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Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
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abbot
For it had been long apparent to Count Landulf that nothing
could be done with his seventh son Thomas, except to make him
an Abbot or something of that kind. Born in 1226, he had from
childhood a mysterious objection to becoming a predatory eagle,
or even to taking an ordinary interest in falconry or tilting
or any other gentlemanly pursuits. He was a large and heavy and
quiet boy, and phenomenally silent, scarcely opening his mouth
except to say suddenly to his schoolmaster in an explosive
manner, "What is God?" The answer is not recorded but it is
probable that the asker went on worrying out answers for himself.
The Runaway Abbot, by G. K. Chesterton
aclys, aklys
A short studded or spiked club attached to a cord allowing
it to be drawn back to the wielder after having been thrown.
It should not be confused with the atlatl, which is a device
used to throw spears for longer distances.
aleax
Said to be a doppelganger sent to inflict divine punishment
for alignment violations.
*altar
Altars are of three types:
1. In Temples. These are for Sacrifices [...]. The stone
top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered
with dry brown stains of a troubling kind from former
Sacrifices.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?
Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay
amaterasu omikami
The Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is the central
figure of Shintoism and the ancestral deity of the imperial
house. One of the daughters of the primordial god Izanagi
and said to be his favourite offspring, she was born from
his left eye.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
amber*
"Tree sap," Wu explained, "often flows over insects and traps
them. The insects are then perfectly preserved within the
fossil. One finds all kinds of insects in amber - including
biting insects that have sucked blood from larger animals."
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
*amnesia, maud
Get thee hence, nor come again,
Mix not memory with doubt,
Pass, thou deathlike type of pain,
Pass and cease to move about!
'Tis the blot upon the brain
That will show itself without.
...
For, Maud, so tender and true,
As long as my life endures
I feel I shall owe you a debt,
That I never can hope to pay;
And if ever I should forget
That I owe this debt to you
And for your sweet sake to yours;
O then, what then shall I say? -
If ever I should forget,
May God make me more wretched
Than ever I have been yet!
Maud, And Other Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
*amulet, amulet of *
See also: amulet of yendor
"The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
greediness, selfishness, laziness. Evil spirits, people called
them when the Amulet was made. Don't you think it would be nice
to have it?"
"Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
"And it can give you strength and courage."
"That's better," said Cyril.
"And virtue."
"I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
interest.
"And it can give you your heart's desire."
"Now you're talking," said Robert.
The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit
amulet of yendor
This mysterious talisman is the object of your quest. It is
said to possess powers which mere mortals can scarcely
comprehend, let alone utilize. The gods will grant the gift of
immortality to the adventurer who can deliver it from the
depths of Moloch's Sanctum and offer it on the appropriate high
altar on the Astral Plane.
angel*
He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed
is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed
are the children of the kingdom; but the weeds are the
children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers
are the angels. As therefore the weeds are gathered and
burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
[...] So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels
shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The Gospel According to Matthew, 13:37-42, 49-50
anhur
An Egyptian god of war and a great hunter, few gods can match
his fury. Unlike many gods of war, he is a force for good.
The wrath of Anhur is slow to come, but it is inescapable
once earned. Anhur is a mighty figure with four arms. He
is often seen with a powerful lance that requires both of
his right arms to wield and which is tipped with a fragment
of the sun. He is married to Mehut, a lion-headed goddess.
ankh-morpork
The twin city of Ankh-Morpork, foremost of all the cities
bounding the Circle Sea, was as a matter of course the home
of a large number of gangs, thieves' guilds, syndicates and
similar organisations. This was one of the reasons for its
wealth. Most of the humbler folk on the widdershin side of
the river, in Morpork's mazy alleys, supplemented their
meagre incomes by filling some small role for one or other
of the competing gangs.
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
anshar
A primordial Babylonian-Akkadian deity, Anshar is mentioned
in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish as one of a
pair of offspring (with Kishar) of Lahmu and Lahamu. Anshar
is linked with heaven while Kishar is identified with earth.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
ant, * ant
This giant variety of the ordinary ant will fight just as
fiercely as its small, distant cousin. Various varieties
exist, and they are known and feared for their relentless
persecution of their victims.
anu
Anu was the Babylonian god of the heavens, the monarch of
the north star. He was the oldest of the Babylonian gods,
the father of all gods, and the ruler of heaven and destiny.
Anu features strongly in the atiku festival in
Babylon, Uruk and other cities.
*ape
The most highly evolved of all the primates, as shown by
all their anatomical characters and particularly the
development of the brain. Both arboreal and terrestrial,
the apes have the forelimbs much better developed than
the hind limbs. Tail entirely absent. Growth is slow
and sexual maturity reached at quite an advanced age.
A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa by Dorst
Aldo the gorilla had a plan. It was a good plan. It was
right. He knew it. He smacked his lips in anticipation as
he thought of it. Yes. Apes should be strong. Apes should
be masters. Apes should be proud. Apes should make the
Earth shake when they walked. Apes should rule the Earth.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes,
by David Gerrold
apple
NEWTONIAN, adj. Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe
invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall
to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors
and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say
when.
The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce
archeologist
Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. [...]
So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel,
and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried
treasure, and X never, ever, marks the spot.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
archon
Archons are the predominant inhabitants of the heavens.
However unusual their appearance, they are not generally
evil. They are beings at peace with themselves and their
surroundings.
arioch
Arioch, the patron demon of Elric's ancestors; one of the most
powerful of all the Dukes of Hell, who was called Knight of
the Swords, Lord of the Seven Darks, Lord of the Higher Hell
and many more names besides.
Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock
*arrow
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
The Arrow and the Song,
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
ashikaga takauji
Ashikaga Takauji was a daimyo of the Minamoto clan who
joined forces with the Go-Daigo to defeat the Hojo armies.
Later when Go-Daigo attempted to reduce the powers of the
samurai clans he rebelled against him. He defeated Go-
Daigo and established the emperor Komyo on the throne.
Go-Daigo eventually escaped and established another
government in the town of Yoshino. This period of dual
governments was known as the Nambokucho.
Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition, by Cook
asmodeus
It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh
with a touch.
athame
The consecrated ritual knife of a Wiccan initiate (one of
four basic tools, together with the wand, chalice and
pentacle). Traditionally, the athame is a double-edged,
black-handled, cross-hilted dagger of between six and
eighteen inches length.
athen*
Athene was the offspring of Zeus, and without a mother. She
sprang forth from his head completely armed. Her favourite
bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her is the olive.
Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch
axolotl
A mundane salamander, harmless.
bag, bag of *, sack
"Now, this third handkerchief," Mein Herr proceeded, "has also
four edges, which you can trace continuously round and round:
all you need do is to join its four edges to the four edges of
the opening. The Purse is then complete, and its outer
surface--"
"I see!" Lady Muriel eagerly interrupted. "Its outer surface
will be continuous with its inner surface! But it will take
time. I'll sew it up after tea." She laid aside the bag, and
resumed her cup of tea. "But why do you call it Fortunatus's
Purse, Mein Herr?"
The dear old man beamed upon her, with a jolly smile, looking
more exactly like the Professor than ever. "Don't you see,
my child--I should say Miladi? Whatever is inside that Purse,
is outside it; and whatever is outside it, is inside it. So
you have all the wealth of the world in that leetle Purse!"
Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, by Lewis Carroll
b*lzebub
The "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Hebrew
Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek). It has been suggested that
it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which
gave us this pungent and suggestive name of the Devil, a
devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay,
destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic...
Notes on Lord of the Flies, by E. L. Epstein
balrog
... It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as
if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped
the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed
about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming
mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand
was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it
held a whip of many thongs.
'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
baluchitherium, titanothere
Extinct rhinos include a variety of forms, the most
spectacular being Baluchitherium from the Oligocene of
Asia, which is the largest known land mammal. Its body, 18
feet high at the shoulder and carried on massive limbs,
allowed the 4-foot-long head to browse on the higher branches
of trees. Though not as enormous, the titanotheres of the
early Tertiary were also large perissodactyls, Brontotherium
of the Oligocene being 8 feet high at the shoulder.
Prehistoric Animals, by Barry Cox
banana
He took another step and she cocked her right wrist in
viciously. She heard the spring click. Weight slapped into
her hand.
"Here!" she shrieked hysterically, and brought her arm up in
a hard sweep, meaning to gut him, leaving him to blunder
around the room with his intestines hanging out in steaming
loops. Instead he roared laughter, hands on his hips,
flaming face cocked back, squeezing and contorting with great
good humor.
"Oh, my dear!" he cried, and went off into another gale of
laughter.
She looked stupidly down at her hand. It held a firm yellow
banana with a blue and white Chiquita sticker on it. She
dropped it, horrified, to the carpet, where it became a
sickly yellow grin, miming Flagg's own.
"You'll tell," he whispered. "Oh yes indeed you will."
And Dayna knew he was right.
The Stand, by Stephen King
barbarian, human barbarian
They dressed alike -- in buckskin boots, leathern breeks and
deerskin shirts, with broad girdles that held axes and short
swords; and they were all gaunt and scarred and hard-eyed;
sinewy and taciturn.
They were wild men, of a sort, yet there was still a wide
gulf between them and the Cimmerian. They were sons of
civilization, reverted to a semi-barbarism. He was a
barbarian of a thousand generations of barbarians. They had
acquired stealth and craft, but he had been born to these
things. He excelled them even in lithe economy of motion.
They were wolves, but he was a tiger.
Conan - The Warrior, by Robert E. Howard
barbed devil
Barbed devils lack any real special abilities, though they
are quite difficult to kill.
*bat
A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
which had been left healthfully open. It then proceeded to
circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
gifted of God's creatures. Show me a bat, says the old
proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
some kind of a home.
A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse
*bee
This giant variety of its useful normal cousin normally
appears in small groups, looking for raw material to produce
the royal jelly needed to feed their queen. On rare
occasions, one may stumble upon a bee-hive, in which the
queen bee is being well provided for, and guarded against
intruders.
*beetle
[ The Creator ] has an inordinate fondness for beetles.
attributed to biologist J.B.S. Haldane
The common name for the insects with wings shaped like
shields (Coleoptera), one of the ten sub-species into
which the insects are divided. They are characterized by
the shields (the front pair of wings) under which the back
wings are folded.
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
bell of opening
"A bell, book and candle job."
The Bursar sighed. "We tried that, Archchancellor."
The Archchancellor leaned towards him.
"Eh?" he said.
"I said, we tried that Archchancellor," said the Bursar loudly,
directing his voice at the old man's ear. "After dinner, you
remember? We used Humptemper's Names of the Ants and rang Old
Tom."*
"Did we, indeed. Worked, did it?"
"No, Archchancellor."
* Old Tom was the single cracked bronze bell in the University
bell tower.
Eric, by Terry Pratchett
blindfold
The blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the
yellowish linen whereof those of the Amahagger who condescended
to wear anything in particular made their dresses tightly round
the eyes. This linen I afterwards discovered was taken from the
tombs, and was not, as I had first supposed, of native
manufacture. The bandage was then knotted at the back of the
head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound under
the chin to prevent its slipping. Ustane was, by the way, also
blindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she
should impart the secrets of the route to us.
She, by H. Rider Haggard
blind io
On this particular day Blind Io, by dint of constant vigilance
the chief of the gods, sat with his chin on his hand
and looked at the gaming board on the red marble table in
front of him. Blind Io had got his name because, where his
eye sockets should have been, there were nothing but two
areas of blank skin. His eyes, of which he had an impressively
large number, led a semi-independent life of their
own. Several were currently hovering above the table.
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
* blob, gelatinous cube, ooze, * ooze, *pudding, * slime
These giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
supplement their diet.
But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead
as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed
tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy
speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the
pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster
than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic
bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes
forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the
tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic
penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its
kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft
bone devil
Bone devils attack with weapons and with a great hooked tail
which causes a loss of strength to those they sting.
book of the dead, candelabrum*, *candle
Faustus: Come on Mephistopheles. What shall we do?
Mephistopheles: Nay, I know not. We shall be cursed with bell,
book, and candle.
Faustus: How? Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,
Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.
Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
Because it is Saint Peter's holy day.
(Enter all the Friars to sing the dirge)
Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, by Christopher Marlowe
*boot*
In Fantasyland these are remarkable in that they seldom or
never wear out and are suitable for riding or walking in
without the need of Socks. Boots never pinch, rub, or get
stones in them; nor do nails stick upwards into the feet from
the soles. They are customarily mid-calf length or knee-high,
slip on and off easily and never smell of feet. Unfortunately,
the formula for making this splendid footwear is a closely
guarded secret, possibly derived from nonhumans (see Dwarfs,
Elves, and Gnomes).
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
boulder
I worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end
of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under. Then,
when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was
something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,
the stone would fall again. I sat down to think, on the root
of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw
my way. It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would
just reach to wedge under the oak root.
Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,
but was a hard fight for me. But this time I meant to do it
if it killed me, because I knew it could be done. Twice I
got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;
but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my
ears the sea-sound of Poseidon. Then I knew this time I
would do it; and so I did.
The King Must Die, by Mary Renault
bow, * bow
See also: *longbow of diana
"Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he
passed from knot to knot. "By my hilt! we are in luck this
journey. Bear in mind the old saying of the Company."
"What is that, Aylward?" cried several, leaning on their bows
and laughing at him.
"'Tis the master-bowyer's rede: 'Every bow well bent. Every
shaft well sent. Every stave well nocked. Every string well
locked.' There, with that jingle in his head, a bracer on
his left hand, a shooting glove on his right, and a
farthing's-worth of wax in his girdle, what more doth a
bowman need?"
"It would not be amiss," said Hordle John, "if under his
girdle he had four farthings'-worth of wine."
The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
brigit
Brigit (Brigid, Bride, Banfile), which means the Exalted One,
was the Celtic (continental European and Irish) fertility
goddess. She was originally celebrated on February first in
the festival of Imbolc, which coincided with the beginning
of lactation in ewes and was regarded in Scotland as the date
on which Brigit deposed the blue-faced hag of winter. The
Christian calendar adopted the same date for the Feast of St.
Brigit. There is no record that a Christian saint ever
actually existed, but in Irish mythology she became the
midwife to the Virgin Mary.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
*broadsword
See also: stormbringer
Bring me my broadsword
And clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold,
As a talisman.
"Broadsword" (refrain) by Ian Anderson
bugbear
Bugbears are relatives of goblins, although they tend to be
larger and more hairy. They are aggressive carnivores and
sometimes kill just for the treasure their victims may be
carrying.
bugle
'I read you by your bugle horn
And by your palfrey good,
I read you for a Ranger sworn
To keep the King's green-wood.'
'A Ranger, Lady, winds his horn,
And 'tis at peep of light;
His blast is heard at merry morn,
And mine at dead of night.'
Brignall Banks, by Sir Walter Scott
*camaxtli
A classical Mesoamerican Aztec god, also known as Mixcoatl-
Camaxtli (the Cloud Serpent), Camaxtli is the god of war. He
is also a deity of hunting and fire who received human
sacrifice of captured prisoners. According to tradition, the
sun god Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into Mixcoatl-Camaxtli
to make fire by twirling the sacred fire sticks.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
candy bar
Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever
get to taste a bit of chocolate. The whole family saved up
their money for that special occasion, and when the great
day arrived, Charlie was always presented with one small
chocolate bar to eat all by himself. And each time he
received it, on those marvelous birthday mornings, he would
place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and
treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for
the next few days, he would allow himself only to look at it,
but never to touch it. Then at last, when he could stand it
no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of the paper
wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate, and
then he would take a tiny nibble - just enough to allow the
lovely sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue. The
next day, he would take another tiny nibble, and so on, and
so on. And in this way, Charlie would make his ten-cent bar
of birthday chocolate last him for more than a month.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
s*d*g*r* cat
Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no
physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its
walls. Imagine that inside the container is a cat, and also a
device that can be triggered by some quantum event. If that event
takes place, then the device smashes a phial containing cyanide and
the cat is killed. If the event does not take place, the cat lives
on. In Schroedinger's original version, the quantum event was the
decay of a radioactive atom. ... To the outside observer, the cat
is indeed in a linear combination of being alive and dead, and only
when the container is finally opened would the cat's state vector
collapse into one or the other. On the other hand, to a (suitably
protected) observer inside the container, the cat's state-vector
would have collapsed much earlier, and the outside observer's
linear combination has no relevance.
The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose
*cat, kitten
Well-known quadruped domestic animal from the family of
predatory felines (Felis ochreata domestica), with a thick,
soft pelt; often kept as a pet. Various folklores have the
cat associated with magic and the gods of ancient Egypt.
So Ulthar went to sleep in vain anger; and when the people
awakened at dawn - behold! Every cat was back at his
accustomed hearth! Large and small, black, grey, striped,
yellow and white, none was missing. Very sleek and fat did
the cats appear, and sonorous with purring content.
