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Nac Mac Feegle
In the fictional world of Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series of novels, the Nac Mac Feegle (also sometimes known as Pictsies, Wee Free Men, the Little Men or "Person or Persons Unknown, Believed to be Armed") are a type of fairy folk. They appear in the novels '' Carpe Jugulum'', '' The Wee Free Men'', '' A Hat Full of Sky'', '' Wintersmith'', '' I Shall Wear Midnight'', '' Snuff'', and ''The Shepherd's Crown''. At six inches tall, they are seen as occasionally helpful thieves and pests. All Nac Mac Feegles have hair that is red and skin that is heavily tattooed and covered with (blue) woad. Their tattoos identify their clan. They do not possess wings. According to Pratchett, "They speak a mixture of Gaelic, Old Scots, Glaswegian, and gibberish." They are strong and resilient. The males are rowdy and spend their time drinking, fighting, and stealing. They are also very superstitious. History In '' The Art of Discworld'', Pratchett identifies '' The Little Grey Men'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, apocalyptic comedy novel ''Good Omens'' (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was Knight Bachelor, knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pixie
A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name. However, the word 'pixie' (under various forms) also appears in Dorset, Somerset and to a lesser extent in Sussex, Wiltshire and Hampshire. Similar to the Irish and Scottish '' Aos Sí'' (also spelled ''Aos Sidhe''), pixies are believed to inhabit ancient underground sites such as stone circles, barrows, dolmens, ringforts, or menhirs. In traditional regional lore, pixies are generally benign, mischievous, short of stature, and childlike; they are fond of dancing and wrestling outdoors, of which they perform through the night. In the modern era, they are usually depicted with pointed ears, often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Traditional stories describe them as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warrior
A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been present in the earliest pre-state societies. Scholars have argued that horse-riding Yamnaya culture, Yamnaya warriors from the Pontic–Caspian steppe played a key role during the Indo-European migrations and the diffusion of Indo-European languages across Eurasia. Most of the basic weapons used by warriors appeared before the rise of most hierarchical systems. Bow and arrow, Bows and arrows, Club (weapon), clubs, spears, swords, and other edged weapons were in widespread use. However, with the new findings of metallurgy, the aforementioned weapons had grown in effectiveness. When the first hierarchical systems evolved 5000 years ago, the gap between the rulers and the ruled had increased. Making war to extend t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dune (franchise)
''Dune'' is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. ''Dune'' is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. It won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award in 1966 and was later adapted into a Dune (1984 film), 1984 film, a Frank Herbert's Dune, 2000 television miniseries, and a two-part film series with the Dune (2021 film), first film in 2021 and a Dune: Part Two, sequel in 2024. Herbert wrote five sequels, the first two of which were adapted as a Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, 2003 miniseries. ''Dune'' has also inspired List of games based on Dune, tabletop games and a List of games based on Dune#Video games, series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the ''Dune'' novels have been adopted for the real-world Planetary nomenclature, nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn's mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reverend Mother (Dune)
The Bene Gesserit () are a group in Frank Herbert's fictional ''Dune'' universe. A powerful social, religious, and political force, the Bene Gesserit are described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that seem magical to outsiders. The group seeks to acquire power and influence to direct humanity on an enlightened path, a concerted effort planned and executed over millennia. Members who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers; some outsiders call them "witches" for their secretive nature and misunderstood powers. As the skills of a Bene Gesserit are as desirable as an alliance with the Sisterhood itself, they are able to charge a fee to teach women from Great Houses, and install some of their initiates as wives and concubines to their advantage. Loyal only to themselves and their collective goals, Bene Gesserit so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discworld (world)
The Discworld is the fictional world where English writer Sir Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' fantasy novels take place. It consists of an interstellar planet-sized disc, which sits on the backs of four huge elephants, themselves standing on the back of a world turtle, named Great A'Tuin, as it slowly swims through space. The ''Disc'' is the setting for all forty-one Discworld novels; it was influenced by world religions which feature human worlds resting on turtles, as a setting to reflect situations on Earth, in a humorous way. The Discworld is peopled mostly by the three main races of men, dwarfs and trolls. As the novels progress, other lesser known races are included, such as dragons, elves, goblins and pixies. Pratchett first explored the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel ''Strata'' (1981). Great A'Tuin Great A'Tuin is the Giant Star Turtle (of the fictional species ''Chelys galactica'') who travels through the Discworld universe's space, carrying four giant el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moonshine
Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial distilleries have adopted the term for its outlaw cachet and have begun producing their own legal "moonshine", including many novelty flavored varieties, that are said to continue the tradition by using a similar method and/or locale of production. In 2013, moonshine accounted for about one-third of global alcohol consumption. Terminology Different languages and countries have their own terms for moonshine . Fractional crystallization The ethanol may be concentrated in fermented beverages by means of freezing. For example, the name ''Applejack (drink), applejack'' derives from the traditional method of producing the drink, ''wikt:jack#Verb, jacking'', the process of Freeze distillation#Freeze distillation, fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusocial
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality has evolved among the insects, crustaceans, trematoda and mammals. It is most widespread in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Isoptera (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the sole reproducers, while soldiers and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanny Ogg
Gytha Ogg (usually called Nanny Ogg) is a character from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. She is a Witches (Discworld), witch and a member of the Lancre Coven. Gytha is known for her practical approach to magic and her no-nonsense attitude. She is also renowned for her culinary skills and is an excellent cook. Gytha Ogg is often depicted as a strong, capable, and independent character, with a sharp sense of humor. She frequently appears in the Discworld series, particularly in the books featuring the Lancre witches. Personality The character of Nanny Ogg is based on someone Pratchett knew in real life, "an old lady who liked a drink and a laugh, but...I suspect you could find someone like her on any street." Discworld illustrator Paul Kidby expressed a similar view of the character, writing, "I like to think we all know someone like Nanny Ogg, a person who enjoys a drink and has led a happy and full life." Nanny Ogg has been married three times, and is the mother of fif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liquor
Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic fermentation. While the word ''liquor'' ordinarily refers to distilled alcoholic spirits rather than drinks produced by fermentation alone, it can sometimes be used more broadly to refer to any alcoholic beverage (or even non-alcoholic ones produced by distillation or some other practices, such as the brewed liquor of a tea). The distillation process concentrates the alcohol, the resulting condensate has an increased alcohol by volume. As liquors contain significantly more alcohol (drug), alcohol (ethanol) than other alcoholic drinks, they are considered "harder". In North America, the term ''hard liquor'' is sometimes used to distinguish distilled alcoholic drinks from non-distilled ones, whereas the term ''spirits'' is more commonly used in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ankh Morpork City Watch
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force appearing in Terry Pratchett, Terry Prattchett's Discworld series. The Watch primarily functions out of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, but some stories do include members of the watch elsewhere in the world. The watch and its members are the primary topic of 8 novels and one short story, listed below in order of publication. *''Guards! Guards!'' (1989); *"Theatre of Cruelty (Discworld), Theatre of Cruelty" (1993) (short story); *''Men at Arms'' (1993); *''Feet of Clay (novel), Feet of Clay'' (1996); *''Jingo (novel), Jingo'' (1997); *''The Fifth Elephant'' (1999); *''Night Watch (Discworld), Night Watch'' (2002); *''Thud!'' (2005); *''Snuff (Pratchett novel), Snuff'' (2011) The novels generally feature Watch Commander Sam Vimes as protagonist and often draw on the conventions of crime novel, crime novels. The Watch and its individual members also appear as secondary characters in many other stories in the Discworl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chambered Cairn
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are found throughout Britain and Ireland, with the largest number in Scotland. Typically, the chamber is larger than a cist, and will contain a larger number of interments, which are either excarnated bones or inhumations (cremations). Most were situated near a settlement, and served as that community's "graveyard". Scotland Background During the early Neolithic (4000–3300 BC) architectural forms are highly regionalised with timber and earth monuments predominating in the east and stone-chambered cairns in the west. During the later Neolithic (3300–2500 BC) massive circular enclosures and the use of grooved ware and Unstan ware pottery emerge. Scotland has a particularly large number of chambered cairns; they are found in various diff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
