street Arab who gives a good account of himself in the fighting on the Day of the Barricades and goes gaily to meet his death. Gawain. One of the most famous of the Arthurian knights, nephew of King Arthur, and probably the original hero of the Grail quest. He appears in the Welsh Triads and the Mabinogion as Gwalchmei, and in the Arthurian cycle is the center of many episodes and poems. "the Courteous "and is He is known as first represented as the flower of chivalrous knighthood, but later writers (including Malory in his Morte d'Arthur) degraded him, probably on account of his connection with the Grail and to leave the literary field clear for Percival, until Tennyson, in The Passing of Arthur, makes Sir Bedivere brand him as "light in life and light in death." The Middle English poem (about 1360), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is a weird romance telling how Gawain beheads the Green Knight in single combat after having promised to meet him for a return stroke twelve months later at the Green Chapel. On the appointed day Gawain is there, and so is the Green Knight: Gawain's honor is, by arrangement, severely but successfully tested by the wife of the knight, and as he has proved himself true he escapes unharmed. Gaw'rey. In Pultock's Peter Wilkins (q.v.), a flying woman, whose wings served the double purpose of flying and dress. Youwarkee, the heroine, is one of these strange beings. Gay. A gay deceiver. A Lothario (q.v.); a libertine. I immediately quitted the precincts of the castle, and posted myself on the high road, where the gay deceiver was sure to be intercepted on his return. Le Sage: Gil Blas, vii, i, 3 (Smollett's translation, 1749). The Gay Science. A translation of gai Why the Gay Science, however? The light-hearted A guild formed at Toulouse in 1323 with the object of keeping in existence the dying Provençal language and culture was called the Gai Saber. Its full title was "The Very Gay Company of the Seven Troubadours of Toulouse." 263 Gay, John (1685-1732). English poet and playwright, famous for his Beggar's Opera (q.v.). Gay Lord Quex, The. A drama by Pinero (Eng. 1900). The hero, Lord with the charming heroine Muriel, but Quex, is about to reform and settle down he must first lay numerous ghosts. The plot centers about the effort of Sophie Fullgarney, Muriel's foster sister, to save her from Quex. She fails, or rather is convinced of his sincerity at last. Gay, Walter. In Dickens' novel Dombey and Son, a member of the firm of that name, an honest, frank, ingenuous youth, who loved Florence Dombey, and comforted her in her early troubles. Walter The Son and Heir, as junior partner, to Gay was sent in the merchantman called After his return from Barbadoes, he Barbadoes, and survived a shipwreck. married Florence. The heroine of Gaylord, Marcia. Howells' Modern Instance (q.v.). Her character in the same novel. father, Squire Gaylord, is a prominent Ge or Gæa. In Greek mythology, the personification of the Earth. She sprang (Heaven) and Pontus (Sea). She is from Chaos and gave birth to Uranus identified with the Roman Tellus. Ge'ber. An Arabian alchemist, born at Thous, in Persia (eighth century) He art of wrote several treatises on the " making gold," in the usual mystical jargon of the period; and hence our word gibberish (senseless jargon). This art the Arabian Geber taught Longfellow: The Golden Legend. Gebir. A narrative poem by Walter Savage Landor (1797). The hero, Gebir, ruler of Iberia, had sworn to avenge ancient wrongs by conquering Egypt, On the day of his but he falls madly in love with the enemy queen, Charoba. marriage to her, he is killed by a poisoned shirt. (Cp. Nessus.) Throughout the poem the warlike Gebir is in sharp contrast with his peaceful shepherd brother Tamar. Geese. For the legend of Rome saved by geese, see under Goose. Gehen'na. The place of eternal torment. Strictly speaking, it means simply the Valley of Hinnom (Ge-Hinnom), where sacrifices to Baal and Moloch were offered (Jer. xix. 6, etc.), and where refuse of all sorts was subsequently cast, for the consumption of which fires were kept constantly burning. And made his grove The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence Geierstein, Anne of. See Anne of Geierstein. Gel'ert. Llewellyn's dog. See Beth Gelert. Gellatly, Davie. In