The Cats of Ulthar, by H.P. Lovecraft
*centaur
Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination
the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.
Despite a strong streak of sensuality, in their make-up,
their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly
thought of man's welfare. The attempted outrage of Nessos on
Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the
Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of
Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,
lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles. Further, the
Centaurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the
body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved
an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important
members. So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.
These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and
clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially
with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.
Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271
centipede
I observed here, what I had often seen before, that certain
districts abound in centipedes. Here they have light
reddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen
crawling every where. Although they do no harm, they excite
in man a feeling of loathing. Perhaps our appearance
produces a similar feeling in the elephant and other large
animals. Where they have been much disturbed, they
certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid
biped that ruins their peace.
Travels and Researches in South Africa,
by Dr. David Livingstone
cerberus, kerberos
Cerberus, (or Kerberos in Greek), was the three-headed dog
that guarded the Gates of Hell. He allowed any dead to enter,
and likewise prevented them all from ever leaving. He was
bested only twice: once when Orpheus put him to sleep by
playing bewitching music on his lyre, and the other time when
Hercules confronted him and took him to the world of the
living (as his twelfth and last labor).
chameleon
Name of a family (Chameleonidae) and race (Chameleo) of
scaly lizards, especially the Chameleo vulgaris species,
with a short neck, claws, a grasping tail, a long, extendible
tongue and mutually independent moving eyes. When it is
scared or angry, it inflates itself and its transparent skin
shows its blood: the skin first appears greenish, then
gradually changes color until it is a spotted red. The final
color depends on the background color as well, hence the
(figurative) implication of unreliability. [Capitalized:]
a constellation of the southern hemisphere (Chameleo).
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
charo*n
When an ancient Greek died, his soul went to the nether world:
the Hades. To reach the nether world, the souls had to cross
the river Styx, the river that separated the living from the
dead. The Styx could be crossed by ferry, whose shabby ferry-
man, advanced in age, was called Charon. The deceased's next-
of-kin would place a coin under his tongue, to pay the ferry-
man.
chest, large box
Dantes rapidly cleared away the earth around the chest. Soon
the center lock appeared, then the handles at each end, all
delicately wrought in the manner of that period when art made
precious even the basest of metals. He took the chest by the
two handles and tried to lift it, but it was impossible. He
tried to open it; it was locked. He inserted the sharp end
of his pickaxe between the chest and the lid and pushed down
on the handle. The lid creaked, then flew open.
Dantes was seized with a sort of giddy fever. He cocked his
gun and placed it beside him. The he closed his eyes like a
child, opened them and stood dumbfounded.
The chest was divided into three compartments. In the first
were shining gold coins. In the second, unpolished gold
ingots packed in orderly stacks. From the third compartment,
which was half full, Dantes picked up handfuls of diamonds,
pearls and rubies. As they fell through his fingers in a
glittering cascade, they gave forth the sound of hail beating
against the windowpanes.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
chih*sung*tzu
A Chinese rain god.
chromatic dragon, tiamat
Tiamat is said to be the mother of evil dragonkind. She is
extremely vain.
*cloak*
See also: elven cloak, oilskin cloak
Cloaks are the universal outer garb of everyone who is not a
Barbarian. It is hard to see why. They are open in front
and require you at most times to use one hand to hold them
shut. On horseback they leave the shirt-sleeved arms and
most of the torso exposed to wind and Weather. The OMTs
[ Official Management Terms ] for Cloaks well express their
difficulties. They are constantly swirling and dripping
and becoming heavy with water in rainy Weather, entangling
with trees or swords, or needing to be pulled close
around her/his shivering body. This seems to suggest they
are less than practical for anyone on an arduous Tour.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
cloud*
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth
cobra
Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without
answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush
there came a low hiss -- a horrid cold sound that made
Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet. Then inch by inch out of
the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big
black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.
When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground,
he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion-tuft
balances in the wind, and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the
wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression,
whatever the snake may be thinking of.
'Who is Nag?' said he. 'I am Nag. The great God Brahm put
his mark upon all our people, when the first cobra spread his
hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept. Look, and be
afraid!'
Rikki-tikki-tavi, by Rudyard Kipling
c*ckatrice
Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A single
glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be so
great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
to wither.
There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
sicken and die.
Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
and other sources
cornuthaum
He was dressed in a flowing gown with fur tippets which had
the signs of the zodiac embroidered over it, with various
cabalistic signs, such as triangles with eyes in them, queer
crosses, leaves of trees, bones of birds and animals, and a
planetarium whose stars shone like bits of looking-glass with
the sun on them. He had a pointed hat like a dunce's cap, or
like the headgear worn by ladies of that time, except that
the ladies were accustomed to have a bit of veil floating
from the top of it.
The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
"A wizard!" Dooley exclaimed, astounded.
"At your service, sirs," said the wizard. "How
perceptive of you to notice. I suppose my hat rather gives me
away. Something of a beacon, I don't doubt." His hat was
pretty much that, tall and cone-shaped with stars and crescent
moons all over it. All in all, it couldn't have been more
wizardish.
The Elfin Ship, James P. Blaylock
couatl
A mythical feathered serpent. The couatl are very rare.
coyote
This carnivore is known for its voracious appetite and
inflated view of its own intelligence.
cram*
If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't
know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely,
is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining,
being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing
exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
*crocodile
A big animal with the appearance of a lizard, constituting
an order of the reptiles (Loricata or Crocodylia), the
crocodile is a large, dangerous predator native to tropical
and subtropical climes. It spends most of its time in large
bodies of water.
croesus, kroisos, creosote
Croesus (in Greek: Kroisos), the wealthy last king of Lydia;
his empire was destroyed when he attacked Cyrus in 549, after
the Oracle of Delphi (q.v.) had told him: "if you attack the
Persians, you will destroy a mighty empire". Herodotus
relates of his legendary conversation with Solon of Athens,
who impressed upon him that being rich does not imply being
happy and that no one should be considered fortunate before
his death.
crom
Warily Conan scanned his surroundings, all of his senses alert
for signs of possible danger. Off in the distance, he could
see the familiar shapes of the Camp of the Duali tribe.
Suddenly, the hairs on his neck stand on end as he detects the
aura of evil magic in the air. Without thought, he readies
his weapon, and mutters under his breath:
"By Crom, there will be blood spilt today."
Conan the Avenger by Robert E. Howard, Bjorn Nyberg, and
L. Sprague de Camp
crossbow*
"God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that plague thee thus! -
Why look'st thou so?" - With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
crystal ball
You look into one of these and see vapours swirling like
clouds. These shortly clear away to show a sort of video
without sound of something that is going to happen to you
soon. It is seldom good news.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
curse*
Curses are longstanding ill-wishings which, in Fantasyland,
often manifest as semisentient. They have to be broken or
dispelled. The method varies according to the type and
origin of the Curse:
[...]
4. Curses on Rings and Swords. You have problems. Rings
have to be returned whence they came, preferably at over a
thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and the Curse means you won't
want to do this. Swords usually resist all attempts to
raise their Curses. Your best source is to hide the Sword
or give it to someone you dislike.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
cwn*n
A pack of snow-white, red-eared spectral hounds which
sometimes took part in the kidnappings and raids the
inhabitants of the underworld sometimes make on this world
(the Wild Hunt). They are associated in Wales with the sounds
of migrating wild geese, and are said to be leading the souls
of the damned to hell. The phantom chase is usually heard or
seen in midwinter and is accompanied by a howling wind.
Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans
cyclops
And after he had milked his cattle swiftly,
he again took hold of two of my men
and had them as his supper.
Then I went, with a tub of red wine,
to stand before the Cyclops, saying:
"A drop of wine after all this human meat,
so you can taste the delicious wine
that is stored in our ship, Cyclops."
He took the tub and emptied it.
He appreciated the priceless wine that much
that he promptly asked me for a second tub.
"Give it", he said, "and give me your name as well".
...
Thrice I filled the tub,
and after the wine had clouded his mind,
I said to him, in a tone as sweet as honey:
"You have asked my name, Cyclops? Well,
my name is very well known. I'll give it to you,
if you give me the gift you promised me as a guest.
My name is Nobody. All call me thus:
my father and my mother and my friends."
Ruthlessly he answered to this:
"Nobody, I will eat you last of all;
your host of friends will completely precede you.
That will be my present to you, my friend."
And after these words he fell down backwards,
restrained by the all-restrainer Hupnos.
His monstrous neck slid into the dust;
the red wine squirted from his throat;
the drunk vomited lumps of human flesh.
The Odyssey, (chapter Epsilon), by Homer
*dagger
See also: sting
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
dark one
... But he ruled rather by force and fear, if they might
avail; and those who perceived his shadow spreading over the
world called him the Dark Lord and named him the Enemy; and
he gathered again under his government all the evil things of
the days of Morgoth that remained on earth or beneath it,
and the Orcs were at his command and multiplied like flies.
Thus the Black Years began ...
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
demogorgon
Demogorgon, the prince of demons, wallows in filth and can
spread a quickly fatal illness to his victims while rending
them. He is a mighty spellcaster, and he can drain the life
of mortals with a touch of his tail.
demon
It is often very hard to discover what any given Demon looks
like, apart from a general impression of large size, huge
fangs, staring eyes, many limbs, and an odd color; but all
accounts agree that Demons are very powerful, very Magic (in
a nonhuman manner), and made of some substance that can squeeze
through a keyhole yet not be pierced with a Sword. This makes
them difficult to deal with, even on the rare occasions when
they are friendly.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
dingo
A wolflike wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a
reddish- or yellowish-brown coat, believed to have been
introduced by the aborigines.
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
dispater
Dispater is an arch-devil who rules the city of Dis. He is
a powerful mage.
djinn*
The djinn are genies from the elemental plane of Air. There,
among their kind, they have their own societies. They are
sometimes encountered on earth and may even be summoned here
to perform some service for powerful wizards. The wizards
often leave them about for later service, safely tucked away
in a flask or lamp. Once in a while, such a tool is found by
a lucky rogue, and some djinn are known to be so grateful
when released that they might grant their rescuer a wish.
*dog, pup*
See also: hachi, slasher, sirius
A domestic animal, the tame dog (Canis familiaris), of
which numerous breeds exist. The male is called a dog,
while the female is called a bitch. Because of its known
loyalty to man and gentleness with children, it is the
world's most popular domestic animal. It can easily be
trained to perform various tasks.
*door, doorway
Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
The Inferno, from The Divine Comedy of Dante
Alighieri, translated by H.F. Cary
doppelganger
Xander: Let go! I have to kill the demon bot!
Xander Double (grabbing the gun): Anya, get out of the way.
Buffy: Xander!
Xander Double: That's all right, Buffy. I have him.
Xander: No, Buffy, I'm me. Help me!
Anya: My gun, he's got my gun.
Riley: You own a gun?
Buffy: Xander, gun holding Xander, give it to me.
Anya: Buffy, which one's real?
Xander: I am.
Xander Double: No, I am.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Episode 5.03, "The Replacement"
*dragon, *xoth
In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man. Although
preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions, whenever it
was seen among men it left in its wake a trail of destruction
and disease. Yet any attempt to slay this beast was a perilous
undertaking. For the dragon's assailant had to contend
not only with clouds of sulphurous fumes pouring from its fire
breathing nostrils, but also with the thrashings of its tail,
the most deadly part of its serpent-like body.
Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
"One whom the dragons will speak with," he said, "that is a
dragonlord, or at least that is the center of the matter. It's
not a trick of mastering the dragons, as most people think.
Dragons have no masters. The question is always the same, with
a dragon: will he talk to you or will he eat you? If you can
count upon his doing the former, and not doing the latter, why
then you're a dragonlord."
The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin
*drum*
Many travelers have seen the drums of the great apes, and
some have heard the sounds of their beating and the noise of
the wild, weird revelry of these first lords of the jungle,
but Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, is, doubtless, the only human
being who ever joined in the fierce, mad, intoxicating revel
of the Dum-Dum.
Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
dwarf*
Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery
skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or
have feet pointing backwards. They are of the earth, earthy,
living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only
with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible,
and others disguised as toads. Miners often come across them,
and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.
... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a
bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible
nose for precious metals.
Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill
as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear
Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a
magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar. And in their
spare time they are excellent bakers. Ironically, despite
their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing. They
can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent
meteorologists. They can be free with presents to people
they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in
the hand. But on the whole they are a snappish lot.
The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker
earendil, elwing
In after days, when because of the triumph of Morgoth Elves and
Men became estranged, as he most wished, those of the Elven-race
that lived still in Middle-earth waned and faded, and Men usurped
the sunlight. Then the Quendi wandered in the lonely places of the
great lands and the isles, and took to the moonlight and the
starlight, and to the woods and the caves, becoming as shadows
and memories, save those who ever and anon set sail into the West
and vanished from Middle-earth. But in the dawn of years Elves
and Men were allies and held themselves akin, and there were some
among Men that learned the wisdom of the Eldar, and became great
and valiant among the captains of the Noldor. And in the glory
and beauty of the Elves, and in their fate, full share had the
offspring of elf and mortal, Earendil, and Elwing, and Elrond
their child.
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
eel, giant eel
The behaviour of eels in fresh water extends the air of
mystery surrounding them. They move freely into muddy, silty
bottoms of lakes, lying buried in the daylight hours in summer.
[...] Eels are voracious carnivores, feeding mainly at
night and consuming a wide variety of fishes and invertebrate
creatures. Contrary to earlier thinking, eels seek living
rather than dead creatures and are not habitual eaters of
carrion.
Freshwater Fishes of Canada, by Scott and Crossman
egg
But I asked why not keep it and let the hen sit on it till it
hatched, and then we could see what would come out of it.
"Nothing good, I'm certain of that," Mom said. "It would
probably be something horrible. But just remember, if it's a
crocodile or a dragon or something like that, I won't have it
in my house for one minute."
The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth
elbereth
... Even as they stepped over the threshold a single clear
voice rose in song.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, si nef aearon!
Frodo halted for a moment, looking back. Elrond was in his
chair and the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the
trees. Near him sat the Lady Arwen. [...]
He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the
elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody.
"It is a song to Elbereth," said Bilbo. "They will sing that,
and other songs of the Blessed Realm, many times tonight.
Come on!"
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
electric eel
South-American fish (Gymnotus electricus), living in fresh
water. Shaped like a serpent, it can grow up to 2 metres.
This eel is known for its electrical organ which enables it
to paralyse creatures up to the size of a horse.
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
*elemental
Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
universe. There are four known forms of elementals: air, fire,
water, and earth. Some mystics have postulated the necessity
for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none have ever
been encountered, at least on this plane of existence.
*elf*, elvenking, elven archeologist, elven cave*man, elven healer,
elven samurai, elven wizard
The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn
rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and
pouring drinks; others brought food on heaped plates and
dishes.
"This is poor fare," they said to the hobbits; "for we are
lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are
our guests at home, we will treat you better."
"It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party," said Frodo.
Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for
his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the
sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a
waking dream. [...]
Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to
himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained
in his memory as one of the chief events of his life. The
nearest he ever got was to say: "Well, sir, if I could grow
apples like that, I would call myself a gardener. But it was
the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean."
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
elven cloak
The Elves next unwrapped and gave to each of the Company the
clothes they had brought. For each they had provided a hood
and cloak, made according to his size, of the light but warm
silken stuff that the Galadrim wove. It was hard to say of
what colour they were: grey with the hue of twilight under
the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or
set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or
brown as fallow fields by night, dusk-silver as water under
the stars.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
emerald
'Put off that mask of burning gold
With emerald eyes.'
'O no, my dear, you make so bold
To find if hearts be wild and wise,
And yet not cold.'
'I would but find what's there to find,
Love or deceit.'
'It was the mask engaged your mind,
And after set your heart to beat,
Not what's behind.'
'But lest you are my enemy,
I must enquire.'
'O no, my dear, let all that be;
What matter, so there is but fire
In you, in me?'
The Mask, by W.B. Yeats
erinys, erinyes
These female-seeming devils named after the Furies of mythology
attack hand to hand and poison their unwary victims as well.
ettin
The two-headed giant, or ettin, is a vicious and unpredictable
hunter that stalks by night and eats any meat it can catch.
excalibur
At first only its tip was visible, but then it rose, straight,
proud, all that was noble and great and wondrous. The tip of
the blade pointed toward the moon, as if it would cleave it
in two. The blade itself gleamed like a beacon in the night.
There was no light source for the sword to be reflecting
from, for the moon had darted behind a cloud in fear. The
sword was glowing from the intensity of its strength and
power and knowledge that it was justice incarnate, and that
after a slumber of uncounted years its time had again come.
