knights in the poem actually stand for several virtues. Nathaniel Hawthorne – Young Goodman Brown, The Devils Staff symbolises defiance of God, the characters names, such as Goodman and Faith, ironically serve as paradox in the conclusion of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter, The scarlet letter symbolises many things, the characters, while developed with interiority, are allegorical in that they represent ways of seeing the world. George Orwell – Animal Farm, The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution, lászló Krasznahorkai - The Melancholy of Resistance and the film Werckmeister Harmonies, It uses a circus to describe an occupying dysfunctional government
21.
Student
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A student or pupil is a learner or someone who attends an educational institution. In Britain those attending university are termed students, in the United States, and more recently also in Britain, the term student is applied to both categories. In its widest use, student is used for anyone who is learning, including mid-career adults who are taking vocational education or returning to university. When speaking about learning outside an institution, student is used to refer to someone who is learning a topic or who is a student of a certain topic or person. In Nigeria, education is classified into four system known as 6-3-3-4 system of education and it implies six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary, three years in senior secondary and four years in the university. However, the number of years to be spent in university is determined by the course of study. Some courses have longer study length than others and those in primary school are often referred to as pupils. Those in university as well as those in school are being referred to as students. Six years of school education in Singapore is compulsory. International Schools are subject to overseas curriculums, such as the British, Primary education is compulsory in Bangladesh. Its a near crime to not to children to primary school when they are of age. But it is not a punishable crime, because of the socio-economic state of Bangladesh, child labour is sometimes legal. But the guardian must ensure the primary education, everyone who is learning in any institute or even online may be called student in Bangladesh. Sometimes students taking undergraduate education is called undergraduates and students taking post-graduate education may be called post-graduates, Education System Of Bangladesh, Education is free in Brunei. Darussalam not limited to government educational institutions but also private educational institutions, there are mainly two types of educational institutions, government or public, and private institutions. Several stages have to be undergone by the prospective students leading to higher qualifications, Primary School Secondary School High School Colleges University Level It takes six and five years to complete the primary and secondary levels respectively. Upon completing these two stages, students/pupils have freedom to progress to sixth-form centers, colleges or probably straight to employment. Students are permitted to progress towards university level programs in both government and private university colleges, Education in Cambodia is free for all the students who study in Primary School, Secondary School or High School
22.
Ligeia
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Ligeia is an early short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and she falls ill, composes The Conqueror Worm, and quotes lines attributed to Joseph Glanvill shortly before dying. After her death, the narrator marries the Lady Rowena, Rowena becomes ill and she dies as well. The distraught narrator stays with her body overnight and watches as Rowena slowly comes back from the dead – though she has transformed into Ligeia, the story may be the narrators opium-induced hallucination and there is debate whether the story was a satire. After the storys first publication in The American Museum, it was revised and reprinted throughout Poes life. The story is told by a narrator who describes the qualities of Ligeia. He thinks he remembers meeting her in large, old decaying city near the Rhine. He is unable to recall anything about the history of Ligeia, including her familys name and her beauty, however, is not conventional. He describes her as emaciated, with some strangeness and he describes her face in detail, from her faultless forehead to the divine orbs of her eyes. They marry, and Ligeia impresses her husband with her knowledge of physical and mathematical science. She begins to show her husband her knowledge of metaphysical and forbidden wisdom, after an unspecified length of time Ligeia becomes ill, struggles internally with human mortality, and ultimately dies. The narrator, grief-stricken, buys and refurbishes an abbey in England and he soon enters into a loveless marriage with the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine. In the second month of the marriage, Rowena begins to suffer from worsening anxiety, one night, when she is about to faint, the narrator pours her a goblet of wine. Drugged with opium, he sees drops of a brilliant and ruby colored fluid fall into the goblet and her condition rapidly worsens, and a few days later she dies and her body is wrapped for burial. As the narrator keeps vigil overnight, he notices a brief return of color to Rowenas cheeks and she repeatedly shows signs of reviving, before relapsing into apparent death. As he attempts resuscitation, the revivals become progressively stronger, as dawn breaks, and the narrator is sitting emotionally exhausted from the nights struggle, the shrouded body revives once more, stands and walks into the middle of the room. When he touches the figure, its head bandages fall away to reveal masses of hair and dark eyes. The narrator relies on Ligeia as if he were a child, on her death, he is a child groping benighted with childlike perversity
23.
