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Sir Orfeo
''Sir Orfeo'' is an anonymous Middle English Breton lai dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. It retells the story of Orpheus as a king who rescues his wife from the fairy king. The folk song ''Orfeo'' ( Roud 136, Child 19) is based on this poem. History and manuscripts ''Sir Orfeo'' was probably written in the late 13th or early 14th century in the Westminster-Middlesex area. It is preserved in three manuscripts: the oldest, Advocates 19.2.1, known as the Auchinleck MS. is dated about 1330; Harley 3810 is from about the beginning of the fifteenth century; and Ashmole 61 was compiled over the course of several years, the portion of the MS. containing ''Sir Orfeo'' dating around 1488. The beginning of the poem describes itself as a Breton lai and says it is derived from a no longer extant text, the ''Lai d'Orphey''. The story contains a mixture of the Greek myth of Orpheus with Celtic mythology and folklore concerning fairies, introduced into English via the Old Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English period. Scholarly opinion varies, but the University of Valencia states the period when Middle English was spoken as being from 1150 to 1500. This stage of the development of the English language roughly coincided with the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages. Middle English saw significant changes to its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and orthography. Writing conventions during the Middle English period varied widely. Examples of writing from this period that have survived show extensive regional variation. The more standardized Old English literary variety broke down and writing in English became fragmented and localized and was, for the most part, being improvised. By the end of the period (about 1470), and aided by the movabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry. In 1876 he was named Harvard's first Professor of English, a position which allowed him to focus on academic research. It was during this time that he began work on the Child Ballads. The Child Ballads were published in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. While Child was primarily a literary scholar with little interest in the music of the ballads, his work became a major contribution to the study of English-language folk music. Biography Francis James Child was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His lifelong friend, scholar and social reformer Charles Eliot Norton, described Child's father, a sailmaker, as "one of that class of intellige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harleian Collection
The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants () is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in London, formerly the library of the British Museum. The collection comprises 7,660 manuscripts, including 2,200 illuminated manuscripts, more than 14,000 original legal documents; and more than 500 rolls. It was assembled by Robert Harley (1661–1724) and his son Edward (1689–1741). In 1753, it was purchased for £10,000 by the British government. Together with the collections of Sir Robert Cotton (the Cotton library) and Hans Sloane (the Sloane library) it formed the basis of the British Museum's collection of manuscripts, which were transferred to the new British Library in 1973.British Library.History of the Harley Library". The collection contains illuminated manuscripts spanning the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shetland Dialect
Shetland dialect (also variously known as Shetlandic; broad or auld Shetland or Shaetlan; and referred to as Modern Shetlandic Scots (MSS) by some linguists) is a dialect of Insular Scots spoken in Shetland, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. It is derived from the Scots dialects brought to Shetland from the end of the fifteenth century by Lowland Scots, mainly from Fife and Lothian, with a degree of Norse influence from the Norn language, which is an extinct North Germanic language spoken on the islands until the late 18th century. Consequently, Shetland dialect contains many words of Norn origin. Many of them, if they are not place-names, refer to e.g. seasons, weather, plants, animals, places, food, materials, tools, colours, parts of boats. Like Doric in North East Scotland, Shetland dialect retains a high degree of autonomy owing to geography and isolation from southern dialects. It has a large amount of unique vocabulary but, as there are no standard cri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norn Language
Norn is an extinct North Germanic languages, North Germanic language that was spoken in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) off the north coast of mainland Scotland and in Caithness in the far north of the Scottish mainland. After Orkney and Shetland were pledge (law), pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468–69, it was gradually replaced by Scots language, Scots. Norn is thought to have become Extinct language, extinct around 1850, after the death of Walter Sutherland (Norn), Walter Sutherland, the language's last known speaker, though there are claims the language persisted as late as 1932. History North Germanic peoples, Norse settlement in the islands probably began in the early 9th century. These settlers are believed to have arrived in very substantial numbers, and like those who migrated to Iceland and the Faroe Islands, it is probable that most came from the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Shetland toponymy bears some resemblance to that of northwest Norway, whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lerwick
Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland and on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland, Lerwick lies boxing the compass, north-by-northeast of Aberdeen; west of the similarly sheltered port of Bergen in Norway; and south east of Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands. One of the list of coastal weather stations of the United Kingdom, UK's coastal weather stations is situated there, with Lerwick#Climate, the local climate having small seasonal variation due to the maritime influence. Being located further north than Saint Petersburg and three of the four mainland Scandinavia, Nordic capitals, and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, Lerwick's nights in the middle of summer only get dark twilight and winters have below six hours of comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unst
Unst (; ) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Shetland Mainland, Mainland and Yell (island), Yell. It has an area of . Unst is largely grassland, with coastal cliffs. Its main village is Baltasound, formerly the second-largest herring fishing port after Lerwick and now the location of a leisure centre and the Unst Airport, island's airport. Other settlements include Uyeasound, home to Greenwell's Booth (a Hanseatic League, Hanseatic warehouse) and Muness Castle (built in 1598 and sacked by pirates in 1627); and Haroldswick, location of a boat museum and a heritage centre. Etymology There are three island names in Shetland of unknown and possibly pre-Celtic origin: Unst, Fetlar and Yell, Shetland, Yell. The earliest recorded forms of these three names do carry Norse meanings: is the plural of and means 'shoulder-straps', is 'corn-stack' and is fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shetland
Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the northeast of Orkney, from mainland Scotland and west of Norway. They form part of the border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The island's area is and the population totalled in . The islands comprise the Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency), Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament. The islands' administrative centre, largest settlement and only burgh is Lerwick, which has been the capital of Shetland since 1708, before which time the capital was Scalloway. Due to its location it is accessible only by ferry or flight with an airport located in Sumburgh as well as a port and emergency airstrip in Lerwick. The archipelago has an oceanic climate, complex geology, rugged coastline, and m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), Persia (now Iran) and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. Historically, strings were made of sinew (animal tendons). Other materials have included gut (animal intestines), plant fiber, braided hemp, cotton cord, silk, nylon, and wire. In pedal harp scor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen. It is south-west of London and from Southampton, its nearest city. At the 2021 census, the built-up area of Winchester had a population of 48,478. The wider City of Winchester district includes towns such as New Alresford, Alresford and Bishop's Waltham and had a population of 127,439 in 2021. Winchester is the county town of Hampshire and contains the head offices of Hampshire County Council. Winchester developed from the Roman Britain, Roman town of Venta Belgarum, which in turn developed from an Iron Age ''oppidum''. Winchester was one of if not the most important cities in England until the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century. It now has become one of the most expensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old as humanity itself". Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that the entrance of souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead Patroclus haunting Achilles until his body could be properly buried for this purpose. People with high social status were dressed and equipped in order to better navigate the underworld. A number of mythologies incorporate the concept of the soul of the deceased making its own journey to the underworld, with the dead needing to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otherworld
In historical Indo-European religion, the concept of an otherworld, also known as an otherside, is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other world/side"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld. Comparable religious, mythological or metaphysical concepts, such as a realm of supernatural beings and a realm of the dead, are found in cultures throughout the world.''Gods, goddesses, and mythology'', Volume 11, C. Scott Littleton, Marshall Cavendish, 2005, , . Pp. 1286-1287 Spirits are thought to travel between worlds or layers of existence in such traditions, usually along an axis such as a giant tree, a tent pole, a river, a rope or mountains. Indo-European reconstruction Many Indo-European mythologies show evidence for a belief in some form of "Otherworld". In many cases, such as in Persian, Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and Indic mythologies, a river had to be crossed to allow entrance to it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