After the blade broke the surface, the hilt was visible, and
holding the sword was a single strong, yet feminine hand,
wearing several rings that bore jewels sparkling with the
blue-green color of the ocean.
Knight Life, by Peter David
expensive camera
There was a time when Rincewind had quite liked the iconoscope.
He believed, against all experience, that the world was
fundamentally understandable, and that if he could only equip
himself with the right mental toolbox he could take the back off
and see how it worked. He was, of course, dead wrong. The
iconoscope didn't take pictures by letting light fall onto
specially treated paper, as he had surmised, but by the far
simpler method of imprisoning a small demon with a good eye for
colour and a speedy hand with a paintbrush. He had been very
upset to find that out.
The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett
eye of the aethiopica
This is a powerful amulet of ESP. In addition to its standard
powers, it regenerates the energy of anyone who carries
it, allowing them to cast spells more often. It also reduces
any spell damage to the person who carries it by half, and
protects from magic missiles. Finally, when invoked it has
the power to instantly open a portal to any other area of the
dungeon, allowing its invoker to travel quickly between
areas.
eyes of the overworld
... and finally there is "the Eyes of the Overworld". This
obscure artifact pushes the wearer's view sense into the
"overworld" -- another name for a segment of the Astral Plane.
Usually, there is nothing to be seen. However, the wearer
is also able to look back and see the area around herself,
much like looking on a map. Why anyone would want to ...
figurine*
Then it appeared in Paris at just about the time that Paris
was full of Carlists who had to get out of Spain. One of
them must have brought it with him, but, whoever he was, it's
likely he knew nothing about its real value. It had been --
no doubt as a precaution during the Carlist trouble in Spain
-- painted or enameled over to look like nothing more than a
fairly interesting black statuette. And in that disguise,
sir, it was, you might say, kicked around Paris for seventy
years by private owners and dealers too stupid to see what
it was under the skin.
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
floating eye
Floating eyes, not surprisingly, are large, floating eyeballs
which drift about the dungeon. Though not dangerous in and
of themselves, their power to paralyse those who gaze at
their large eye in combat is widely feared. Many are the
tales of those who struck a floating eye, were paralysed by
its mystic powers, and then nibbled to death by some other
creature that lurked around nearby.
flesh golem
With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected
the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark
of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was
already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against
the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the
glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow
eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive
motion agitated its limbs.
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how
delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I
had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I
had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!--Great God!
His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and
arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and
flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that
seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in
which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight
black lips.
Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
*flute
With this thou canst do mighty deeds
And change men's passions for thy needs:
A man's despair with joy allay,
Turn bachelors old to lovers gay.
The Magic Flute, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
fog cloud
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Fog, by Carl Sandburg
fountain
Rest! This little Fountain runs
Thus for aye: -- It never stays
For the look of summer suns,
Nor the cold of winter days.
Whose'er shall wander near,
When the Syrian heat is worst,
Let him hither come, nor fear
Lest he may not slake his thirst:
He will find this little river
Running still, as bright as ever.
Let him drink, and onward hie,
Bearing but in thought, that I,
Erotas, bade the Naiad fall,
And thank the great god Pan for all!
For a Fountain, by Bryan Waller Procter
fox
One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard
till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine
which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing
to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he
took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning
round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with
no greater success. Again and again he tried after the
tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked
away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are
sour."
Aesop's Fables
*fung*
Fungi, division of simple plants that lack chlorophyll, true
stems, roots, and leaves. Unlike algae, fungi cannot
photosynthesize, and live as parasites or saprophytes. The
division comprises the slime molds and true fungi. True
fungi are multicellular (with the exception of yeasts); the
body of most true fungi consists of slender cottony
filaments, or hyphae. All fungi are capable of asexual
reproduction by cell division, budding, fragmentation, or
spores. Those that reproduce sexually alternate a sexual
generation (gametophyte) with a spore-producing one. The
four classes of true fungi are the algaelike fungi (e.g.,
black bread mold and downy mildew), sac fungi (e.g., yeasts,
powdery mildews, truffles, and blue and green molds such as
Penicillium), basidium fungi (e.g., mushrooms and puffballs)
and imperfect fungi (e.g., species that cause athlete's foot
and ringworm). Fungi help decompose organic matter (important
in soil renewal); are valuable as a source of antibiotics,
vitamins, and various chemicals; and for their role in
fermentation, e.g., in bread and alcoholic beverage
production.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
*gargoyle
And so it came to pass that while Man ruled on Earth, the
gargoyles waited, lurking, hidden from the light. Reborn
every 600 years in Man's reckoning of time, the gargoyles
joined battle against Man to gain dominion over the Earth.
In each coming, the gargoyles were nearly destroyed by Men
who flourished in greater numbers. Now it has been so many
hundreds of years that it seems the ancient statues and
paintings of gargoyles are just products of Man's
imagination. In this year, with Man's thoughts turned toward
the many ills he has brought among himself, Man has forgotten
his most ancient adversary, the gargoyles.
Excerpt from the opening narration to the movie
Gargoyles, written by Stephen and Elinor Karpf
*garlic
1 November - All day long we have travelled, and at a good
speed. The horses seem to know that they are being kindly
treated, for they go willingly their full stage at best
speed. We have now had so many changes and find the same
thing so constantly that we are encouraged to think that the
journey will be an easy one. Dr. Van Helsing is laconic, he
tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays
them well to make the exchange of horses. We get hot soup,
or coffee, or tea, and off we go. It is a lovely country.
Full of beauties of all imaginable kinds, and the people are
brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full of nice
qualities. They are very, very superstitious. In the first
house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the
scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two
fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye. I believe they
went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic into
our food, and I can't abide garlic. Ever since then I have
taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have
escaped their suspicions.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
geryon
Geryon is an arch-devil sometimes called the Wild Beast,
attacking with his claws and poison sting. His ranking in
Hell is rumored to be quite low.
*ghost
And now the souls of the dead who had gone below came swarming
up from Erebus -- fresh brides, unmarried youths, old men
with life's long suffering behind them, tender young girls
still nursing this first anguish in their hearts, and a great
throng of warriors killed in battle, their spear-wounds gaping
yet and all their armour stained with blood. From this
multitude of souls, as they fluttered to and fro by the
trench, there came a moaning that was horrible to hear.
Panic drained the blood from my cheeks.
The Odyssey, (chapter Lambda), by Homer
ghoul
The forces of the gloom know each other, and are strangely
balanced by each other. Teeth and claws fear what they cannot
grasp. Blood-drinking bestiality, voracious appetites, hunger
in search of prey, the armed instincts of nails and jaws which
have for source and aim the belly, glare and smell out
uneasily the impassive spectral forms straying beneath a
shroud, erect in its vague and shuddering robe, and which seem
to them to live with a dead and terrible life. These
brutalities, which are only matter, entertain a confused fear
of having to deal with the immense obscurity condensed into an
unknown being. A black figure barring the way stops the wild
beast short. That which emerges from the cemetery intimidates
and disconcerts that which emerges from the cave; the
ferocious fear the sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter
a ghoul.
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
*giant, giant humanoid
Giants have always walked the earth, though they are rare in
these times. They range in size from little over nine feet
to a towering twenty feet or more. The larger ones use huge
boulders as weapons, hurling them over large distances. All
types of giants share a love for men - roasted, boiled, or
fried. Their table manners are legendary.
gnome*, gnomish wizard
... And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old
fellow three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes of
a sort, especially a hat. And he was clearly just as frightened
as the imps though he could not go so fast. Ramon Alonzo
saw that there must be some great trouble that was vexing
magical things; and, since gnomes speak the language of men, and
will answer if spoken to gently, he raised his hat, and asked
of the gnome his name. The gnome did not stop his hasty
shuffle a moment as he answered 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim
of his hat but forgot to doff it.
'What is the trouble, Alaraba?' said Ramon Alonzo.
'White magic. Run!' said the gnome ..
The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany
"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron as
they crossed the lawn.
"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron,
bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little
Santa Clauses with fishing rods..."
There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered,
and Ron straightened up. "This is a gnome," he said grimly.
"Geroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome.
It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and
leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like
a potato. Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him
with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles
and turned it upside down.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling
goblin
Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make
no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They
can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled
dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually
untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes,
tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well,
or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and
slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and
light.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
god, goddess
Goddesses and Gods operate in ones, threesomes, or whole
pantheons of nine or more (see Religion). Most of them claim
to have made the world, and this is indeed a likely claim in
the case of threesomes or pantheons: Fantasyland does have
the air of having been made by a committee. But all Goddesses
and Gods, whether they say they made the world or not, have
very detailed short-term plans for it which they are determined
to carry out. Consequently they tend to push people into the
required actions by the use of coincidence or Prophecy, or just
by narrowing down your available choices of what to do next:
if a deity is pushing you, things will go miserably badly until
there is only one choice left to you.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
gold, gold piece, zorkmid
A metal of characteristic yellow colour, the most precious
metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. Symbol,
Au; at. no. 79; at. wt. 197.2. It is the most malleable
and ductile of all metals, and very heavy (sp. gr., 19.3).
It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most
corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in
coin and jewelry.
Webster's New International Dictionary
of the English Language, Second Edition
gold golem
The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered all the tools
wherewith he wrought into a silver chest; and with a sponge wiped
he his face and his two hands withal, and his mighty neck and
shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff,
and went forth halting; but there moved swiftly to support their
lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids.
In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and
strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal
gods.
The Iliad, by Homer
*golem
See also: gold golem, flesh golem
"The original story harks back, so they say, to the sixteenth
century. Using long-lost formulas from the Kabbala, a rabbi is
said to have made an artificial man -- the so-called Golem -- to
help ring the bells in the Synagogue and for all kinds of other
menial work.
"But he hadn't made a full man, and it was animated by some sort
of vegetable half-life. What life it had, too, so the story
runs, was only derived from the magic charm placed behind its
teeth each day, that drew down to itself what was known as the
`free sidereal strength of the universe.'
"One evening, before evening prayers, the rabbi forgot to take
the charm out of the Golem's mouth, and it fell into a frenzy.
It raged through the dark streets, smashing everything in its
path, until the rabbi caught up with it, removed the charm, and
destroyed it. Then the Golem collapsed, lifeless. All that was
left of it was a small clay image, which you can still see in
the Old Synagogue." ...
The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink
grave
"Who'd care to dig 'em," said the old, old man,
"Those six feet marked in chalk?
Much I talk, more I walk;
Time I were buried," said the old, old man.
Three Songs to the Same Tune, by W.B. Yeats
grayswandir
Why had I been wearing Grayswandir? Would another weapon have
affected a Logrus-ghost as strongly? Had it really been my
father, then, who had brought me here? And had he felt I might
need the extra edge his weapon could provide? I wanted to
think so, to believe that he had been more than a Pattern-ghost.
Knight of Shadows, by Roger Zelazny
*grease
ANOINT, v.t. To grease a king or other great functionary
already sufficiently slippery.
The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce
gremlin
The gremlin is a highly intelligent and completely evil
creature. It lives to torment other creatures and will go
to great lengths to inflict pain or cause injury.
Suddenly, Wilson thought about war, about the newspaper
stories which recounted the alleged existence of creatures in
the sky who plagued the Allied pilots in their duties. They
called them gremlins, he remembered. Were there, actually,
such beings? Did they, truly, exist up here, never falling,
riding on the wind, apparently of bulk and weight, yet
impervious to gravity?
He was thinking that when the man appeared again.
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, by Richard Matheson
grid bug
These electronically based creatures are not native to this
universe. They appear to come from a world whose laws of
motion are radically different from ours.
Tron looked to his mate and pilot. "I'm going to check on
the beam connection, Yori. You two can keep a watch out for
grid bugs." Tron paced forward along the slender catwalk
that still seemed awfully insubstantial to Flynn, though he
knew it to be amazingly sturdy. He gazed after Tron, asking
himself what in the world a grid bug was, and hoping that the
beam connection -- to which he'd given no thought whatsoever
until this moment -- was healthy and sound."
Tron, novel by Brian Daley, story by Steven Lisberger
gunyoki
The samurai's last meal before battle. It was usually made
up of cooked chestnuts, dried seaweed, and sake.
hachi
Hachi was a dog that went with his master, a professor, to
the Shibuya train station every morning. In the afternoon,
when his master was to return from work Hachi would be there
waiting. One day his master died at the office, and did not
return. For over ten years Hachi returned to the station
every afternoon to wait for his master. When Hachi died a
statue was erected on the station platform in his honor. It
is said to bring you luck if you touch his statue.
*harp
A triangular stringed instrument, often Magic. Even when not
Magic, a Harp is surprisingly portable and tough and can be
carried everywhere on the back of the Bard or Harper in all
weathers. A Harp seldom goes out of tune and never warps.
Its strings break only in very rare instances, usually
because the Harper is sulking or crossed in love. This is
just as well as no one seems to make or sell spare strings.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: "Wife, wife,
bring me my golden harp." So she brought it and put it on
the table before him. Then he said: "Sing!" and the golden
harp sang most beautifully. And it went on singing till the
ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder.
Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down
like a mouse and crept on hands and knees till he came to the
table, when up he crawled, caught hold of the golden harp and
dashed with it towards the door. But the harp called out
quite loud: "Master! Master!" and the ogre woke up just in
time to see Jack running off with his harp.
Jack and the Beanstalk, from English Fairy Tales,
by Joseph Jacobs
heart of ahriman
The other three drew in their breath sharply, and the dark,
powerful man who stood at the head of the sarcophagus whispered:
"The Heart of Ahriman!" The other lifted a quick hand
for silence. Somewhere a dog began howling dolefully, and a
stealthy step padded outside the barred and bolted door. ...
But none looked aside from the mummy case over which the man
in the ermine-trimmed robe was now moving the great flaming
jewel, while he muttered an incantation that was old when
Atlantis sank. The glare of the gem dazzled their eyes, so
that they could not be sure what they saw; but with a
splintering crash, the carven lid of the sarcophagus burst
outward as if from some irresistible pressure applied from
within and the four men, bending eagerly forward, saw the
occupant -- a huddled, withered, wizened shape, with dried
brown limbs like dead wood showing through moldering bandages.
"Bring that thing back?" muttered the small dark man who
stood on the right, with a short, sardonic laugh. "It is
ready to crumble at a touch. We are fools ---"
Conan The Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard
hell hound*
Hell hounds are fire-breathing canines from another plane of
existence brought here in the service of evil beings. A hell
hound resembles a large hound with rust-red or red-brown fur,
and red, glowing eyes. The markings, teeth, and tongue are
soot black. It stands two to three feet high at the shoulder
and has a distinct odour of smoke and sulphur. The baying
sounds it makes have an eerie, hollow tone that sends a shiver
through any who hear them.
hermes
Messenger and herald of the Olympians. Being required to do
a great deal of travelling and speaking in public, he became
the god of eloquence, travellers, merchants, and thieves. He
was one of the most energetic of the Greek gods, a
Machiavellian character full of trickery and sexual vigour.
Like other Greek gods, he is endowed with not-inconsiderable
sexual prowess which he directs towards countryside nymphs.
He is a god of boundaries, guardian of graves and patron deity
of shepherds. He is usually depicted as a handsome young
man wearing winged golden sandals and holding a magical
herald's staff consisting of intertwined serpents, the
kerykeion. He is reputedly the only being able to find his way
to the underworld ferry of Charon and back again. He is said
to have invented, among other things, the lyre, Pan's Pipes,
numbers, the alphabet, weights and measures, and sacrificing.
hezrou
"Hezrou" is the common name for the type II demon. It is
among the weaker of demons, but still quite formidable.
hippocrates
Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine. He
is believed to have been born on the island of Cos, to have
studied under his father, a physician, to have traveled for
some time, perhaps studying in Athens, and to have then
returned to practice, teach, and write at Cos. The
Hippocratic or Coan school that formed around him was of
enormous importance in separating medicine from superstition
and philosophic speculation, placing it on a strictly
scientific plane based on objective observation and critical
deductive reasoning.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
hobbit
Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more
numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace
and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-
farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not
and did not understand or like machines more complicated
than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a handloom, although
they were skillful with tools. Even in ancient days they
were, as a rule, shy of "the Big Folk", as they call us, and
now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
hobgoblin
Hobgoblin. Used by the Puritans and in later times for
wicked goblin spirits, as in Bunyan's "Hobgoblin nor foul
friend", but its more correct use is for the friendly spirits
of the brownie type. In "A midsummer night's dream" a
fairy says to Shakespeare's Puck:
Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are you not he?
and obviously Puck would not wish to be called a hobgoblin
if that was an ill-omened word.
Hobgoblins are on the whole, good-humoured and ready to be
helpful, but fond of practical joking, and like most of the
fairies rather nasty people to annoy. Boggarts hover on the
verge of hobgoblindom. Bogles are just over the edge.