Occult
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The occult is knowledge of the hidden. In common English usage, occult refers to knowledge of the paranormal, as opposed to knowledge of the measurable, the terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult, in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. Occultism is the study of practices, including magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion. Alchemy was common among important seventeenth-century scientists, such as Isaac Newton, Newton was even accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he postulated gravity as a force capable of acting over vast distances. By the eighteenth century these unorthodox religious and philosophical concerns were well-defined as occult, inasmuch as they lay on the outermost fringe of accepted forms of knowledge and they were, however, preserved by antiquarians and mystics. Occult science is the research into or formulation of occult concepts in a manner that resembles the way natural science researches or describes phenomena. In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term occult science as a synonym for magic, Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation, in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality. Newtons contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through action at a distance, some religions and sects enthusiastically embrace occultism as an integral esoteric aspect of mystical religious experience. This attitude is common within Wicca and many other modern pagan religions, some other religious denominations disapprove of occultism in most or all forms. They may view the occult as being anything supernatural or paranormal which is not achieved by or through God, monistic in contrast to Christian dualistic beliefs of a separation between body and spirit, Gnostic i. e. Walker, Benjamin. Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural, harold W. Percival, Joined the Theosophical Society in 1892. Blavatsky, Occultism versus the Occult Arts, Lucifer, May 1888 Bardon, true to His Ways, Purity & Safety in Christian Spiritual Practice, ISBN 1-932124-61-6. ISBN 1-57863-150-5 Forshaw, Peter, The Occult Middle Ages, in Christopher Partridge, The Occult World, London, Routledge,2014 Gettings, Fred, Vision of the Occult, ISBN 0-7126-1438-9 Kontou, Tatiana – Willburn, Sarah. The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8 Martin, W. Rische, J. Rische, K. & VanGordon, K. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.201 p. N. B, the scope of this study also embraces the occult. ISBN 0-8028-0262-1 Partridge, Christopher, The Occult World, London, the Tree of Life, An Illustrated Study in Magic. Newton, Isaac, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Sir Isaac Newton Rogers, L. W. Hints to Young Students of Occultism. Albany, NY, The Theosophical Book Company, joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto, Archives of Western Esoterica Occult Science and Philosophy of the Renaissance
24.
Black magic
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Black magic or dark magic has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes. With respect to the path and right-hand path dichotomy, black magic is the malicious. In modern times, some find that the definition of magic has been convoluted by people who define magic or ritualistic practices that they disapprove of as black magic. Like its counterpart white magic, the origins of magic can be traced to the primitive, ritualistic worship of spirits as outlined in Robert M. Places 2009 book, Magic. During the Renaissance, many magical practices and rituals were considered evil or irreligious and by extension, Witchcraft and non-mainstream esoteric study were prohibited and targeted by the Inquisition. While natural magic became popular among the educated and upper classes of the 16th and 17th century, ritualistic magic, summers also highlights the etymological development of the term nigromancer, in common use from 1200 to approximately 1500, broadly one skilled in the black arts. In a modern context, the line between magic and black magic is somewhat clearer and most modern definitions focus on intent rather than practice. There is also an extent to which many modern Wicca and witchcraft practitioners have sought to distance themselves from those intent on practising black magic, the influence of popular culture has allowed other practices to be drawn in under the broad banner of black magic including the concept of Satanism. While the invocation of demons or spirits is an part of black magic. Those lines, though, continue to be blurred by the inclusion of spirit rituals from otherwise white magicians in compilations of work related to Satanism. Dees rituals themselves were designed to contact spirits in general and angels in particular, laVeys Bible, however, is a complete contradiction of Dees intentions but offers the same rituals as a means of contact with evil spirits and demons. LaVeys Church of Satan, officially denies the efficacy of ritual but affirms the subjective, psychological value of ritual practice. LaVey himself was more specific, The latter quote, though, Voodoo, too, has been associated with modern black magic, drawn together in popular culture and fiction. In fact, Voodoo tradition makes its own distinction between black and white magic, with sorcerers like the Bokor known for using magic and rituals of both. But their penchant for magic associated with curses, poisons and zombies means they, the links and interaction between black magic and religion are many and varied. Beyond black magics links to organised Satanism or its historical persecution by Christianity and its inquisitions, the Black Mass, for example, is a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Likewise, a saining, though primarily a practice of magic, is a Wiccan ritual analogous to a christening or baptism for an infant. 17th century priest, Étienne Guibourg, is said to have performed a series of Black Mass rituals with alleged witch Catherine Monvoisin for Madame de Montespan, in Islam, al-Fatiha al-Falaq, al-Nas and other Surahs are recited to protect against sorcery
25.
