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Cockatrices
A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", it was featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. Legend Origins The cockatrice was first mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah chapters 11, 14 and 59; however, the majority of commentaries believe what the KJV calls cockatrices are actually an adder or a serpent known as a basilisk. Essentially, biblical versions vary in how they translate the Hebrew word tsepha. It is described in its current form in the late fourteenth century. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives a derivation from Old French ''cocatris'', from medieval Latin ''calcatrix'', a translation of the Greek '' ichneumon'', meaning tracker. The twelfth century legend was based on a reference in ''Pliny's Natural History'' that the '' ichneumon'' lay in wait for the crocodile to open its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture ( folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier, rougher skin and more terrestrial habitats. List of toad families In scientific taxonomy, toads include the true toads (Bufonidae) and various other terrestrial or warty-skinned frogs. Non-bufonid "toads" can be found in the families: * Bombinatoridae (fire-bellied toads and jungle toads) * Calyptocephalellidae ( helmeted water toad and false toads) * Discoglossidae ( midwife toads) * Myobatrachidae (Australian toadlets) * Pelobatidae ( European spadefoot toad) * Rhinophrynidae ( burrowing toads) * Scaphiopodidae ( American spadefoot toads) * Microhylidae ( narrowmouth toads) Biology Usually the largest of the bumps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strong's Concordance
''The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible'', generally known as ''Strong's Concordance'', is a Bible concordance, an index of every word in the King James Version (KJV), constructed under the direction of James Strong. Strong first published his ''Concordance'' in 1890, while professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary. Purpose The purpose of ''Strong's Concordance'' is not to provide content or commentary about the Bible, but to provide an index to the Bible. This allows the reader to find words where they appear in the Bible. This index allows a student of the Bible to re-find a phrase or passage previously studied. It also lets the reader directly compare how the same word may be used elsewhere in the Bible. Strong's numbers Each original-language word is given an entry number in the dictionary of those original language words listed in the back of the concordance. These have become known as the "Strong's numbers". The main concordance lists each word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wyclif
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of Oxford. He became an influential dissident within the Catholic priesthood during the 14th century and is considered an important predecessor to Protestantism. Wycliffe questioned the privileged status of the clergy, who had bolstered their powerful role in England, and the luxury and pomp of local parishes and their ceremonies. Wycliffe advocated translation of the Bible into the common vernacular. According to tradition, Wycliffe is said to have completed a translation direct from the Vulgate into Middle English – a version now known as Wycliffe's Bible. While it is probable that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it is possible he translated the entire New Testament. At any rate, it is assumed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weasel
Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. The family Mustelidae, or mustelids (which also includes badgers, otters, and wolverines), is often referred to as the "weasel family". In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (''M. nivalis''), the smallest carnivoran species. Least weasels vary in length from , females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations of some species moult to a wholly white coat in winter. They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from long. Weasels feed on small mammals and have from time to time been considered vermin because some species took poultry fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bestiary
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson. This reflected the belief that the world itself was the Word of God and that every living thing had its own special meaning. For example, the pelican, which was believed to tear open its breast to bring its young to life with its own blood, was a living representation of Jesus. Thus the bestiary is also a reference to the symbolic language of animals in Western Christian art and literature. History The bestiary — the medieval book of beasts — was among the most popular illuminated texts in northern Europe during the Middle Ages (about 500–1500). Medieval Christians understood every element of the world as a manifestation of God, and bestiaries largely focused ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Donne
John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London (1621–1631). He is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works are noted for their metaphorical and sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires. He is also known for his sermons. Donne's style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. These features, along with his frequent dramatic or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan poetry and an adaptation into English of European baroque and mannerist techniques. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient History
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progress. While in 10,000 BC, the world population st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a "long Renaissance" may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century. The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages. However, the beginnings of the period – the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300 – overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages, conventi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo And Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Hamlet'', is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. ''Romeo and Juliet'' belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as '' The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'' by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in '' Palace of Pleasure'' by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cock Egg
A yolkless egg is a small egg with no yolk, sometimes produced by a pullet that has only just started laying. These eggs are common and usually pose no harm. The eggs can also be called fart eggs, cock eggs, fairy eggs, dwarf eggs, and witch eggs. The name wind eggs is also sometimes used, but this term more often refers to eggs without a shell, or with a soft shell, and less often to eggs that are rotten or unfertilized.Oxford Universal Dictionary Cause A yolkless egg is most often a pullet's first egg, produced before her laying mechanism is fully ready. In a mature hen, a yolkless egg is unlikely, but can occur if a bit of reproductive tissue breaks away, stimulating the egg-producing glands to treat it as a yolk and wrap it in albumen, membranes and a shell as it travels through the egg tube. In cases of an egg that contains a small particle of grayish tissue instead of a yolk, this is what has occurred. This type of egg occurs in many varieties of fowl, including chickens (b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis. Description Ibises all have long, downcurved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans. They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons. All extant species are capable of flight, but two extinct genera were flightless, namely the kiwi-like ''Apteribis'' in the Hawaiian Islands, and the peculiar '' Xenicibis'' in Jamaica. The word ''ibis'' comes from Latin ''ibis'' from Greek ἶβις ''ibis'' from Egyptian ''hb'', ''hīb''. Beekes, R. S. P. (2009) ''Etymological Diction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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