One Hob mentioned by Henderson, was Hob Headless who haunted
the road between Hurworth and Neasham, but could not cross
the little river Kent, which flowed into the Tess. He was
exorcised and laid under a large stone by the roadside for
ninety-nine years and a day. If anyone was so unwary as to
sit on that stone, he would be unable to quit it for ever.
The ninety-nine years is nearly up, so trouble may soon be
heard of on the road between Hurworth and Neasham.
A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs
hom*nculus
A homunculus is a creature summoned by a mage to perform some
particular task. They are particularly good at spying. They
are smallish creatures, but very agile. They can put their
victims to sleep with a venomous bite, but due to their size,
the effect does not last long on humans.
"Tothapis cut him off. 'Be still and hearken. You will travel
aboard the sacred wingboat. Of it you may not have heard; but
it will bear you thither in a night and a day and a night.
With you will go a homunculus that can relay your words to me,
and mine to you, across the leagues between at the speed of
thought.'"
Conan the Rebel, by Poul Anderson
*hook
But as for Queequeg -- why, Queequeg sat there among them --
at the head of the table, too, it so chanced; as cool as an
icicle. To be sure I cannot say much for his breeding. His
greatest admirer could not have cordially justified his
bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, and using it
there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, to
the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the
beefsteaks towards him.
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
*horn
See also: unicorn horn
Roland hath set the Olifant to his mouth,
He grasps it well, and with great virtue sounds.
High are those peaks, afar it rings and loud,
Thirty great leagues they hear its echoes mount.
So Charles heard, and all his comrades round;
Then said that King: "Battle they do, our counts!"
And Guenelun answered, contrarious:
"That were a lie, in any other mouth."
The Song of Roland
horned devil
Horned devils lack any real special abilities, though they
are quite difficult to kill.
*horse
See also: horsem*
King Richard III: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
Catesby: Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
King Richard III: Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die:
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
King Richard III, by William Shakespeare
*horsem*, rider*, death, famine, pestilence, war, hunger
[Pestilence:] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white
horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
[War:] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the
second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another
horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon
to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one
another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
[Famine:] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black
horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say,
A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
[Death:] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the
voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and
behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Revelations of John, 6:1-8
huan*ti
The first of five mythical Chinese emperors, Huan Ti is known
as the yellow emperor. He rules the moving heavens, as
opposed to the dark heavens. He is an inventor, said to
have given mankind among other things, the wheel, armour, and
the compass. He is the god of fortune telling and war.
hu*h*eto*l, minion of huhetotl
Huehuetotl, or Huhetotl, which means Old God, was the Aztec
(classical Mesoamerican) god of fire. He is generally
associated with paternalism and one of the group classed
as the Xiuhtecuhtli complex. He is known to send his
minions to wreak havoc upon ordinary humans.
after the Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
humanoid
Humanoids are all approximately the size of a human, and may
be mistaken for one at a distance. They are usually of a
tribal nature, and will fiercely defend their lairs. Usually
hostile, they may even band together to raid and pillage
human settlements.
human, human archeologist, human cave*man, human healer, human monk,
human samurai, human wizard, acolyte, apprentice, archeologist,
arch priest, attendant, cave*man, chieftain, guard, healer, grand master,
master kaen, monk, ninja, nurse, page, *priest*, ronin, samurai, shopkeeper,
student, thug, warrior, *watch*, wizard, player
These strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.
hunter
What of the hunting, hunter bold?
Brother, the watch was long and cold.
What of the quarry ye went to kill?
Brother, he crops in the jungle still.
Where is the power that made your pride?
Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side.
Where is the haste that ye hurry by?
Brother, I go to my lair to die.
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling
ice devil
Ice devils are large semi-insectoid creatures, who are
equally at home in the fires of Hell and the cold of Limbo,
and who can cause the traveller to feel the latter with just
a touch of their tail.
imp
... imps ... little creatures of two feet high that could
gambol and jump prodigiously; ...
The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany
An 'imp' is an off-shoot or cutting. Thus an 'ymp tree' was
a grafted tree, or one grown from a cutting, not from seed.
'Imp' properly means a small devil, an off-shoot of Satan,
but the distinction between goblins or bogles and imps from
hell is hard to make, and many in the Celtic countries as
well as the English Puritans regarded all fairies as devils.
The fairies of tradition often hover uneasily between the
ghostly and the diabolic state.
A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs
incubus, succubus
The incubus and succubus are male and female versions of the
same demon, one who lies with a human for its own purposes,
usually to the detriment of the mortals who are unwise in
their dealings with them.
*iron ball, *iron chain
"You are fettered, " said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?"
"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I
made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my
own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its
pattern strange to you?"
Scrooge trembled more and more.
"Or would you know," pursued the Ghost, "the weight and
length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as
heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You
have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!"
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
ishtar
Ishtar (the star of heaven) is the Mesopotamian goddess of
fertility and war. She is usually depicted with wings and
weapon cases at her shoulders, carrying a ceremonial double-
headed mace-scimitar embellished with lion heads, frequently
being accompanied by a lion. She is symbolized by an eight-
pointed star.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
issek
Now Issek of the Jug, whom Fafhrd chose to serve, was once
of the most lowly and unsuccessful of the gods, godlets
rather, in Lankhmar. He had dwelt there for about thirteen
years, during which time he had traveled only two squares up
the Street of the Gods and was now back again, ready for
oblivion. He is not to be confused with Issek the Armless,
Issek of the Burnt Legs, Flayed Issek, or any other of the
numerous and colorfully mutilated divinities of that name.
Indeed, his unpopularity may have been due in part to the
fact that the manner of his death -- racking -- was not
deemed particularly spectacular. ... However, after Fafhrd
became his acolyte, things somehow began to change.
Swords In The Mist, by Fritz Leiber
izchak
The shopkeeper of the lighting shop in the town level of the
gnomish mines is a tribute to Izchak Miller, a founding member
of the NetHack development team and a personal friend of a large
number of us. Izchak contributed greatly to the game, coding a
large amount of the shopkeep logic (hence the nature of the tribute)
as well as a good part of the alignment system, the prayer code and
the rewrite of "hell" in the 3.1 release. Izchak was a professor
of Philosophy, who taught at many respected institutions, including
MIT and Stanford, and who also worked, for a period of time, at
Xerox PARC. Izchak was the first "librarian" of the NetHack project,
and was a founding member of the DevTeam, joining in 1986 while he
was working at the University of Pennsylvania (hence our former
mailing list address). Until the 3.1.3 release, Izchak carefully
kept all of the code synchronized and arbitrated disputes between
members of the development teams. Izchak Miller passed away at the
age of 58, in the early morning hours of April 1, 1994 from
complications due to cancer. We then dedicated NetHack 3.2 in his
memory.
Mike Stephenson, for the NetHack DevTeam
jabberwock, vorpal*
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll
jackal
In Asiatic folktale, jackal provides for the lion; he scares
up game, which the lion kills and eats, and receives what is
left as reward. In stories from northern India he is
sometimes termed "minister to the king," i.e. to the lion.
From the legend that he does not kill his own food has arisen
the legend of his cowardice. Jackal's heart must never be
eaten, for instance, in the belief of peoples indigenous to
the regions where the jackal abounds. ... In Hausa Negro
folktale Jackal plays the role of sagacious judge and is
called "O Learned One of the Forest." The Bushmen say that
Jackal goes around behaving the way he does "because he is
Jackal".
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore
jade*
Nothing grew among the ruins of the city. The streets were
broken and the walls of the houses had fallen, but there were
no weeds flowering in the cracks and it seemed that the city
had but recently been brought down by an earthquake. Only
one thing still stood intact, towering over the ruins. It
was a gigantic statue of white, gray and green jade - the
statue of a naked youth with a face of almost feminine beauty
that turned sightless eyes toward the north.
"The eyes!" Duke Avan Astran said. "They're gone!"
The Jade Man's Eyes, by Michael Moorcock
jaguar
Large, flesh-eating animal of the cat family, of Central and
South America. This feline predator (Panthera onca) is
sometimes incorrectly called a panther.
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
jellyfish
I do not care to share the seas
With jellyfishes such as these;
Particularly Portuguese.
Lines on Meeting a Portuguese Man-o'-war while
Bathing, by Michael Flanders
juiblex, jubilex
Little is known about the Faceless Lord, even the correct
spelling of his name. He does not have a physical form as
we know it, and those who have peered into his realm claim
he is a slime-like creature who swallows other creatures
alive, spits acidic secretions, and causes disease in his
victims which can be almost instantly fatal.
kabuto
The kabuto is the helmet worn by the samurai. It was
characterized by a prominent beaked front which jutted out over
the brow to protect the wearer's face; a feature that gives
rise to their modern Japanese name of 'shokaku tsuki kabuto'
(battering-ram helmet). Their main constructional element
was an oval plate, the shokaku bo, slightly domed for the
head with a narrow prolongation in front that curved forwards
and downwards where it developed a pronounced central
fold. Two horizontal strips encircling the head were riveted
to this frontal strip: the lower one, the koshimaki (hip
wrap), formed the lower edge of the helmet bowl; the other,
the do maki (body wrap), was set at about the level of the
temples. Filling the gaps between these strips and the shokaku
bo were small plates, sometimes triangular but more commonly
rectangular in shape. Because the front projected so
far from the head, the triangular gap beneath was filled by
a small plate, the shoshaku tei ita, whose rear edge bent
downwards into a flange that rested against the forehead.
Arms & Armour of the Samurai, by Bottomley & Hopson
katana
The katana is a long, single-edged samurai sword with a
slightly curved blade. Its long handle is designed to allow
it to be wielded with either one or two hands.
ki-rin
The ki-rin is a strange-looking flying creature. It has
scales, a mane like a lion, a tail, hooves, and a horn. It
is brightly colored, and can usually be found flying in the
sky looking for good deeds to reward.
king arthur, *arthur
Ector took both his sons to the church before which the
anvil had been placed. There, standing before the anvil, he
commanded Kay: "Put the sword back into the steel if you
really think the throne is yours!" But the sword glanced
off the steel. "Now it is your turn", Ector said facing
Arthur.
The young man lifted the sword and thrust with both arms; the
blade whizzed through the air with a flash and drilled the
metal as if it were mere butter. Ector and Kay dropped to
their knees before Arthur.
"Why, father and brother, do you bow before me?", Arthur asked
with wonder in his voice.
"Because now I know for sure that you are the king, not only
by birth but also by law", Ector said. "You are no son of
mine nor are you Kay's brother. Immediately after your birth,
Merlin the Wise brought you to me to be raised safely. And
though it was me that named you Arthur when you were baptized,
you are really the son of brave king Uther Pendragon and queen
Igraine..."
And after these words, the lord rose and went to see the arch-
bishop to impart to him what had passed.
Van Gouden Tijden Zingen de Harpen, by Vladimir Hulpach,
Emanuel Frynta, and Vackav Cibula
knife, stiletto
Possibly perceiving an expression of dubiosity on their
faces, the globetrotter went on adhering to his adventures.
-- And I seen a man killed in Trieste by an Italian chap.
Knife in his back. Knife like that.
Whilst speaking he produced a dangerous looking clasp knife,
quite in keeping with his character, and held it in the
striking position.
-- In a knockingshop it was count of a tryon between two
smugglers. Fellow hid behind a door, come up behind him.
Like that. Prepare to meet your God, says he. Chuck! It
went into his back up to the butt.
Ulysses, by James Joyce
knight, human knight
Here lies the noble fearless knight,
Whose valour rose to such a height;
When Death at last had struck him down,
His was the victory and renown.
He reck'd the world of little prize,
And was a bugbear in men's eyes;
But had the fortune in his age
To live a fool and die a sage.
Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
Cervantes Saavedra
*kobold*
The race of kobolds are reputed to be an artificial creation
of a master wizard (demi-god?). They are about 3' tall with
a vaguely dog-like face. They bear a violent dislike of the
Elven race, and will go out of their way to cause trouble
for Elves at any time.
*kop*
The typical policeman of 1920's movies, the Keystone Kop was
modeled like the English "bobby", with a long brass-buttoned
overcoat, carrying long nightsticks that he (more often than
not) whapped himself with, rather than anyone else. The
Keystone Kops were very slapstick-like, relying on speed and
numbers to achieve their comedy, rather than sophisticated
wit.
kos
"I am not a coward!" he cried. "I'll dare Thieves' House
and fetch you Krovas' head and toss it with blood a-drip at
Vlana's feet. I swear that, witness me, Kos the god of
dooms, by the brown bones of Nalgron my father and by his
sword Graywand here at my side!"
Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber
koto
A Japanese harp.
kraken
Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it
was pale-green and luminous and wet. Its fingered end had
hold of Frodo's foot, and was dragging him into the water.
Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife. The
arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out
for help. Twenty other arms came rippling out. The dark
water boiled, and there was a hideous stench.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
*lady, offler
Blind Io took up the dice-box, which was a skull whose various
orifices had been stoppered with rubies, and with several of
his eyes on the Lady he rolled three fives. She smiled. This
was the nature of the Lady's eyes: they were bright green,
lacking iris or pupil, and they glowed from within.
The room was silent as she scrabbled in her box of pieces and,
from the very bottom, produced a couple that she set down on
the board with two decisive clicks. The rest of the players,
as one God, craned forward to peer at them.
"A wenegade wiffard and fome fort of clerk," said Offler the
Crocodile God, hindered as usual by his tusks. "Well,
weally!" With one claw he pushed a pile of bone-white tokens
into the centre of the table.
The Lady nodded slightly. She picked up the dice-cup and held
it as steady as a rock, yet all the Gods could hear the three
cubes rattling about inside. And then she sent them bouncing
across the table.
A six. A three. A five.
Something was happening to the five, however. Battered by the
chance collision of several billion molecules, the die flipped
onto a point, spun gently and came down a seven. Blind Io
picked up the cube and counted the sides.
"Come on," he said wearily, "Play fair."
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
*lamp
When he came to himself he told his mother what had passed,
and showed her the lamp and the fruits he had gathered in the
garden, which were in reality precious stones. He then asked
for some food.
"Alas! child," she said, "I have nothing in the house, but I
have spun a little cotton and will go and sell it."
Aladdin bade her keep her cotton, for he would sell the lamp
instead. As it was very dirty she began to rub it, that it
might fetch a higher price. Instantly a hideous genie
appeared, and asked what she would have. She fainted away,
but Aladdin, snatching the lamp, said boldly:
"Fetch me something to eat!"
Aladdin, from The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang
lance
With this the wind increased, and the mill sails began to turn
about; which Don Quixote espying, said, 'Although thou movest
more arms than the giant Briareus thou shalt stoop to me.'
And, after saying this, and commending himself most devoutly to
his Lady Dulcinea, desiring her to succor him in that trance,
covering himself well with his buckler, and setting his lance
on his rest, he spurred on Rozinante, and encountered with the
first mill that was before him, and, striking his lance into
the sail, the wind sung it about with such fury, that is broke
his lance into shivers, carrying him and his horse after it,
and finally tumbled him a good way off from it on the field in
evil plight.
Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
Cervantes Saavedra
leash
They had splendid heads, fine shoulders, strong legs, and
straight tails. The spots on their bodies were jet-black and
mostly the size of a two-shilling piece; they had smaller
spots on their heads, legs, and tails. Their noses and eye-
rims were black. Missis had a most winning expression.
Pongo, though a dog born to command, had a twinkle in his
eye. They walked side by side with great dignity, only
putting the Dearlys on the leash to lead them over crossings.
The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith
lembas*
In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender
goods, Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and
brought them many gifts of food and clothing for their
journey. The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes,
made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside,
and inside was the colour of cream. Gimli took up one of the
cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye.
'Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp
corner and nibbled at it. His expression quickly changed,
and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish.
'No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing. 'You have
eaten enough already for a long day's march.'
'I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dalemen
make for journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.
'So it is,' they answered. 'But we call it lembas or
waybread, and it is more strengthening than any foods made by
Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
lemure
The lowliest of the inhabitants of hell.
leocrotta, leu*otta
... the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,
the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck,
tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven
hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous
bone instead of teeth; it is said, too, that this animal can
imitate the human voice.
Curious Creatures in Zoology, by John Ashton
leprechaun
The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
under various names in different parts of Ireland:
Cluricaune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare
and Lurigadaun in Tipperary. Although he works for the
Faeries, the Leprechaun is not of the same species. He is
small, has dark skin and wears strange clothes. His nature
has something of the manic-depressive about it: first he
is quite happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a
shoe; a few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk
on his home-made heather ale. The Leprechaun's two great
loves are tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man,
impossible to out-fox. No one, no matter how clever, has ever
managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his
magic shilling. At the last minute he always thinks of some
way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the
twinkling of an eye.