Roman mythology
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Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may also refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends also have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, however, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period, history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date. By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, lucretia, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
26.
Underworld
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The underworld or netherworld is an otherworld thought to be deep underground or beneath the surface of the world in most religions and mythologies. Typically it is a place where the souls of the departed go, chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. This list includes underworlds in mythology, with links to corresponding articles. This list includes rulers or guardians of the underworld in various mythologies, otherworld World Tree — A tree that connects the heavens, the earth, and the underworld in a number of spiritual belief systems
27.
Satan
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Satan is a figure appearing in the texts of the Abrahamic religions who brings evil and temptation, and is known as the deceiver who leads humanity astray. In the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Satan is primarily an accuser and adversary, a malevolent entity, also called the devil. Although Satan is generally viewed as having negative characteristics, some groups have different beliefs. In Theistic Satanism, Satan is considered a deity who is either worshipped or revered, in LaVeyan Satanism, Satan is a symbol of virtuous characteristics and liberty. The original Hebrew term satan is a noun from a verb meaning primarily to obstruct, oppose, as it is found in Numbers 22,22,1 Samuel 29,4, ha-Satan is traditionally translated as the accuser or the adversary. The definite article ha- is used to show that this is a title bestowed on a being, thus, this being would be referred to as the satan. Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible, Job ch. 1–2 and Zechariah 3, 1–2. 32 behold, I went out to thee,1 Samuel 29,4 The Philistines say, lest he be an adversary against us 2 Samuel 19,22 David says. 1 Kings 5,4 Solomon writes to Hiram, there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent, when the angels present themselves to God, Satan comes as well. God informs Satan about Jobs blameless, morally upright character, God therefore gives Satan permission to test Job. In the end, Job remains faithful and righteous, and there is the implication that Satan is shamed in his defeat, some scholars see contact with religious dualism in Babylon, and early Zoroastrianism in particular, as influencing Second Temple Judaism, and consequently early Christianity. Subsequent development of Satan as a deceiver has parallels with the spirit in Zoroastrianism, known as the Lie. In the Septuagint, the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos, the Book of Enoch contains references to Satariel, thought also to be Sataniel and Satanel. The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren Michael, Raphael, Uriel, the Second Book of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher called Satanael. It is a text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven, a similar story is found in the book of 1 Enoch, however, in that book, the leader of the Grigori is called Semjâzâ. In the Book of Wisdom, the devil is represented as the being who brought death into the world, in the Book of Jubilees, Mastema induces God to test Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac. He is identical to Satan in both name and nature, in Judaism, the term satan used since its earliest biblical contexts to refer to a human opponent
28.
Temptation of Christ
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The temptation of Christ is detailed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. According to these texts, after being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus fasted for forty days, during this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and tried to tempt him. Jesus having refused each temptation, the devil departed and Jesus returned to Galilee. Temptations were hedonism, egoism and materialism, John the Evangelist in his epistle calls these temptations in world as lust of eyes, lust of body and pride of life. Temptations aim to mislead and pervert three main characteristics, to think, wish and feel which are inside mind, soul. These are related with transcendentals or ultimate ideals in three areas of interests, science, arts and religion. Christians are called to search for divine virtues, faith, hope and love that relate directly to God who Himself is Truth, Beauty. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews also refers to Jesus having been tempted in every way that we are, marks account is very brief, merely noting the event. Matthew and Luke describe the temptations by recounting the details of the conversations between Jesus and Satan. Since the elements that are in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark are mostly pairs of rather than detailed narration. The temptation of Christ is not explicitly mentioned in the Gospel of John but in this gospel Jesus does refer to the devil, discussion of the literary genre includes whether what is represented is a history, a parable, a myth, or compound of various genres. This relates to the reality of the encounter, sometimes the temptation narrative is taken as a parable, reading that Jesus in his ministry told this narrative to audiences relating his inner experience in the form of a parable. Or it is autobiographical, regarding what sort of Messiah Jesus intended to be, the debate on the literality of the temptations goes back at least to the discussion of George Benson and Hugh Farmer. A traditional Catholic understanding is that the temptation of Christ was a literal and physical event, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating, he lives among wild beasts, at the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, the temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Father. The account of Matthew uses language from the Old Testament, the imagery would be familiar to Matthews contemporary readers. In the Septuagint Greek version of Zechariah 3 the name Iesous, Lukes account is similar, though his inversion of the second and third temptations represents a more natural geographic movement, from the wilderness to the temple
29.
