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Hafgufa
( "sea" + "steam"; "sea-reek"; "sea-steamer") is a sea creature, purported to inhabit Iceland's waters (Greenland Sea) and southward toward Helluland. Although it was thought to be a sea monster, research suggests that the stories originated from a specialized feeding technique among whales known as trap-feeding. The hafgufa is mentioned in the mid-13th century Norwegian tract called the '' Konungs skuggsjá'' ("King's Mirror"). Later recensions of '' Örvar-Odds'' saga feature ''hafgufa'' and '' lyngbakr'' as similar but distinct creatures. According to Norwegian didactic work, this creature uses its own vomit-like chumming-bait to gather prey-fish. In the ''Fornaldarsaga'', the hafgufa is reputed to consume even whales or ships and men, though Oddr's ship merely sailed through its jaws above water, which appeared to be nothing more than rocks. Nomenclature This creature's name appears as in Old Norse in the 13th century Norwegian work. In the '' Snorra Edda'', the ''hafgufa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraken
The kraken (, from , "the crookie") is a legendary sea monster of enormous size, per its etymology something akin to a cephalopod, said to appear in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of Norway. It is believed that the legend of the Kraken may have originated from sightings of giant squid, which may grow to in length. The kraken, as a subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern era in a travelogue by Francesco Negri in 1700. This description was followed in 1734 by an account from Dano-Norwegian missionary and explorer Hans Egede, who described the kraken in detail and equated it with the '' hafgufa'' of medieval lore. However, the first description of the creature is usually credited to the Danish bishop Pontoppidan (1753). Pontoppidan was the first to describe the kraken as an octopus (polypus) of tremendous size, and wrote that it had a reputation for pulling down ships. The French malacologist Denys-Montfort, of the 19th century, is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Örvar-Oddr
Örvar-Oddr ( , "Arrow-Odd" or "Arrow's Point") is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous Icelander wrote a '' fornaldarsaga'' in the latter part of the 13th century. ''Örvar-Odds saga'', the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs. He also appears in '' Hervarar saga'' and, concerning the battle on Samsø, in ''Gesta Danorum''. Plot summary Prophecy Oddr was the son of GrÃmr Loðinkinni and the grandson of Ketill Hængr (both of whom have their own sagas) of HÃ¥logaland. When he was an infant, a völva predicted that he would be killed by his own horse, Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may signify 360, as the unit in question is probably the "long hundred" commonly used in medieval Germanic languages, denoting 120 rather than 100). In order to thwart the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leaving, his father g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyngbakr
Lyngbakr ( Icelandic, ''lyngi'' " heather" + ''bak'' "back") is the name of a massive whale-like sea monster reported in the '' Örvar-Odds'' saga to have existed in the Greenland Sea. According to the saga, Lyngbakr would bait seafarers by posing as a heather-covered island, and when a crew landed on his back, he sank into the sea, drowning the crew. Örvar-Odds saga As Örvar-Oddr and his crew were sailing southwesterly through the Greenland Sea in vengeance against the troll Ögmundr Floki, slayer of Eythjof, the deck officer Vignir knew this area would be dangerous, and made Oddr agree to sail the ship beginning the next day, to which Oddr requested Vignir advise him. As they sailed, they spotted two rocks which rose out of the water. The presence of these rocks puzzled Oddr. Later, they passed by a large island covered in heather. Curious, Oddr made up his mind to turn back and send five men to check out the island, but as they approached where the island had been before, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Norwegian
Old Norwegian ( and ), also called Norwegian Norse, is an early form of the Norwegian language that was spoken between the 11th and 14th century; it is a transitional stage between Old West Norse and Middle Norwegian. Its distinction from Old West Norse is mostly a matter of convention, but it is also the period when the language begun to develop its immense diversity. Old Norwegian is typically divided into the following dialect areas: * Western Norway: ** Trøndelag ** Northwest Norway ( Romsdal, Sunnmøre, Nordfjord and the coast of Sogn) ** Southwest Norway: *** Outer Southwest ( Rogaland and Hordaland) *** Inner Southwest ( Agder, western Telemark, Setesdal, continental Sogn, Hordaland and Rogaland, including Iceland and the Faroe Islands) * Eastern Norway: ** Southeast Norway ** East Norway Proper No sources appear to exist from which the dialectal variation of the rest of Norway might be discerned. There do, however, seem to be reasons to believe the region of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunnora
Gunnor or Gunnora ( – ) was Duchess of Normandy by marriage to Richard I of Normandy, having previously been his long-time mistress. She functioned as regent of Normandy during the absence of her spouse, as well as the adviser to him and later to his successor, their son Richard II. Life The names of Gunnor's parents are unknown, but Robert of Torigni wrote that her father was a forester from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish ancestry. Gunnor was probably born .Elisabeth Van Houts, ''The Normans in Europe'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008), p. 40 n.56 Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnor herself was said to be very wealthy.David Crouch, ''The Normans; the History of a Dynasty'' (London, New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 26 Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husbandRichard's marriage to Gunnor seems to have been a deliberate political move to consolidate his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ole Worm
Ole Worm (13 May 1588 – 31 August 1654), who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen where he taught Greek, Latin, physics and medicine. Biography Worm was the son of Willum Worm, who served as the mayor of Aarhus, and was made a rich man by an inheritance from his father. Ole Worm's grandfather Johan Worm, a magistrate in Aarhus, was a Lutheran who had fled from Arnhem in Gelderland while it was under Catholic rule. Worm married Dorothea Fincke, the daughter of a friend and colleague, Thomas Fincke. Fincke was a Danish mathematician and physicist, who invented the terms 'tangent' and ' secant' and taught at the University of Copenhagen for more than 60 years. Through Fincke, Worm became connected to the powerful Bartholin family of physicians, and later theologians and scientists, that dominated the University of Copenhagen throughout the 17th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Bartholin
Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (other) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Apostle * Thomas (bishop of the East Angles) (fl. 640s–650s), medieval Bishop of the East Angles * Thomas (Archdeacon of Barnstaple) (fl. 1203), Archdeacon of Barnstaple * Thomas, Count of Perche (1195–1217), Count of Perche * Thomas (bishop of Finland) (1248), first known Bishop of Finland * Thomas, Earl of Mar (1330–1377), 14th-century Earl, Aberdeen, Scotland Geography Places in the United States * Thomas, Idaho * Thomas, Illinois * Thomas, Oklahoma * Thomas, Oregon * Thomas, South Dakota * Thomas, Virginia * Thomas, Washington * Thomas, West Virginia * Thomas County (other) * Thomas Township (other) Elsewhere * Thomas Glacier (Greenland) Arts and entertainment * ''Thomas'' (Burton novel), a 1969 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Monster
Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are often pictured threatening ships or spouting jets of water. The definition of a "monster" is subjective; further, some sea monsters may have been based on scientifically accepted creatures, such as whales and types of giant squid, giant and colossal squid. Sightings and legends Sea monster accounts are found in virtually all cultures that have contact with the sea. For example, Avienius relates of Himilco the Navigator, Carthaginian explorer Himilco's voyage "...there monsters of the deep, and beasts swim amid the slow and sluggishly crawling ships." (lines 117–29 of ''Ora Maritima''). Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed to have encountered a lion-like monster with "glaring eyes" on his return voyage after formally claiming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Didactic
Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. Overview The term has its origin in the Ancient Greek word διδακτικός (''didaktikos''), "pertaining to instruction", and signified learning in a fascinating and intriguing manner. Didactic art was meant both to entertain and to instruct. Didactic plays, for instance, were intended to convey a moral theme or other rich truth to the audience. During the Middle Age, the Roman Catholic chants like the '' Veni Creator Spiritus'', as well as the Eucharistic hymns like the '' Adoro te devote'' and '' Pange lingua'' are used for fixing within prayers the truths of the Roman Catholic faith to preserve them and pass down from a generation to another. In the Renaissance, the church began a syncretism between pagan and the Christian didacti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snout
A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is called the rhinarium (colloquially this is the "cold wet snout" of some mammals). The rhinarium is often associated with a stronger sense of olfaction. Variation Snouts are found on many mammals in a variety of shapes. Some animals, including ursines and great cats, have box-like snouts, while others, like shrews, have pointed snouts. Pig snouts are flat and cylindrical. Primates Strepsirrhine primates have muzzles, as do baboons. Great apes have reduced muzzles, with the exception being human beings, whose face does not have protruding jaws nor a snout but merely a human nose. Dogs The muzzle begins at the Stop (dog), stop, just below the eyes, and includes the dog's nose and mouth. In the domestic dog, most of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