A Field Guide to the Little People
by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse
*lich
But on its heels ere the sunset faded, there came a second
apparition, striding with incredible strides and halting when
it loomed almost upon me in the red twilight-the monstrous mummy
of some ancient king still crowned with untarnished gold but
turning to my gaze a visage that more than time or the worm had
wasted. Broken swathings flapped about the skeleton legs, and
above the crown that was set with sapphires and orange rubies, a
black something swayed and nodded horribly; but, for an instant,
I did not dream what it was. Then, in its middle, two oblique
and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two
ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth. A squat, furless,
shapeless head on a neck of disproportionate extent leaned
unspeakably down and whispered in the mummy's ear. Then, with
one stride, the titanic lich took half the distance between us,
and from out the folds of the tattered sere-cloth a gaunt arm
arose, and fleshless, taloned fingers laden with glowering gems,
reached out and fumbled for my throat . . .
The Abominations of Yondo, Clark Ashton Smith, 1926
lichen
The chamber was of unhewn rock, round, as near as might
be, eighteen or twenty feet across, and gay with rich
variety of fern and moss and lichen. The fern was in
its winter still, or coiling for the spring-tide; but
moss was in abundant life, some feathering, and some
gobleted, and some with fringe of red to it.
Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore
* light
Strange creatures formed from energy rather than matter,
lights are given to self-destructive behavior when battling
foes.
gecko, iguana, lizard
Lizards, snakes and the burrowing amphisbaenids make up the
order Squamata, meaning the scaly ones. The elongate, slim,
long-tailed bodies of lizards have become modified to enable
them to live in a wide range of habitats. Lizards can be
expert burrowers, runners, swimmers and climbers, and a few
can manage crude, short-distance gliding on rib-supported
"wings". Most are carnivores, feeding on invertebrate and
small vertebrate prey, but others feed on vegetation.
Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia
loki
Loki, or Lopt, is described in Snorri's Edda as being
"pleasing and handsome in appearance, evil in character, and
very capricious in behaviour". He is the son of the giant
Farbauti and of Laufey.
Loki is the Norse god of cunning, evil, thieves, and fire.
He hated the other gods and wanted to ruin them and overthrow
the universe. He committed many murders. As a thief, he
stole Freyja's necklace, Thor's belt and gauntlets of power,
and the apples of youth. Able to shapechange at will, he is
said to have impersonated at various times a mare, flea, fly,
falcon, seal, and an old crone. As a mare he gave birth to
Odin's horse Sleipnir. He also allegedly sired the serpent
Midgard, the mistress of the netherworld, Hel, and the wolf
Fenrir, who will devour the sun at Ragnarok.
*longbow of diana
This legendary bow grants ESP when carried and can reflect magical
attacks when wielded. When invoked it provides a supply of arrows.
looking glass, mirror
But as Snow White grew, she became more and more beautiful,
and by the time she was seven years old she was as beautiful
as the day and more beautiful than the queen herself. One
day when the queen said to her mirror:
"Mirror, Mirror, here I stand.
Who is the fairest in the land?" -
the mirror replied:
"You, O Queen, are the fairest here,
But Snow White is a thousand times more fair."
Snow White, by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm
lord carnarvon
Lord Carnarvon was a personality who could have been produced
nowhere but in England, a mixture of sportsman and collector,
gentleman and world traveler, a realist in action and a
romantic in feeling. ... In 1903 he went for the first time
to Egypt in search of a mild climate and while there visited
the excavation sites of several archaeological expeditions.
... In 1906 he began his own excavations.
Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram
lord sato
Lord Sato was the family head of the Taro Clan, and a mighty
daimyo. He is a loyal servant of the Emperor, and will do
everything in his power to further the imperial cause.
lord surt*
Yet first was the world in the southern region, which was
named Muspell; it is light and hot; that region is glowing
and burning, and impassable to such as are outlanders and
have not their holdings there. He who sits there at the
land's-end, to defend the land, is called Surtr; he brandishes
a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he shall go forth
and harry, and overcome all the gods, and burn all the
world with fire.
The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson
lug*
Lugh, or Lug, was the sun god of the Irish Celts. One of his
weapons was a rod-sling which worshippers sometimes saw in
the sky as a rainbow. As a tribal god, he was particularly
skilled in the use of his massive, invincible spear, which
fought on its own accord. One of his epithets is lamfhada
(of the long arm). He was a young and apparently more
attractive deity than Dagda, the father of the gods. Being
able to shapeshift, his name translates as lynx.
lurker*
These dungeon scavengers are very adept at blending into the
surrounding walls and ceilings of the dungeon due to the
stone-like coloring of their skin.
lycanthrope, were*, human were*, *were
In 1573, the Parliament of Dole published a decree, permitting
the inhabitants of the Franche-Comte to pursue and kill a
were-wolf or loup-garou, which infested that province,
"notwithstanding the existing laws concerning the chase."
The people were empowered to "assemble with javelins,
halberds, pikes, arquebuses and clubs, to hunt and pursue the
said were-wolf in all places where they could find it, and to
take, burn, and kill it, without incurring any fine or other
penalty." The hunt seems to have been successful, if we may
judge from the fact that the same tribunal in the following
year condemned to be burned a man named Giles Garnier, who
ran on all fours in the forest and fields and devoured little
children, "even on Friday." The poor lycanthrope, it appears,
had as slight respect for ecclesiastical feasts as the French
pig, which was not restrained by any feeling of piety from
eating infants on a fast day.
The History of Vampires, by Dudley Wright
lynx
To dream of seeing a lynx, enemies are undermining your
business and disrupting your home affairs. For a woman,
this dream indicates that she has a wary woman rivaling her
in the affections of her lover. If she kills the lynx, she
will overcome her rival.
10,000 Dreams Interpreted, by Gustavus Hindman Miller
magic marker
The pen is mightier than the sword.
Richelieu, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
magic mirror of merlin
This powerful mirror was created by Merlin, the druid, in ages
past, when trees sang and rocks danced. It protects all who
carry it from magic missiles, and gives them ESP.
mail d*emon
It is rumoured that these strange creatures can be harmed by
domesticated canines only.
ma*annan*
Normally called Manannan, Ler's son was the patron of
merchants and sailors. Manannan had a sword which never
failed to slay, a boat which propelled itself wherever its
owner wished, a horse which was swifter than the wind, and
magic armour which no sword could pierce. He later became
god of the sea, beneath which he lived in Tir na nOc, the
underworld.
manes
The gnats of the dungeon, these swarming monsters are rarely
seen alone.
marduk
First insisting on recognition as supreme commander, Marduk
defeated the Dragon, cut her body in two, and from it created
heaven and earth, peopling the world with human beings who not
unnaturally showed intense gratitude for their lives. The
gods were also properly grateful, invested him with many
titles, and eventually permitted themselves to be embodied in
him, so that he became supreme god, plotting the whole course
of known life from the paths of the planets to the daily
events in the lives of men.
The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker
marilith
The marilith has a torso shaped like that of a human female,
and the lower body of a great snake. It has multiple arms,
and can freely attack with all of them. Since it is
intelligent enough to use weapons, this means it can cause
great damage.
mars
The god of war, and one of the most prominent and worshipped
gods. In early Roman history he was a god of spring, growth in
nature, and fertility, and the protector of cattle. Mars is
also mentioned as a chthonic god (earth-god) and this could
explain why he became a god of death and finally a god of war.
He is the son of Jupiter and Juno.
Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans
master assassin
He strolled down the stairs, followed by a number of assassins.
When he was directly in front of Ymor he said: "I've come for
the tourist." ...
"One step more and you'll leave here with fewer eyeballs than
you came with," said the thiefmaster. "So sit down and have
a drink, Zlorf, and let's talk about this sensibly. I
thought we had an agreement. You don't rob -- I don't kill.
Not for payment, that is," he added after a pause.
Zlorf took the proffered beer.
"So?" he said. "I'll kill him. Then you rob him. Is he that
funny looking one over there?"
"Yes."
Zlorf stared at Twoflower, who grinned at him. He shrugged.
He seldom wasted time wondering why people wanted other people
dead. It was just a living.
"Who is your client, may I ask?" said Ymor.
Zlorf held up a hand. "Please!" he protested. "Professional
etiquette."
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
master key of thievery
This skeleton key was fashioned in ages past and imbued with
a powerful magic which allows it to open any lock. When
carried, it grants its owner warning, teleport control, and
reduces all physical damage by half. Finally, when invoked,
it has the ability to disarm any trap.
master of thieves
There was a flutter of wings at the window. Ymor shifted his
bulk out of the chair and crossed the room, coming back with
a large raven. After he'd unfastened the message capsule from
its leg it flew up to join its fellows lurking among the
rafters. Withel regarded it without love. Ymor's ravens were
notoriously loyal to their master, to the extent that Withel's
one attempt to promote himself to the rank of greatest thief
in Ankh-Morpork had cost their master's right hand man his
left eye. But not his life, however. Ymor never grudged a
man his ambitions.
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
mastodon
Any large, elephantlike mammal of the genera Mammut, Mastodon,
etc., from the Oligocene and Pleistocene epochs, having
conical projections on the molar teeth.
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary
of the English Language
meat*, huge chunk of meat
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
Grace Before Meat, by Robert Burns
medusa
Medusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.
When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch
melon
"What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?" I shouted in Zulu.
"It is food and water, Macumazahn," and again he waved the
green thing.
Then I saw what he had got. It was a melon. We had hit upon
a patch of wild melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe.
"Melons!" I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another
second he had his false teeth fixed in one.
I think we ate about six each before we had done, and, poor
fruit as they were, I doubt if I ever thought anything nicer.
King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard
mercury
Roman god of commerce, trade and travellers. He is commonly
depicted carrying a caduceus (a staff with two snakes
intertwining around it) and a purse.
*mimic
The ancestors of the modern day chameleon, these creatures can
assume the form of anything in their surroundings. They may
assume the shape of objects or dungeon features. Unlike the
chameleon though, which assumes the shape of another creature
and goes in hunt of food, the mimic waits patiently for its
meals to come in search of it.
*mind flayer
This creature has a humanoid body, tentacles around its
covered mouth, and three long fingers on each hand. Mind
flayers are telepathic, and love to devour intelligent beings,
especially humans. If they hit their victim with a tentacle,
the mind flayer will slowly drain it of all intelligence,
eventually killing its victim.
mine*
Made by Dwarfs. The Rule here is that the Mine is either long
deserted or at most is inhabited by a few survivors who will
make confused claims to have been driven out/decimated by humans/
other Dwarfs/Minions of the Dark Lord. Inhabited or not, this
Mine will be very complex, with many levels of galleries,
beautifully carved and engineered. What was being mined here
is not always evident, but at least some of the time it will
appear to have been Jewels, since it is customary to find
unwanted emeralds, etc., still embedded in the rock of the
walls. Metal will also be present, but only when made up into
armor and weapons (wondrous).
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
minotaur
The Minotaur was a monster, half bull, half human, the
offspring of Minos' wife Pasiphae and a wonderfully beautiful
bull. ... When the Minotaur was born Minos did not kill him.
He had Daedalus, a great architect and inventor, construct a
place of confinement for him from which escape was impossible.
Daedalus built the Labyrinth, famous throughout the world.
Once inside, one would go endlessly along its twisting paths
without ever finding the exit.
Mythology, by Edith Hamilton
mit*ra*
Originating in India (Mitra), Mithra is a god of light who
was translated into the attendant of the god Ahura Mazda in
the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as
the Roman deity Mithras. He is not generally regarded as a
sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of
warm, light air. According to the Avesta, he possesses
10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white
horses. Mithra, according to Zarathustra, is concerned with
the endless battle between light and dark forces: he
represents truth. He is responsible for the keeping of oaths
and contracts. He is attributed with the creation of both
plants and animals. His chief adversary is Ahriman, the
power of darkness.
The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
Nations, by Herbert Spencer Robinson and
Knox Wilson
*mithril*
Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like
copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make
of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel.
Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty
of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
*mitre of holiness
This helm of brilliance performs all of the normal functions
of a helm of brilliance, but also has the ability to protect
anyone who carries it from fire. When invoked, it boosts
the energy of the invoker, allowing them to cast more spells.
mjollnir
Forged by the dwarves Eitri and Brokk, in response to Loki's
challenge, Mjollnir is an indestructible war hammer. It has
two magical properties: when thrown it always returned to
Thor's hand; and it could be made to shrink in size until it
could fit inside Thor's shirt. Its only flaw is that it has
a short handle. The other gods judged Mjollnir the winner of
the contest because, of all the treasures created, it alone had
the power to protect them from the giants. As the legends
surrounding Mjollnir grew, it began to take on the quality of
"vigja", or consecration. Thor used it to consecrate births,
weddings, and even to raise his goats from the dead. In the
Norse mythologies Mjollnir is considered to represent Thor's
governance over the entire cycle of life - fertility, birth,
destruction, and resurrection.
*mold
See also: slime mold
Mold, multicellular organism of the division Fungi, typified
by plant bodies composed of a network of cottony filaments.
The colors of molds are due to spores borne on the filaments.
Most molds are saprophytes. Some species (e.g., penicillium)
are used in making cheese and antibiotics.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
mol?ch
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever
he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech;
he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall
stone him with stones.
And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off
from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto
Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes
from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill
him not:
Then I will set my face against that man, and against his
family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after
him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
Leviticus 20:1-5
monkey
"Listen, man-cub," said the Bear, and his voice rumbled like
thunder on a hot night. "I have taught thee all the Law of
the Jungle for all the peoples of the jungle--except the
Monkey-Folk who live in the trees. They have no law. They
are outcasts. They have no speech of their own, but use the
stolen words which they overhear when they listen, and peep,
and wait up above in the branches. Their way is not our way.
They are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They
boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people
about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of
a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten.
We of the jungle have no dealings with them. We do not drink
where the monkeys drink; we do not go where the monkeys go;
we do not hunt where they hunt; we do not die where they die...."
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling
mumak*
... the Mumak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and
the like of him does not walk now in Middle-Earth; his kin
that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth
and majesty. On he came, ... his great legs like trees,
enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like
a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging.
His upturned hornlike tusks ... dripped with blood.
The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien
*mummy
But for an account of the manner in which the body was
bandaged, and a list of the unguents and other materials
employed in the process, and the words of power which were
spoken as each bandage was laid in its place, we must have
recourse to a very interesting papyrus which has been edited
and translated by M. Maspero under the title of Le Rituel de
l'Embaumement. ...
Everything that could be done to preserve the body was now
done, and every member of it was, by means of the words of
power which changed perishable substances into imperishable,
protected to all eternity; when the final covering of purple
or white linen had been fastened upon it, the body was ready
for the tomb.
Egyptian Magic, by E.A. Wallis Budge
mummy wrapping
He held a white cloth -- it was a serviette he had brought
with him -- over the lower part of his face, so that his
mouth and jaws were completely hidden, and that was the
reason for his muffled voice. But it was not that which
startled Mrs. Hall. It was the fact that all his forehead
above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and
that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his
face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose. It was
bright, pink, and shiny just as it had been at first. He
wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black, linen-
lined collar turned up about his neck. The thick black
hair, escaping as it could below and between the cross
bandages, project in curious tails and horns, giving him
the strangest appearance conceivable.
The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells
*naga*, *naja*
The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and
the head of a man or woman. They will fiercely protect the
territory they consider their own. Some nagas can be forced
to serve as guardians by a spellcaster of great power.
naginata
A Japanese pole-arm, fitted with a curved single-edged blade.
The blades ranged in length from two to four feet, mounted on
shafts about four to five feet long. The naginata were cut
with a series of short grooves near to the tang, above which
the back edge was thinned, but not sharpened, so that the
greater part of the blade was a flattened diamond shape in
section. Seen in profile, the curve is slight or non-
existent near the tang, becoming more pronounced towards the
point.
"With his naginata he killed five, but with the sixth it
snapped asunder in the midst and, flinging it away, he drew
his sword, wielding it in the zigzag style, the interlacing,
cross, reversed dragonfly, waterwheel, and eight-sides-at-
once styles of fencing and cutting down eight men; but as he
brought down the ninth with a mighty blow on the helmet, the
blade snapped at the hilt."
Story of Tsutsui no Jomio Meishu from Tales of Heike
nalfeshnee
Not only do these demons do physical damage with their claws
and bite, but they are capable of using magic as well.
nalzok
Nalzok is Moloch's cunning and unfailingly loyal battle
lieutenant, to whom he trusts the command of warfare when he
does not wish to exercise it himself. Nalzok is a major
demon, known to command the undead. He is hungry for power,
and secretly covets Moloch's position. Moloch doesn't trust
him, but, trusting his own power enough, chooses to allow
Nalzok his position because he is useful.
neanderthal*
1. Valley between Duesseldorf and Elberfeld in Germany,
where an ancient skull of a prehistoric ancestor to modern
man was found. 2. Human(oid) of the race mentioned above.
neferet, neferet the green
Neferet the Green holds office in her hidden tower, only
reachable by magical means, where she teaches her apprentices
the enigmatic skills of occultism. Despite her many years, she
continues to investigate new spells, especially those involving
translocation. It is further rumored that when she was an
apprentice herself, she accidentally turned her skin green, and
has kept it that way ever since.
newt
(kinds of) small animal, like a lizard, which spends most of
its time in the water.