James Russell Lowell
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James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that rivaled the popularity of British poets and these writers usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside. Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1838, despite his reputation as a troublemaker and he published his first collection of poetry in 1841 and married Maria White in 1844. The couple had children, though only one survived past childhood. After moving back to Cambridge, Lowell was one of the founders of a journal called The Pioneer and he gained notoriety in 1848 with the publication of A Fable for Critics, a book-length poem satirizing contemporary critics and poets. The same year, he published The Biglow Papers, which increased his fame and he went on to publish several other poetry collections and essay collections throughout his literary career. Maria died in 1853, and Lowell accepted a professorship of languages at Harvard in 1854 and he traveled to Europe before officially assuming his teaching duties in 1856, and married Frances Dunlap shortly thereafter in 1857. That year, Lowell also became editor of The Atlantic Monthly and it was not until 20 years later that he received his first political appointment, the ambassadorship to the Kingdom of Spain. He was later appointed ambassador to the Court of St. Jamess and he spent his last years in Cambridge in the same estate where he was born, and died there in 1891. Lowell believed that the poet played an important role as a prophet and he used poetry for reform, particularly in abolitionism. However, his commitment to the anti-slavery cause wavered over the years and he attempted to emulate the true Yankee accent in the dialogue of his characters, particularly in The Biglow Papers. This depiction of the dialect, as well as his satires, was an inspiration to writers such as Mark Twain. James Russell Lowell was born February 22,1819 and he was a member of the eighth generation of the Lowell family, the descendants of Percival Lowle who settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1639. His parents were the Reverend Charles Russell Lowell, Sr. a minister at a Unitarian church in Boston who had studied theology at Edinburgh. By the time that James Russell Lowell was born, the owned a large estate in Cambridge called Elmwood. He was the youngest of six children, his siblings were Charles, Rebecca, Mary, William, Lowells mother built in him an appreciation for literature at an early age, especially in poetry, ballads, and tales from her native Orkney. In his sophomore year, he was absent from required chapel attendance 14 times, in his senior year, he became one of the editors of Harvardiana literary magazine, to which he contributed prose and poetry that he admitted was of low quality. As he said later, I was as great an ass as ever brayed & thought it singing, during his undergraduate years, Lowell was a member of Hasty Pudding and served both as Secretary and Poet
30.
A Fable for Critics
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A Fable for Critics is a book-length poem by American writer James Russell Lowell, first published anonymously in 1848. The poem made fun of well-known poets and critics of the time, a Fable for Critics satirized many of the most important figures in American literature at the time, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Fenimore Cooper. Many of his harshest judgments were aimed at names that have not survived in posterity, including Nathaniel Parker Willis, Cornelius Mathews, and Fitz-Greene Halleck. He gave ample praise to Charles Frederick Briggs and Lydia Maria Child, of Edgar Allan Poe, he said he was three-fifths genius. Lowell included himself as well, referring to himself as having difficulty determining the difference twixt singing and preaching. At first, he intended to exclude her entirely but thought doing so would be insulting and was convinced to write a line or two by his wife Maria White Lowell. Ultimately, his characterization was the only which was wholly negative and he suggested that she stole old ideas and presented them as her own and that she was only genuine in her spite. A Fable for Critics, with the subtitle A Glance at a Few of Our Literary Progenies, was published anonymously as an early in 1848. Three thousand copies were sold in short order, the poem was reprinted several times with Lowells name after its initial publication. John Ruskin labeled the poem in spirit and power. Oliver Wendell Holmes found it capital—crammed full and rammed down hard—with powder —shot—slugs—very little wadding, all crowded into a rusty-looking sort of blunderbuss barrel, as it were—capped with a percussion preface—and cocked with a title page as apropos as a wink to a joke. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow compared it to Lord Byrons English Bards as being full of wit and deviltry. The severity, if any, is lost in the fidelity of the delineations. Lowells friends objected to the criticism of Fuller, specifically William Wetmore Story. Edgar Allan Poe reviewed the work in the Southern Literary Messenger and called it loose—ill-conceived and feebly executed and we confess some surprise at his putting forth so unpolished a performance. His final judgment was that the work was not successful, no failure was more complete or more pitiable. Ultimately, A Fable for Critics earned Lowell notoriety as a poet, once his name was revealed, American Aristocracy, The Lives and Times of James Russell, Amy, and Robert Lowell. New York, Dodd, Mead & Company,1980, new York, The Macmillan Company,1972
31.