Oxford's Student's Dictionary of Current English
"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
ninja-to
A Japanese broadsword.
*norn
The Norns were the three Norse Fates, or the goddesses of fate.
Female giants, they brought the wonderful Golden Age to an end.
They cast lots over the cradle of every child that was born,
and placed gifts in the cradle. Their names were Urda,
Verdandi, and Skuld, representing the past, the present, and
the future. Urda and Verdandi were kindly disposed, but Skuld
was cruel and savage. Their tasks were to sew the web of
fate, to water the sacred ash, Yggdrasil, and to keep it in
good condition by placing fresh earth around it daily. In her
fury, Skuld often spoiled the work of her sisters by tearing
the web to shreds.
The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All
Nations by Herbert Spencer Robinson and Knox
Wilson
nunchaku
A Japanese flail.
*nymph
A female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc. A nymph's beauty is
beyond words: an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
and gentle eyes. A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence. A nymph's
demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.
"Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
sleep. The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
was full of terror. Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
man was goring him. Everywhere there was blood. There was
pain. There was fear. But his head was in the nymph's lap
and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream. He
knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
dreadful that was to happen to him later. Her song was a
warning. But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
made him see everything differently. The boy, who was to
become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin
odin
Also called Sigtyr (god of Victory), Val-father (father of
the slain), One-Eyed, Hanga-god (god of the hanged), Farma-
god (god of cargoes), Hapta-god (god of prisoners), and
Othin. He is the prime god of the Norsemen: god of war and
victory, wisdom and prophecy, poetry, the dead, air and wind,
hospitality, and magic.
As the god of war and victory, Odin is ruler of the Valkyries,
warrior-maidens who lived in the halls of Valhalla in Asgard,
the hall of dead heroes where he held his court.
These chosen ones will defend the realm of the gods against
the Frost Giants on the final day of reckoning, Ragnarok.
As god of the wind, Odin rides through the air on his eight-
footed horse, Sleipnir, wielding Gungner, his spear, normally
accompanied by his ravens, Hugin and Munin, who he would also
use as his spies.
As a god of hospitality, he enjoys visiting the earth in
disguise to see how people were behaving and to see how they
would treat him, not knowing who he was.
Odin is usually represented as a one-eyed wise old man with a
long white beard and a wide-brimmed hat (he gave one of his
eyes to Mimir, the guardian of the well of wisdom in Hel, in
exchange for a draught of knowledge).
ogre*
Anyone who has met a gluttonous, nude, angry ogre, will not
easily forget this encounter -- if he survives it at all.
Both male and female ogres can easily grow as tall as three
metres. Build and facial expressions would remind one of a
Neanderthal. Its small, pointy, keen teeth are striking.
Since ogres avoid direct sunlight, their ragged, unfurry
skin is as white as a sheet. They enjoy coating their body
with lard and usually wear nothing but a loin-cloth. An elf
would smell its rancid stench at ten metres distance.
Ogres are solitary creatures: very rarely one may encounter
a female with two or three young. They are the only real
carnivores among the humanoids, and its favourite meal is --
not surprisingly -- human flesh. They sometimes ally with
orcs or goblins, but only when they anticipate a good meaty
meal.
het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters
oilskin cloak
During our watches below we overhauled our clothes, and made
and mended everything for bad weather. Each of us had made
for himself a suit of oil-cloth or tarpaulin, and these we
got out, and gave thorough coatings of oil or tar, and hung
upon the stays to dry. Our stout boots, too, we covered
over with a thick mixture of melted grease and tar. Thus we
took advantage of the warm sun and fine weather of the
Pacific to prepare for its other face.
Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana
oilskin sack
Summer passed all too quickly. On the last day of camp, Mr.
Brickle called his counselors together and paid them what he
owed them. Louis received one hundred dollars - the first
money he had ever earned. He had no wallet and no pockets,
so Mr. Brickle placed the money in a waterproof bag that had
a drawstring. He hung this moneybag around Louis' neck,
along with the trumpet, the slate, the chalk pencil, and the
lifesaving medal.
The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
olog-hai
But at the end of the Third Age a troll-race not before seen
appeared in southern Mirkwood and in the mountain borders of
Mordor. Olog-hai they were called in the Black Speech. That
Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was not
known. Some held that they were not Trolls but giant Orcs;
but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind quite unlike
even the largest of Orc-kind, whom they far surpassed in size
and power. Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will
of their master: a fell race, strong, agile, fierce and
cunning, but harder than stone. Unlike the older race of the
Twilight they could endure the Sun.... They spoke little,
and the only tongue they knew was the Black Speech of Barad-dur.
The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien
oracle, delphi, p*thia
Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo's oracle was,
plays an important part in mythology. Castalia was its
sacred spring; Cephissus its river. It was held to be the
center of the world, so many pilgrims came to it, from
foreign countries as well as Greece. No other shrine rivaled
it. The answers to the questions asked by the anxious
seekers for Truth were delivered by a priestess who went into
a trance before she spoke.
Mythology, by Edith Hamilton
orange, pear
What was the fruit like? Unfortunately, no one can describe
a taste. All I can say is that, compared with those fruits,
the freshest grapefruit you've ever eaten was dull, and the
juiciest orange was dry, and the most melting pear was hard
and woody, and the sweetest wild strawberry was sour. And
there were no seeds or stones, and no wasps. If you had once
eaten that fruit, all the nicest things in this world would
taste like medicines after it. But I can't describe it. You
can't find out what it is like unless you can get to that
country and taste it for yourself.
The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis
*orb of detection
This Orb is a crystal ball of exceptional powers. When
carried, it grants ESP, limits damage done by spells, and
protects the carrier from magic missiles. When invoked it
allows the carrier to become invisible.
orb of fate
Some say that Odin himself created this ancient crystal ball,
although others argue that Loki created it and forged Odin's
signature on the bottom. In any case, it is a powerful
artifact. Anyone who carries it is granted the gift of
warning, and damage, both spell and physical, is partially
absorbed by the orb itself. When invoked it has the power
to teleport the invoker between levels.
goblin king, orcrist
The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he
looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth,
clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at
once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when
the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did
battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist,
Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter.
They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
orcus
Orcus, Prince of the Undead, has a ram's head and a poison
stinger. He is most feared, though, for his powerful magic
abilities. His wand causes death to those he chooses.
orc*, * orc, uruk*hai
Orcs, bipeds with a humanoid appearance, are related to the
goblins, but much bigger and more dangerous. The average orc
is only moderately intelligent, has broad, muscled shoulders,
a short neck, a sloping forehead and a thick, dark fur.
Their lower eye-teeth are pointing forward, like a boar's.
Female orcs are more lightly built and bare-chested. Not
needing any clothing, they do like to dress in variegated
apparels. Suspicious by nature, orcs live in tribes or
hordes. They tend to live underground as well as above
ground (but they dislike sunlight). Orcs can use all weapons,
tools and armours that are used by men. Since they don't have
the talent to fashion these themselves, they are constantly
hunting for them. There is nothing a horde of orcs cannot
use.
het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters
orion, sirius
Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a
mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading
through the depths of the sea, or, as others say, of
walking on its surface.
He dwelt as a hunter with Diana (Artemis), with whom he
was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry
him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chid her,
but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through
the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed
it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit
that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged
a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of
Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many
tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears
as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and
club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly
before him.
Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch
osaku
The osaku is a small tool for picking locks.
owlbear
Owlbears are probably the crossbreed creation of a demented
wizard; given the lethal nature of this creation, it is quite
likely the wizard who created them is no longer alive. As
the name might already suggest, owlbears are a cross between
a giant owl and a bear. They are covered with fur and
feathers.
panther
And lo! almost where the ascent began,
A panther light and swift exceedingly,
Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er!
And never moved she from before my face,
Nay, rather did impede so much my way,
That many times I to return had turned.
Dante's Inferno, as translated
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
pelias
Conan cried out sharply and recoiled, thrusting his companion
back. Before them rose the great shimmering white form of Satha,
an ageless hate in its eyes. Conan tensed himself for one mad
berserker onslaught -- to thrust the glowing faggot into that
fiendish countenance and throw his life into the ripping sword-
stroke. But the snake was not looking at him. It was glaring
over his shoulder at the man called Pelias, who stood with his
arms folded, smiling. And in the great, cold, yellow eyes
slowly the hate died out in a glitter of pure fear -- the only
time Conan ever saw such an expression in a reptile's eyes.
With a swirling rush like the sweep of a strong wind, the great
snake was gone.
"What did he see to frighten him?" asked Conan, eyeing his
companion uneasily.
"The scaled people see what escapes the mortal eye," answered
Pelias cryptically. "You see my fleshy guise, he saw my naked
soul."
Conan the Usurper, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp
pick*ax*
The mine is full of holes;
With the wound of pickaxes.
But look at the goldsmith's store.
There, there is gold everywhere.
Divan-i Kebir Meter 2, by Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi
*piercer
Ye Piercer doth look like unto a stalactyte, and hangeth
from the roofs of caves and caverns. Unto the height of a
man, and thicker than a man's thigh do they grow, and in
groups do they hang. If a creature doth pass beneath them,
they will by its heat and noise perceive it, and fall upon
it to kill and devour it, though in any other way they move
but exceeding slow.
the Bestiary of Xygag
piranha
They live in "schools." Many times they will wait for prey
to come to the shallow water of the river. Then the large
group of piranhas will attack. These large groups are able
to kill large animals... Their lower teeth fit perfectly
into the spaces of their upper teeth, creating a tremendous
vice-like bite... Piranhas are attracted to any disturbance
in the water.
http://www.animalsoftherainforest.com
pit, spiked pit
Amid the thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the
idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul like balm.
I rushed to its deadly brink. I threw my straining vision
below. The glare from the enkindled roof illumined its inmost
recesses. Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to
comprehend the meaning of what I saw. At length it forced --
it wrestled its way into my soul -- it burned itself in upon my
shuddering reason. Oh! for a voice to speak! -- oh! horror! --
oh! any horror but this!
The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allan Poe
pit fiend
Pit fiends are among the more powerful of devils, capable of
attacking twice with weapons as well as grabbing and crushing
the life out of those unwary enough to enter their
domains.
platinum yendorian express card
This is an ancient artifact made of an unknown material. It
is rectangular in shape, very thin, and inscribed with
unreadable ancient runes. When carried, it grants the one
who carries it ESP, and reduces all spell induced damage done to
the carrier by half. It also protects from magic missile
attacks. Finally, its power is such that when invoked, it
can charge other objects.
pony
Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!
[...]
Tom called them one by one and they climbed over the brow and
stood in a line. Then Tom bowed to the hobbits.
"Here are your ponies, now!" he said. "They've more sense (in some
ways) than you wandering hobbits have -- more sense in their noses.
For they sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they
run to save themselves, then they run the right way."
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
*portal
Portals can be Mirrors, Pictures, Standing Stones, Stone
Circles, Windows, and special gates set up for the purpose.
You will travel through them both to distant parts of the
continent and to and from our own world. The precise manner
of their working is a Management secret.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
poseido*n
Poseido(o)n, lord of the seas and father of rivers and
fountains, was the son of Chronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus,
Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter. His rank of ruler of the
waves he received by lot at the Council Meeting of the Gods,
at which Zeus took the upper world for himself and gave
dominion over the lower world to Hades.
Poseidon is associated in many ways with horses and thus is
the god of horses. He taught men how to ride and manage the
animal he invented and is looked upon as the originator and
guardian deity of horse races.
His symbol is the familiar trident or three-pronged spear
with which he can split rocks, cause or quell storms, and
shake the earth, a power which makes him the god of
earthquakes as well. Physically, he is shown as a strong and
powerful ruler, every inch a king.
The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All
Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox Wilson
*potion*
POTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce
prisoner
Where am I?
In the Village.
What do you want?
Information.
Whose side are you on?
That would be telling. We want information ...
information ...
You won't get it.
By hook or by crook, we will.
Who are you?
The new Number 2.
Who is Number 1?
You are Number 6.
I am not a number! I am a free man!
The Prisoner, by Patrick McGoohan
ptah
Known under various names (Nu, Neph, Cenubis, Amen-Kneph,
Khery-Bakef), Ptah is the creator god and god of craftsmen.
He is usually depicted as wearing a closely fitting robe
with only his hands free. His most distinctive features are
the invariable skull-cap exposing only his face and ears,
and the was or rod of domination which he holds,
consisting of a staff surmounted by the ankh symbol of
life. He is otherwise symbolized by his sacred animal, the
bull.
*purple worm
A gargantuan version of the harmless rain-worm, the purple
worm poses a huge threat to the ordinary adventurer. It is
known to swallow whole and digest its victims within only a
few minutes. These worms are always on guard, sensitive
to the most minute vibrations in the earth, but may also
be awakened by a remote shriek.
quadruped
The woodlands and other regions are inhabited by multitudes
of four-legged creatures which cannot be simply classified.
They might not have fiery breath or deadly stings, but
adventurers have nevertheless met their end numerous times
due to the claws, hooves, or bites of such animals.
quantum mechanic
These creatures are not native to this universe; they seem
to have strangely derived powers, and unknown motives.
quasit
Quasits are small, evil creatures, related to imps. Their
talons release a very toxic poison when used in an attack.
quest
Many, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
designed to help you do it.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
quetzalcoatl
One of the principal Aztec-Toltec gods was the great and wise
Quetzalcoatl, who was called Kukumatz in Guatemala, and
Kukulcan in Yucatan. His image, the plumed serpent, is found
on both the oldest and the most recent Indian edifices. ...
The legend tells how the Indian deity Quetzalcoatl came from
the "Land of the Rising Sun". He wore a long white robe and
had a beard; he taught the people crafts and customs and laid
down wise laws. He created an empire in which the ears of
corn were as long as men are tall, and caused bolls of colored
cotton to grow on cotton plants. But for some reason or other
he had to leave his empire. ... But all the legends of
Quetzalcoatl unanimously agree that he promised to come again.
Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram
quit*
Maltar: [...] I remembered a little saying I learned my first
day at the academy.
Natalie: Yeah, yeah, I know. Winners never quit and quitters
never win.
Maltar: What? No! Winners never quit and quitters should be
cast into the flaming pit of death.
Snow Day, directed by Chris Koch,
written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi
raijin, raiden
The god of thunder.
human ranger, ranger
"Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters -- but hunters
ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many
places, not in Mordor only.
If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played
another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls
and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands
beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North
would have known them little but for us. Fear would have
destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless
hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What
roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in
quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the
Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?"
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
rat, * rat
Rats are long-tailed rodents. They are aggressive,
omnivorous, and adaptable, often carrying diseases.
"The rat," said O'Brien, still addressing his invisible
audience, "although a rodent, is carnivorous. You are aware
of that. You will have heard of the things that happen in
the poor quarters of this town. In some streets a woman dare
not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes.
The rats are certain to attack it. Within quite a small time
they will strip it to the bones. They also attack sick or
dying people. They show astonishing intelligence in knowing
when a human being is helpless."
1984, by George Orwell
raven
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered -- not a feather then he fluttered--
Till I scarcely more than muttered, 'other friends have flown before--
On the morrow *he* will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, 'Nevermore.'
The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe
*ring, ring of *
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
robe
Robes are the only garments, apart from Shirts, ever to have
sleeves. They have three uses:
1. As the official uniform of Priests, Priestesses, Monks,
Nuns (see Nunnery), and Wizards. The OMT [ Official Management
Term ] prescribed for the Robes of Priests and Nuns is that
they fall in severe folds; of Priestesses that they float;
and of Wizards that they swirl. You can thus see who you
are dealing with.
2. For Kings. The OMT here is falling in stately folds.
3. As the garb of Desert Nomads. [...]
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
rock
Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something.
He could not get up at the brutes and he had nothing to shoot
with; but looking about he saw that in this place there were
many stones lying in what appeared to be a now dry little
watercourse. Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and
it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one
that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise
throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and
even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they
saw him stoop; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of
his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand,
bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and
throwing sort - indeed he could do lots of things, besides
blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I
haven't time to tell you about. There is no time now. While
he was picking up stones, the spider had reached Bombur, and
soon he would have been dead. At that moment Bilbo threw.
The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped
senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs
curled up.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
rock mole
A rock mole is a member of the rodent family. They get their
name from their ability to tunnel through rock in the same
fashion that a mole tunnels through earth. They are known to
eat anything they come across in their diggings, although it
is still unknown how they convert some of these things into
something of nutritional value.
rogue, human rogue
I understand the business, I hear it: to have an open ear, a
quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cut-purse; a
good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other
senses. I see this is the time that the unjust man doth
thrive. <...> The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity,
stealing away from his father with his clog at his heels: if
I thought it were a piece of honesty to acquaint the king
withal, I would not do't: I hold it the more knavery to
conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession.
Autolycus the Rogue, from The Winter's Tale by
William Shakespeare
rothe
The rothe (pronounced roth-AY) is a musk ox-like creature with
an aversion to light. It prefers to live underground near
lichen and moss.
*royal jelly
"'Royal Jelly,'" he read aloud, "'must be a substance of
tremendous nourishing power, for on this diet alone, the
honey-bee larva increases in weight fifteen hundred times in
five days!'"
"How much?"
"Fifteen hundred times, Mabel. And you know what that means
if you put it in terms of a human being? It means," he said,
lowering his voice, leaning forward, fixing her with those
small pale eyes, "it means that in five days a baby weighing
seven and a half pounds to start off with would increase in
weight to five tons!"
Royal Jelly, by Roald Dahl
rust monster
These strange creatures live on a diet of metals. They can
turn a suit of armour into so much useless rusted scrap in no
time at all.
*saber, *sabre
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air,
Sab'ring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery smoke,
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not--
Not the six hundred.
The Charge of the Light Brigade,
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
saddle
The horseman serves the horse,
The neat-herd serves the neat,
The merchant serves the purse,
The eater serves his meat;
'Tis the day of the chattel,
Web to weave, and corn to grind,
Things are in the saddle,
And ride mankind.
Ode, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
sake
Japanese rice wine.
salamander
For hundreds of years, many people believed that salamanders
were magical. In England in the Middle Ages, people thought
that fire created salamanders. When they set fire to damp
logs, dozens of the slimy creatures scurried out. The word
salamander, in fact, comes from a Greek word meaning "fire
animal".
Salamanders, by Cherie Winner
sandestin
Ildefonse left the terrace and almost immediately sounds
of contention came from the direction of the work-room.
Ildefonse presently returned to the terrace, followed by
Osherl and a second sandestin using the guise of a gaunt blue
bird-like creature, some six feet in height.
Ildefonse spoke in scathing tones: "Behold these two
creatures! They can roam the chronoplex as easily as you
or I can walk around the table; yet neither has the wit to
announce his presence upon arrival. I found Osherl asleep
in his fulgurite and Sarsem perched in the rafters."
[...]
"No matter," said Rhialto. "He has brought Sarsem, and this
was his requirement. In the main, Osherl, you have done well!"
"And my indenture point?"
"Much depends upon Sarsem's testimony. Sarsem, will you sit?"
"In this guise, I find it more convenient to stand."
"Then why not alter to human form and join us in comfort at
the table?"
"That is a good idea." Sarsem became a naked young epicene
in an integument of lavender scales with puffs of purple hair
like pom-poms growing down his back. He seated himself at
the table but declined refreshment. "This human semblance,
though typical, is after all, only a guise. If I were to put
such things inside myself, I might well become uneasy."
Rhialto the Marvellous, by Jack Vance
sasquatch
The name Sasquatch doesn't really become important in Canada
until the 1930s, when it appeared in the works of J. W. Burns,
a British Columbian writer who used a great deal of Indian
lore in his stories. Burn's Sasquatch was a giant Indian who
lived in the wilderness. He was hairy only in the sense that
he had long hair on his head, and while this Sasquatch lived a
wild and primitive life, he was fully human.
Burns's character proved to be quite popular. There was a
Sasquatch Inn near the town of Harrison, British Columbia, and
Harrison even had a local celebration called "Sasquatch Days."
The celebration which had been dormant for years was revived
as part of British Columbia's centennial, and one of the
events was to be a Sasquatch hunt. The hunt never took place,
perhaps it was never supposed to, but the publicity about it
did bring out a number of people who said they had encountered
a Sasquatch -- not Burns's giant Indian, but the hairy apelike
creature that we have all come to know.
The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen
*sceptre of might
This mace was created aeons ago in some unknown cave,
and has been passed down from generation to generation of
cave dwellers. It is a very mighty mace indeed, and in
addition will protect anyone who carries it from magic
missile attacks. When invoked, it causes conflict in the
area around it.
scorpio*
A sub-species of the spider (Scorpionidae), the scorpion
distinguishes itself from them by having a lower body that
ends in a long, jointed tail tapering to a poisonous stinger.
They have eight legs and pincers.
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
scorpius
Since early times, the Scorpion has represented death, darkness,
and evil. Scorpius is the reputed slayer of Orion the Hunter.
[...] The gods put both scorpion and hunter among the stars, but
on opposite sides of the sky so they would never fight again.
As Scorpius rises in the east, Orion sets in the west.
365 Starry Nights, by Chet Raymo
*scroll, scroll *
And I was gazing on the surges prone,
With many a scalding tear and many a groan,
When at my feet emerg'd an old man's hand,
Grasping this scroll, and this same slender wand.
I knelt with pain--reached out my hand--had grasp'd
Those treasures--touch'd the knuckles--they unclasp'd--
I caught a finger: but the downward weight
O'erpowered me--it sank. Then 'gan abate
The storm, and through chill aguish gloom outburst
The comfortable sun. I was athirst
To search the book, and in the warming air
Parted its dripping leaves with eager care.
Strange matters did it treat of, and drew on
My soul page after page, till well-nigh won
Into forgetfulness; when, stupefied,
I read these words, and read again, and tried
My eyes against the heavens, and read again.
Endymion, by John Keats
shad*
Shades are undead creatures. They differ from zombies in
that a zombie is an undead animation of a corpse, while a
shade is an undead creature magically created by the use
of black magic.
shaman karnov
Making his quarters in the Caves of the Ancestors, Shaman
Karnov unceasingly tries to shield his neanderthal people
from Tiamat's minions' harassments.
shan*lai*ching
The Chinese god of Mountains and Seas, also the name of an
old book (also Shan Hai Tjing), the book of mountains and
seas - which deals with the monster Kung Kung trying to
seize power from Yao, the fourth emperor.
Spectrum Atlas van de Mythologie
shark
As the shark moved, its dark top reflected virtually no
light. The denticles on its skin muted the whoosh of its
movements as the shark rose, driven by the power of the
great tail sweeping from side to side, like a scythe.
The fish exploded upward.
Charles Bruder felt a slight vacuum tug in the motion of
the sea, noted it as a passing current, the pull of a wave,
the tickle of undertow. He could not have heard the faint
sucking rush of water not far beneath him. He couldn't
have seen or heard what was hurtling from the murk at
astonishing speed, jaws unhinging, widening, for the
enormous first bite. It was the classic attack
that no other creature in nature could make -- a bomb from
the depths.
Close to Shore, by Michael Capuzzo
shito
A Japanese stabbing knife.
shrieker
With a single, savage thrust of her spear, the warrior-woman
impaled the fungus, silencing it. However, it was too late:
the alarm had been raised[...]
Suddenly, a large, dark shape rose from the abyss before them,
its fetid bulk looming overhead...The monster was some kind of
great dark worm, but that was about all they were sure of.
The Adventurers, Epic IV, by Thomas A. Miller
skeleton
A skeleton is a magically animated undead creature. Unlike
shades, only a humanoid creature can be used to create a
skeleton. No one knows why this is true, but it has become
an accepted fact amongst the practitioners of the black arts.
slasher
"That dog belonged to a settler who tried to build his cabin
on the bank of the river a few miles south of the fort,"
grunted Conan. ... "We took him to the fort and dressed his
wounds, but after he recovered he took to the woods and turned
wild. -- What now, Slasher, are you hunting the men who
killed your master?" ... "Let him come," muttered Conan.
"He can smell the devils before we can see them." ...
Slasher cleared the timbers with a bound and leaped into the
bushes. They were violently shaken and then the dog slunk
back to Balthus' side, his jaws crimson. ... "He was a man,"
said Conan. "I drink to his shade, and to the shade of the
dog, who knew no fear." He quaffed part of the wine, then
emptied the rest upon the floor, with a curious heathen
gesture, and smashed the goblet. "The heads of ten Picts
shall pay for this, and seven heads for the dog, who was a
better warrior than many a man."
Conan The Warrior, by Robert E Howard
slime mold
Slime mold or slime fungus, organism usually classified with
the fungi, but showing equal affinity to the protozoa. Slime
molds have complex life cycles with an animal-like motile
phase, in which feeding and growth occur, and a plant-like
immotile reproductive phase. The motile phase, commonly
found under rotting logs and damp leaves, consists of either
solitary amoebalike cells or a brightly colored multinucleate
mass of protoplasm called a plasmodium, which creeps about
and feeds by amoeboid movement.
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
sling
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and
drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward
the army to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone,
and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that
the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face
to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with
a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there
was no sword in the hand of David.
1 Samuel 17:48-50
*snake, serpent, water moccasin, python, pit viper
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of
the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou
hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I
did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou
hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above
every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:1-6,13-15
snickersnee
Ah, never shall I forget the cry,
or the shriek that shrieked he,
As I gnashed my teeth, and from my sheath
I drew my Snickersnee!
--Koko, Lord high executioner of Titipu
The Mikado, by Sir W.S. Gilbert
sokoban
Sokoban (Japanese for "warehouse person") is a puzzle-type
game where the player must push around treasure to a goal
area. It apparently won first prize in a Japanese programming
contest.
Xsokoban web site
*soldier, sergeant, lieutenant, captain
The soldiers of Yendor are well-trained in the art of war,
many trained by the Wizard himself. Some say the soldiers
are explorers who were unfortunate enough to be captured,
and put under the Wizard's spell. Those who have survived
encounters with soldiers say they travel together in platoons,
and are fierce fighters. Because of the load of their combat
gear, however, one can usually run away from them, and doing
so is considered a wise thing.
*spear, javelin
- they come together with great random, and a spear is brast,
and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down,
horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and
then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast his
spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down he goes,
horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake his neck, and
then there's another elected, and another and another and
still another, till the material is all used up; and when you
come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from
another, nor who whipped; and as a picture of living, raging,
roaring battle, sho! why it's pale and noiseless - just
ghosts scuffling in a fog. Dear me, what would this barren
vocabulary get out of the mightiest spectacle? - the burning
of Rome in Nero's time, for instance? Why, it would merely
say 'Town burned down; no insurance; boy brast a window,
fireman brake his neck!' Why, that ain't a picture!
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark
Twain
*spellbook*
The Book of Three lay closed on the table. Taran had never
been allowed to read the volume for himself; now he was sure
it held more than Dallben chose to tell him. In the sun-
filled room, with Dallben still meditating and showing no
sign of stopping, Taran rose and moved through the shimmering
beams. From the forest came the monotonous tick of a beetle.
His hands reached for the cover. Taran gasped in pain and
snatched them away. They smarted as if each of his fingers
had been stung by hornets. He jumped back, stumbled against
the bench, and dropped to the floor, where he put his fingers
woefully into his mouth.
Dallben's eyes blinked open. He peered at Taran and yawned
slowly. "You had better see Coll about a lotion for those
hands," he advised. "Otherwise, I shouldn't be surprised if
they blistered."
The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander
*spider
Eight legged creature capable of spinning webs to trap prey.
"You mean you eat flies?" gasped Wilbur.
"Certainly. Flies, bugs, grasshoppers, choice beetles,
moths, butterflies, tasty cockroaches, gnats, midges, daddy
longlegs, centipedes, mosquitoes, crickets - anything that is
careless enough to get caught in my web. I have to live,
don't I?"
"Why, yes, of course," said Wilbur.
Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White
*spore, *sphere
The attack by those who want to die -- this is the attack
against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense.
--Human aphorism
The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert
*staff
See also: *aesculapius
So they stood, each in his place, neither moving a finger's
breadth back, for one good hour, and many blows were given
and received by each in that time, till here and there were
sore bones and bumps, yet neither thought of crying "Enough,"
or seemed likely to fall from off the bridge. Now and then
they stopped to rest, and each thought that he never had seen
in all his life before such a hand at quarterstaff. At last
Robin gave the stranger a blow upon the ribs that made his
jacket smoke like a damp straw thatch in the sun. So shrewd
was the stroke that the stranger came within a hair's breadth
of falling off the bridge; but he regained himself right
quickly, and, by a dexterous blow, gave Robin a crack on the
crown that caused the blood to flow. Then Robin grew mad
with anger, and smote with all his might at the other; but
the stranger warded the blow, and once again thwacked Robin,
and this time so fairly that he fell heels over head into the
water, as the queen pin falls in a game of bowls.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle
*staff of aesculapius
This staff is considered sacred to all healers, as it truly
holds the powers of life and death. When wielded, it
protects its user from all life draining attacks, and
additionally gives the wielder the power of regeneration.
When invoked it performs healing magic.
staircase*
Up he went -- very quickly at first -- then more slowly -- then
in a little while even more slowly than that -- and finally,
after many minutes of climbing up the endless stairway, one
weary foot was barely able to follow the other. Milo suddenly
realized that with all his effort he was no closer to the top
than when he began, and not a great deal further from the
bottom. But he struggled on for a while longer, until at last,
completely exhausted, he collapsed onto one of the steps.
"I should have known it," he mumbled, resting his tired legs
and filling his lungs with air. "This is just like the line
that goes on forever, and I'll never get there."
"You wouldn't like it much anyway," someone replied gently.
"Infinity is a dreadfully poor place. They can never manage to
make ends meet."
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
statue*
Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so
still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes
on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in
the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from
the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been
looking at him at all. ("But supposing it turns its head?"
thought Edmund.) In fact it was staring at something else -
namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about
four feet away. "Aha!" thought Edmund. "When it springs at
the dwarf then will be my chance to escape." But still the
lion never moved, nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund
remembered what the others had said about the White Witch
turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone
lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that
the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with
snow. Of course it must be only a statue!
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
sting
There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about
him when he came to his senses. The spider lay dead beside
him, and his sword-blade was stained black. Somehow the
killing of the giant spider, all alone and by himself in the
dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of
anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt
a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of
an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put
it back into its sheath.
"I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call
you Sting."
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
stormbringer
There were sounds in the distance, incongruent with the
sounds of even this nameless, timeless sea: thin sounds,
agonized and terrible, for all that they remained remote -
yet the ship followed them, as if drawn by them; they grew
louder - pain and despair were there, but terror was
predominant.
Elric had heard such sounds echoing from his cousin Yyrkoon's
sardonically named 'Pleasure Chambers' in the days before he
had fled the responsibilities of ruling all that remained of
the old Melnibonean Empire. These were the voices of men
whose very souls were under siege; men to whom death meant
not mere extinction, but a continuation of existence, forever
in thrall to some cruel and supernatural master. He had
heard men cry so when his salvation and his nemesis, his
great black battle-blade Stormbringer, drank their souls.
The Lands Beyond the World, by Michael Moorcock
susano*o
The Shinto chthonic and weather god and brother of the sun
goddess Amaterasu, he was born from the nose of the
primordial creator god Izanagi and represents the physical,
material world. He has been expelled from heaven and taken
up residence on earth.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
tanko
Samurai plate armor of the Yamato period (AD 300 - 710).
tengu
The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese
legend. Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose
and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up
feuds and prolonging enmity between families. Indeed, the
belligerent tengus were supposed to have been man's first
instructors in the use of arms.
Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
thoth
The Egyptian god of the moon and wisdom, Thoth is the patron
deity of scribes and of knowledge, including scientific,
medical and mathematical writing, and is said to have given
mankind the art of hieroglyphic writing. He is important as
a mediator and counsellor amongst the gods and is the scribe
of the Heliopolis Ennead pantheon. According to mythology,
he was born from the head of the god Seth. He may be
depicted in human form with the head of an ibis, wholly as an
ibis, or as a seated baboon sometimes with its torso covered
in feathers. His attributes include a crown which consists
of a crescent moon surmounted by a moon disc.
Thoth is generally regarded as a benign deity. He is also
scrupulously fair and is responsible not only for entering
in the record the souls who pass to afterlife, but of
adjudicating in the Hall of the Two Truths. The Pyramid
Texts reveal a violent side of his nature by which he
decapitates the adversaries of truth and wrenches out their
hearts.
Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan
thoth*amon
Men say that he [Thutothmes] has opposed Thoth-Amon, who is
master of all priests of Set, and dwells in Luxor, and that
Thutothmes seeks hidden power [The Heart of Ahriman] to
overthrow the Great One.