Free Library of Philadelphia
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The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States, in fiscal year 2015, the Free Library hosted nearly six million patrons in person and ten million more online. However, several libraries claimed the bequest, and only after the courts decided the money was intended to found a new library did the Free Library finally open in March 1894. Its first location was three cramped rooms in City Hall, on February 11,1895, the library was moved to the old Concert Hall at 1217-1221 Chestnut Street. Library officials criticized their new home as an unsuitable building. In December 1,1910, the Library was moved again, to the northeast corner of 13th, on June 2,1927, the Parkway Central Library opened for service at its present location at 1901 Vine Street on Logan Square. The building had been in planning since 1911, various obstacles, including World War I, the grand Beaux-Arts building was designed by Julian Abele, chief designer in the office of prominent Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, and first opened its doors in 1927. In addition to being the library, the building serves as the systems administrative building. The mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia is to advance literacy, guide learning, the Library hosts a renowned Author Events Series, which brings more than 100 writers, politicians, scientists, researchers, and musicians to the Free Library annually. In March 2011, the library launched Free Library Hot Spots, placing new computer labs, the initiative is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Each Hot Spot provides computers, internet access, printers, in April 2012, the Free Library added The Techmobile, a Hot Spot on Wheels, which brings service to neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. The Techmobile has six public laptops, according to a study conducted by Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, in 2010 nearly 25,000 people learned to read or taught someone else to read solely because of the resources of the Free Library. Located at the Parkway Central Library, the Free Library’s Special Collections span genres and generations, scholars and curiosity seekers can find inspiration in the unique and rare items that chronicle the history of art, literature, music, and more. Works of secular literature are also represented, Lewis illuminated manuscripts are complemented by nine manuscripts from the Widener Collection and manuscripts from various other sources. There is also a collection of some 800 incunabula, of which 500 come from the P. A. B. The 153 oriental manuscripts provide examples of a variety of formats, among them books, scrolls, accordion books. In addition, there are some 1,200 separate miniatures, the collection of over 2,800 clay tablets, dating from 3,000 B. C. to 300 B. C. was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Frederick Lewis, Sr. The Free Library’s music collections are outstanding, including the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, the Theatre Collection contains research materials on the history of American theatre, early film, and popular entertainment
32.
Mythology
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Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people or to the study of such myths. Myths are the people tell to explain nature, history. Myth is a feature of every culture, mythologizing continues, as shown in contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and comics. A cultures collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, the study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists, the nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as a primitive and failed counterpart of science, a disease of language, or a misinterpretation of magical ritual. Recent approaches often view myths as manifestations of psychological, cultural, or societal truths, the term mythology predates the word myth by centuries. It first appeared in the fifteenth-century, borrowed from the Middle French term mythologie, the word mythology, comes from Middle French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek μυθολογία mythología from μῦθος mythos and -λογία -logia. The word mythología appears in Plato, but was used as a term for fiction or story-telling of any kind, combining mỹthos. From Lydgate until the seventeenth or eighteenth-century, mythology was similarly used to mean a moral, fable, from its earliest use in reference to a collection of traditional stories or beliefs, mythology implied the falsehood of the stories being described. It came to be applied by analogy with similar bodies of traditional stories among other cultures around the world. The Greek loanword mythos and Latinate mythus both appeared in English before the first example of myth in 1830, in present use, mythology usually refers to the collected myths of a group of people, but may also mean the study of such myths. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures, dundes defined myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form. Lincoln defined myth as ideology in narrative form, scholars in other fields use the term myth in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, due to this pejorative sense, some scholars opted for the term mythos. Its use was similarly pejorative and now commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a plot point or to a collective mythology. The term is distinguished from didactic literature such as fables. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, however, many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and are linked to religion or spirituality
33.