Conan the Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard
*throne
Methought I saw the footsteps of a throne
Which mists and vapours from mine eyes did shroud--
Nor view of who might sit thereon allowed;
But all the steps and ground about were strown
With sights the ruefullest that flesh and bone
Ever put on; a miserable crowd,
Sick, hale, old, young, who cried before that cloud,
"Thou art our king,
O Death! to thee we groan."
Those steps I clomb; the mists before me gave
Smooth way; and I beheld the face of one
Sleeping alone within a mossy cave,
With her face up to heaven; that seemed to have
Pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone;
A lovely Beauty in a summer grave!
Sonnet, by William Wordsworth
tiger
1. A well-known tropical predator (Felis tigris): a
feline. It has a yellowish skin with darker spots or
stripes. 2. Figurative: a paper tiger, something that is
meant to scare, but has no really scaring effect whatsoever,
(after a statement by Mao Ze Dong, August 1946).
Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
The Tyger, by William Blake
tin, tin of *, tinning kit
"You know salmon, Sarge," said Nobby.
"It is a fish of which I am aware, yes."
"You know they sell kind of slices of it in tins..."
"So I am given to understand, yes."
"Weell...how come all the tins are the same size? Salmon
gets thinner at both ends."
"Interesting point, Nobby. I think-"
Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett
tin opener
Less than thirty Cat tribes now survived, roaming the cargo
decks on their hind legs in a desperate search for food.
But the food had gone.
The supplies were finished.
Weak and ailing, they prayed at the supply hold's silver
mountains: huge towering acres of metal rocks which, in their
pagan way, the mutant Cats believed watched over them.
Amid the wailing and the screeching one Cat stood up and held
aloft the sacred icon. The icon which had been passed down
as holy, and one day would make its use known.
It was a piece of V-shaped metal with a revolving handle on
its head.
He took down a silver rock from the silver mountain, while
the other Cats cowered and screamed at the blasphemy.
He placed the icon on the rim of the rock, and turned the
handle.
And the handle turned.
And the rock opened.
And inside the rock was Alphabetti spaghetti in tomato sauce.
Red Dwarf, by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
titan
Gaea, mother earth, arose from the Chaos and gave birth to
Uranus, heaven, who became her consort. Uranus hated all
their children, because he feared they might challenge his
own authority. Those children, the Titans, the Gigantes,
and the Cyclops, were banished to the nether world. Their
enraged mother eventually released the youngest titan,
Chronos (time), and encouraged him to castrate his father and
rule in his place. Later, he too was challenged by his own
son, Zeus, and he and his fellow titans were ousted from
Mount Olympus.
Greek Mythology, by Richard Patrick
tourist, elven tourist, human tourist
The road from Ankh-Morpork to Chrim is high, white and
winding, a thirty-league stretch of potholes and half-buried
rocks that spirals around mountains and dips into cool green
valleys of citrus trees, crosses liana-webbed gorges on
creaking rope bridges and is generally more picturesque than
useful.
Picturesque. That was a new word to Rincewind the wizard
(BMgc, Unseen University [failed]). It was one of a number
he had picked up since leaving the charred ruins of
Ankh-Morpork. Quaint was another one. Picturesque meant --
he decided after careful observation of the scenery that
inspired Twoflower to use the word -- that the landscape was
horribly precipitous. Quaint, when used to describe the
occasional village through which they passed, meant fever-
ridden and tumbledown.
Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld.
Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant "idiot".
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
towel
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say
on the subject of towels.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing
an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great
practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as
you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie
on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus
V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it
beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of
Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down down the slow heavy
River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it
round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze
of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly
stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't
see you - daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can
wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of
course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean
enough.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
by Douglas Adams
*tower
Towers (brooding, dark) stand alone in Waste Areas and
almost always belong to Wizards. All are several stories high,
round, doorless, virtually windowless, and composed of smooth
blocks of masonry that make them very hard to climb. [...]
You will have to go to a Tower and then break into it at some
point towards the end of your Tour.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
trap*door
I knew my Erik too well to feel at all comfortable on jumping
into his house. I knew what he had made of a certain palace at
Mazenderan. From being the most honest building conceivable, he
soon turned it into a house of the very devil, where you could
not utter a word but it was overheard or repeated by an echo.
With his trap-doors the monster was responsible for endless
tragedies of all kinds.
The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux
trapper
The trapper is a creature which has evolved a chameleon-like
ability to blend into the dungeon surroundings. It captures
its prey by remaining very still and blending into the
surrounding dungeon features, until an unsuspecting creature
passes by. It wraps itself around its prey and digests it.
tree
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Trees - Joyce Kilmer
tripe, tripe ration
If you start from scratch, cooking tripe is a long-drawn-out
affair. Fresh whole tripe calls for a minimum of 12 hours of
cooking, some time-honored recipes demanding as much as 24.
To prepare fresh tripe, trim if necessary. Wash it thoroughly,
soaking overnight, and blanch, for 1/2 hour in salted water.
Wash well again, drain and cut for cooking. When cooked, the
texture of tripe should be like that of soft gristle. More
often, alas, because the heat has not been kept low enough,
it has the consistency of wet shoe leather.
Joy of Cooking, by I Rombauer and M Becker
*troll
The troll shambled closer. He was perhaps eight feet tall,
perhaps more. His forward stoop, with arms dangling past
thick claw-footed legs to the ground, made it hard to tell.
The hairless green skin moved upon his body. His head was a
gash of a mouth, a yard-long nose, and two eyes which drank
the feeble torchlight and never gave back a gleam.
[...]
Like a huge green spider, the troll's severed hand ran on its
fingers. Across the mounded floor, up onto a log with one
taloned forefinger to hook it over the bark, down again it
scrambled, until it found the cut wrist. And there it grew
fast. The troll's smashed head seethed and knit together.
He clambered back on his feet and grinned at them. The
waning faggot cast red light over his fangs.
Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson
*tsurugi of muramasa
This most ancient of swords has been passed down through the
leadership of the Samurai legions for hundreds of years. It
is said to grant luck to its wielder, but its main power is
terrible to behold. It has the capability to cut in half any
creature it is wielded against, instantly killing them.
tsurugi
See also: *muramasa
The tsurugi, also known as the long samurai sword, is an
extremely sharp, two-handed blade favored by the samurai.
It is made of hardened steel, and is manufactured using a
special process, causing it to never rust. The tsurugi is
rumored to be so sharp that it can occasionally cut
opponents in half!
twoflower, guide
"Rincewind!"
Twoflower sprang off the bed. The wizard jumped back,
wrenching his features into a smile.
"My dear chap, right on time! We'll just have lunch, and
then I'm sure you've got a wonderful programme lined up for
this afternoon!"
"Er --"
"That's great!"
Rincewind took a deep breath. "Look," he said desperately,
"let's eat somewhere else. There's been a bit of a fight
down below."
"A tavern brawl? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Well, you see, I - what?"
"I thought I made myself clear this morning, Rincewind. I
want to see genuine Morporkian life - the slave market, the
Whore Pits, the Temple of Small Gods, the Beggar's Guild...
and a genuine tavern brawl." A faint note of suspicion
entered Twoflower's voice. "You do have them, don't you?
You know, people swinging on chandeliers, swordfights over
the table, the sort of thing Hrun the Barbarian and the
Weasel are always getting involved in. You know --
excitement."
The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
tyr
Yet remains that one of the Aesir who is called Tyr:
he is most daring, and best in stoutness of heart, and he
has much authority over victory in battle; it is good for
men of valor to invoke him. It is a proverb, that he is
Tyr-valiant, who surpasses other men and does not waver.
He is wise, so that it is also said, that he that is wisest
is Tyr-prudent. This is one token of his daring: when the
Aesir enticed Fenris-Wolf to take upon him the fetter Gleipnir,
the wolf did not believe them, that they would loose him,
until they laid Tyr's hand into his mouth as a pledge. But
when the Aesir would not loose him, then he bit off the hand
at the place now called 'the wolf's joint;' and Tyr is one-
handed, and is not called a reconciler of men.
The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson
*hulk
Umber hulks are powerful subterranean predators whose
iron-like claws allow them to burrow through solid stone in
search of prey. They are tremendously strong; muscles bulge
beneath their thick, scaly hides and their powerful arms and
legs all end in great claws.
*unicorn, unicorn horn
Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single
twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought to
be a powerful talisman. It was said that the unicorn had
simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the water
to become pure. Men also believed that to drink from this horn
was a protection against all sickness, and that if the horn was
ground to a powder it would act as an antidote to all poisons.
Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn of a unicorn was
used in a ceremony to test the royal food for poison.
Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a very
fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a single
thrust from its horn. Its fleetness of foot also makes this
solitary creature difficult to capture. However, it can be
tamed and captured by a maiden. Made gentle by the sight of a
virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head in her lap, and
in this docile mood, the maiden may secure it with a golden rope.
Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
Martin took a small sip of beer. "Almost ready," he said.
"You hold your beer awfully well."
Tlingel laughed. "A unicorn's horn is a detoxicant. Its
possession is a universal remedy. I wait until I reach the
warm glow stage, then I use my horn to burn off any excess and
keep me right there."
Unicorn Variations, by Roger Zelazny
valkyrie, human valkyrie
The Valkyries were the thirteen choosers of the slain, the
beautiful warrior-maids of Odin who rode through the air and
over the sea. They watched the progress of the battle and
selected the heroes who were to fall fighting. After they
were dead, the maidens rewarded the heroes by kissing them
and then led their souls to Valhalla, where the warriors
lived happily in an ideal existence, drinking and eating
without restraint and fighting over again the battles in
which they died and in which they had won their deathless
fame.
The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox
Wilson
vampire, vampire bat, vampire lord
The Oxford English Dictionary is quite unequivocal:
vampire - "a preternatural being of a malignant nature (in
the original and usual form of the belief, a reanimated
corpse), supposed to seek nourishment, or do harm, by sucking
the blood of sleeping persons. ..."
venus
Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of
Jupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from the
foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to
the Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by
the Seasons, and then led to the assembly of the gods. All
were charmed with her beauty, and each one demanded her
for his wife. Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for
the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts. So
the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the
most ill-favoured of gods.
Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch
vlad*
Vlad Dracula the Impaler was a 15th-Century monarch of the
Birgau region of the Carpathian Mountains, in what is now
Romania. In Romanian history he is best known for two things.
One was his skilled handling of the Ottoman Turks, which kept
them from making further inroads into Christian Europe. The
other was the ruthless manner in which he ran his fiefdom.
He dealt with perceived challengers to his rule by impaling
them upright on wooden stakes. Visiting dignitaries who
failed to doff their hats had them nailed to their head.
*vortex, vortices
Swirling clouds of pure elemental energies, the vortices are
thought to be related to the larger elementals. Though the
vortices do no damage when touched, they are noted for being
able to envelop unwary travellers. The hapless fool thus
swallowed by a vortex will soon perish from exposure to the
element the vortex is composed of.
vrock
The vrock is one of the weaker forms of demon. It resembles
a cross between a human being and a vulture and does physical
damage by biting and by using the claws on both its arms and
feet.
wakizashi
The samurai warrior traditionally wears two swords; the
wakizashi is the shorter of the two. See also katana.
wand of *, *wand
'Saruman!' he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority.
'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am
Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no
colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.'
He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice.
'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the
staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it
fell down at Gandalf's feet. 'Go!' said Gandalf. With a cry
Saruman fell back and crawled away.
The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien
warg
Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. "How the wind howls!"
he cried. "It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have
come west of the Mountains!"
"Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf. "It is as I
said. The hunt is up! Even if we live to see the dawn, who
now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves
on his trail?"
"How far is Moria?" asked Boromir.
"There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles
as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,"
answered Gandalf grimly.
"Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can,"
said Boromir. "The wolf that one hears is worse then the orc
that one fears."
"True!" said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. "But
where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls."
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
war*hammer
See also: mjollnir
They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the
battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his
great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in
black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his
House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the
sunlight. The waters of the Trident ran red around the
hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again
and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer
stove in the dragon and the chest behind it. When Ned had
finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream,
while men of both armies scrambled in the swirling waters for
rubies knocked free of his armor.
A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
water
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
web
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott
*wight
When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall
nothing except a sense of dread. Then suddenly he knew that
he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A
Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under
the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered
tales spoke. He dared not move, but lay as he found himself:
flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his
breast.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
wizard of yendor
No one knows how old this mighty wizard is, or from whence he
came. It is known that, having lived a span far greater than
any normal man's, he grew weary of lesser mortals; and so,
spurning all human company, he forsook the dwellings of men
and went to live in the depths of the Earth. He took with
him a dreadful artifact, the Book of the Dead, which is said
to hold great power indeed. Many have sought to find the
wizard and his treasure, but none have found him and lived to
tell the tale. Woe be to the incautious adventurer who
disturbs this mighty sorcerer!
wolf, *wolf, *wolf cub
The ancestors of the modern day domestic dog, wolves are
powerful muscular animals with bushy tails. Intelligent,
social animals, wolves live in family groups or packs made
up of multiple family units. These packs cooperate in hunting
down prey.
woodchuck
The Usenet Oracle requires an answer to this question!
> How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could
> chuck wood?
"Oh, heck! I'll handle *this* one!" The Oracle spun the terminal
back toward himself, unlocked the ZOT-guard lock, and slid the
glass guard away from the ZOT key. "Ummmm....could you turn around
for a minute? ZOTs are too graphic for the uninitiated. Even *I*
get a little squeamish sometimes..." The neophyte turned around,
and heard the Oracle slam his finger on a computer key, followed
by a loud ZZZZOTTTTT and the smell of ozone.
Excerpted from Internet Oracularity 576.6
*worm, long worm tail, worm tooth, crysknife
[The crysknife] is manufactured in two forms from teeth taken
from dead sandworms. The two forms are "fixed" and "unfixed".
An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human body's
electrical field to prevent disintegration. Fixed knives
are treated for storage. All are about 20 centimeters long.
Dune, by Frank Herbert
wraith, nazgul
Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim
and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to
see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall
figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing.
In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under
their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs
were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of
steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they
rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword, and
it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a
firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller
than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his
helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in
the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it
glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down
on Frodo.
The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
wumpus
The Wumpus, by the way, is not bothered by the hazards since
he has sucker feet and is too big for a bat to lift. If you
try to shoot him and miss, there's also a chance that he'll
up and move himself into another cave, though by nature the
Wumpus is a sedentary creature.
wump (6) -- "Hunt the Wumpus"
xan
They sent their friend the mosquito [xan] ahead of them to
find out what lay ahead. "Since you are the one who sucks
the blood of men walking along paths," they told the mosquito,
"go and sting the men of Xibalba." The mosquito flew
down the dark road to the Underworld. Entering the house of
the Lords of Death, he stung the first person that he saw...
The mosquito stung this man as well, and when he yelled, the
man next to him asked, "Gathered Blood, what's wrong?" So
he flew along the row stinging all the seated men until he
knew the names of all twelve.
Popul Vuh, as translated by Ralph Nelson
xorn
A distant cousin of the earth elemental, the xorn has the
ability to shift the cells of its body around in such a way
that it becomes porous to inert material. This gives it the
ability to pass through any obstacle that might be between it
and its next meal.
ya
The arrow of choice of the samurai, ya are made of very
straight bamboo, and are tipped with hardened steel.
yeenoghu
Yeenoghu, the demon lord of gnolls, still exists although
all his followers have been wiped off the face of the earth.
He casts magic projectiles at those close to him, and a mere
gaze into his piercing eyes may hopelessly confuse the
battle-weary adventurer.
yeti
The Abominable Snowman, or yeti, is one of the truly great
unknown animals of the twentieth century. It is a large hairy
biped that lives in the Himalayan region of Asia ... The story
of the Abominable Snowman is filled with mysteries great and
small, and one of the most difficult of all is how it got that
awful name. The creature is neither particularly abominable,
nor does it necessarily live in the snows. Yeti is a Tibetan
word which may apply either to a real, but unknown animal of
the Himalayas, or to a mountain spirit or demon -- no one is
quite sure which. And after nearly half a century in which
Westerners have trampled around looking for the yeti, and
asking all sorts of questions, the original native traditions
concerning the creature have become even more muddled and
confused.
The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen
*yugake
Japanese leather archery gloves. Gloves made for use while
practicing had thumbs reinforced with horn. Those worn into
battle had thumbs reinforced with a double layer of leather.
yumi
The samurai is highly trained with a special type of bow,
the yumi. Like the ya, the yumi is made of bamboo. With
the yumi-ya, the bow and arrow, the samurai is an extremely
accurate and deadly warrior.
*zombie
The zombi... is a soulless human corpse, still dead, but
taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a
mechanical semblance of life, -- it is a dead body which is
made to walk and act and move as if it were alive.
W. B. Seabrook
zruty
The zruty are wild and gigantic beings, living in the
wildernesses of the Tatra mountains.