Norse mythology
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The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings, various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, there the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, by way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland and this occurred primarily in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, in comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. Numerous further texts, such as the sagas, provide further information, the saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may also lend insight, wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, the god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds, Odin has a strong association with death, Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhalla, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odins wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel. Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess and she is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain, and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr, Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in far away lands
34.
Odin
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In Germanic mythology, Odin is a widely revered god. In the modern period, Odin continued to be acknowledged in the folklore of Germanic Europe. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, though narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland and these texts make up the bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology. In Old Norse texts, Odin is depicted as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir, and wearing a cloak, Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the god Baldr with Frigg, and is known by hundreds of names. Odin has an association with Yule, and mankinds knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. In Old Norse texts, Odin is given primacy over female beings associated with the battlefield—the valkyries—and oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. In later folklore, Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt and he has also been associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. Odin has been a frequent subject of study in Germanic studies, in the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other forms of media. He is venerated in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry, together with other gods venerated by the ancient Germanic peoples, some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym Óðinn and its cognates, including Old English Wōden, Old Saxon Wōden, the masculine noun *wōđanaz developed from the Proto-Germanic adjective *wōđaz, related to Latin vātēs and Old Irish fáith, both meaning seer, prophet. Adjectives stemming from *wōđaz include Gothic woþs possessed, Old Norse óðr, mad, frantic, furious, additionally the Old Norse noun æði rage, fury and Old High German wuotī madness derive from the feminine noun *wōđīn, from *wōđaz. Over 170 names are recorded for the god Odin and these names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with the god. This multitude of names makes Odin the god with the most names known among the Germanic peoples, the weekday name Wednesday derives from Old English wōdnesdæg. Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German wōdensdach, all of these terms derive from Proto-Germanic *Wodensdag, itself a Germanic interpretation of Latin Dies Mercurii. However, in Old High German, the derived from Odins was replaced by a translation of Church Latin media hebdomas. The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans and they regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind, in this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as Mercury, Thor as Hercules, and Týr as Mars, and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have very different
35.
Huginn and Muninn
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In Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. The names of the ravens are sometimes anglicized as Hugin and Munin. In the Poetic Edda, a disguised Odin expresses that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights, the Prose Edda explains that Odin is referred to as raven-god due to his association with Huginn and Muninn. In the Prose Edda and the Third Grammatical Treatise, the two ravens are described as perching on Odins shoulders, Heimskringla details that Odin gave Huginn and Muninn the ability to speak. In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, the god Odin provides the young Agnarr with information about Odins companions. He tells the prince about Odins wolves Geri and Freki, and, in the stanza of the poem, states that Huginn and Muninn fly daily across the entire world. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear, Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly all over the world before returning at dinner-time. As a result, Odin is kept informed of many events, high adds that it is from this association that Odin is referred to as raven-god. The above-mentioned stanza from Grímnismál is then quoted, in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Huginn and Muninn appear in a list of poetic names for ravens. In the same chapter, excerpts from a work by the skald Einarr Skúlason are provided, in these excerpts Muninn is referenced in a common noun for raven and Huginn is referenced in a kenning for carrion. In the Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga, an account of the life of Odin is provided. Chapter 7 describes that Odin had two ravens, and upon these ravens he bestowed the gift of speech and these ravens flew all over the land and brought him information, causing Odin to become very wise in his lore. In the Third Grammatical Treatise an anonymous verse is recorded that mentions the ravens flying from Odins shoulders, Huginn seeking hanged men, the verse reads, Two ravens flew from Hnikar’s shoulders, Huginn to the hanged and Muninn to the slain. Migration Period gold bracteates feature a depiction of a figure above a horse, holding a spear. The presence of the birds has led to the identification of the human figure as the god Odin. Like Snorris Prose Edda description of the ravens, a bird is depicted at the ear of the human. Bracteates have been found in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and, in numbers, England. Vendel era helmet plates found in a grave in Sweden depict a figure holding a spear
36.
Hebrew
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
37.
Noah
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In the Abrahamic religions, Noah was the tenth and last of the pre-flood Patriarchs. The story of Noahs Ark is told in the Bibles Genesis flood narrative, the biblical account is followed by the story of the Curse of Canaan. Noah was the subject of much elaboration in the literature of later Abrahamic religions, the primary account of Noah in the Bible is in the Book of Genesis. Noah was the tenth of the pre-flood Patriarchs and his father was Lamech and his mother is unknown. When Noah was five hundred years old, he begat Shem, Ham, the Genesis flood narrative makes up chapters 6–9 in the Book of Genesis, in the Bible. Thus, the flood was no ordinary overflow but a reversal of creation, and God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. They were also told that all fowls, land animals, furthermore, as well as green plants, every moving thing would be their food with the exception that the blood was not to be eaten. Mans life blood would be required from the beasts and from man, whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. Noah died 350 years after the flood, at the age of 950, the maximum human lifespan, as depicted by the Bible, diminishes rapidly thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses. After the flood, Noah became a husbandman and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and was uncovered within his tent. Noahs son Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his brethren, in Jewish tradition and rabbinic literature, rabbis blame Satan for the intoxicating properties of the wine. In the field of biblical criticism, J. H. Ellens and W. G. Rollins address the narrative of Genesis 9. Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has suggested that this narrative is a splinter from a more substantial tale. A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham had done to his father, or why Noah directed a curse at Canaan for Hams misdeed, or how Noah came to know what occurred. The narrator relates two facts, Noah became drunken and he was uncovered within his tent, and Ham saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Thus, these passages revolve around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew Bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2,15 and Lamentations 4,21. Genesis 10 sets forth the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, among Japheth’s descendants were the maritime nations. Ham’s son Cush had a son named Nimrod, who became the first man of might on earth, a mighty hunter, king in Babylon, from there Asshur went and built Nineveh
38.
Noah's Ark
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Noahs Ark is the vessel in the Genesis flood narrative by which God spares Noah, his family, and a remnant of all the worlds animals from the flood. According to Genesis, God gave Noah instructions for building the ark, seven days before the deluge, God told Noah to enter the ark with his household and the animals. The story goes on to describe the ark being afloat for 150 days and then coming to rest on the Mountains of Ararat, the story is repeated, with variations, in the Quran, where the ark appears as Safina Nuh. The Genesis flood narrative is similar to other flood myths from a variety of cultures. The earliest known written flood myth is the Sumerian flood myth found in the Epic of Ziusudra, searches for Noahs Ark have been made from at least the time of Eusebius to the present day. There is no evidence for a global flood, and despite many expeditions. The challenges associated with housing all living animal types, and even plants, would have made building the ark a practical impossibility. The Hebrew word for the ark, teba, occurs twice in the Bible, in the narrative and in the Book of Exodus. In both cases teba has a connection with salvation from waters, Noah is warned of the coming flood and told to construct the ark. God spells out to Noah the dimensions of the vessel,300 cubits in length,50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height and it had three internal divisions, a door in the side, and a tsohar, which may be either a roof or a skylight. God instructs Noah to kapar the ark with koper, in Hebrew the first of these words is a formed from the second and, like gopher. Noah is instructed to take on board his wife, his three sons, and his sons wives and he is also to take two of every living thing, and seven pairs of every clean creature and of every bird, together with sufficient food. The story of the flood closely parallels the story of the creation, a cycle of creation, un-creation, the universe as conceived by the ancient Hebrews comprised a flat disk-shaped habitable earth with the heavens above and Sheol, the underworld of the dead, below. These three were surrounded by an ocean of chaos, protected by the firmament, a transparent. Noahs three-deck ark represents this three-level Hebrew cosmos in miniature, the heavens, the earth, there is a consensus among scholars that the Pentateuch was the product of a long and complex process that was not completed until after the Babylonian exile. For well over a century scholars have recognised that the Bibles story of Noahs ark is based on older Mesopotamian models. Because all these stories deal with events that allegedly happened at the dawn of history. But in fact, the myth of the flood that destroys all life only begins to appear in the Old Babylonian period
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The Raven public domain audiobook at LibriVox