Scott's Waverley, the idiot servant of the Baron of Bradwardine described as "a crack-brained knave, who could execute very well any commission which jumped with his own humor, and made his folly a plea for avoiding every other." Gema'ra (Aramaic, complement). The second part of the Talmud (q.v.), consisting of annotations, discussions, and amplifications of the Mishna, which is the first part. The Mishna is the interpretation of the written law, the Gemara the interpretation of the Mishna. There is the Babylonian Gema'ra and the Jerusalem Gema'ra. The former, which is the more complete, is by the academies of Babylon, and was completed about 500 A. D.; the latter by those of Palestine, completed towards the close of the 4th or during the 5th century A. D. Gem'ini (the twins). Castor and Pollux (q.v.); the name of a constellation. Gemmagog. According to Rabelais (Bk. ii, ch. i), son of the giant Oromedon, and inventor of the Poulan shoes-i.e. shoes with a spur behind, and turned-up toes fastened to the knees. These shoes were forbidden by Charles V of France in 1365, but the fashion revived again. The same authority says giants were great inventors: Erix invented tricks of thimble-rigging; Gabara, drinking healths; Hapmouche, drying and smoking neats' tongues; Morgan, "who was the first in in this World who played at Dice with Spectacles"; Galehault, the inventor of flagons; etc. etc. They were all direct ancestors of Gargantua and Pantagruel. General, Mrs. In Dickens' Little Dorrit, the widow who teaches Little Dorrit, among other matters of etiquette, to say Papa, prunes and prism. She explains "Father is rather vulgar, my dear. The word Papa, besides, gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism are all very good words for the lips, especially prunes and prism. You will find it serviceable in the formation of a demeanor if you sometimes say to yourself in Company -on entering a room, for instance- - Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism, prunes and prism. Genesis. The Greek name for the first book of the Old Testament. The Jews call it "In the beginning," from the first words. Gene'va. The Geneva Bible. See Bible, the English. The Geneva Bull. A nickname given to Stephen Marshall (d. 1655), a Presbyterian divine, and one of the authors of Smectymnuus, because he was a disciple of John Calvin, of Geneva, and when preaching he roared like a "bull of Bashan." Geneva courage. Pot valor; the braggadocio which is the effect of having drunk too much gin, or geneva. Cp. Dutch Courage. The word Geneva, punning on Calvinism and gin, is frequent in old allusions to drink. Thus Scott has: "You have been reading Geneva print this morning already." "I have been reading the Litany," said John, shaking his head, with a look of drunken gravity. Old Mortality, ch. xi. Geneva Cross. See Red Cross. Geneva doctrines. Calvinism. Calvin, in 1541, was invited to take up his residence in Geneva as the public teacher of theology. From this period Geneva was for many years the center of education for the Protestant youths of Europe. Genevieve. A ballad by Coleridge and also the name of the heroine in his poem Love. And so I won my Genevieve My bright and beauteous bride. Genevieve, St. See under Saint. Genii or Ginn. See Jinn. Ge'nius (pl. Genii). In Roman mythology the tutelary spirits that attended one from his cradle to his grave, and that governed his fortunes, determined his character, and so on. The Eastern genii were the Jinn (q.v.), entirely different from the Roman, not guardian or attendant spirits, but fallen angels, dwelling in Djinnistan, under the dominion of Eblis; the Roman were very similar to the guardian angels spoken of in Matt. xviii. 10; and in this sense Mephistopheles is spoken of as the evil genius (the "familiar " of Faust. The Romans maintained that two genii attended every man from birth to death one good and the other evil. Good luck was brought about by the agency of "his good genius," and ill luck by that of his "evil genius." Genius, The. A novel by Theodore Dreiser (Am. 1915), relating the numerous love affairs of an artist, Eugene Witla, who attains some note as an illustrator and some fortune as a director of advertising art. His marriage to Angela is one incident in his amatory life. Genna'ro. In Donizetti's opera, Lucrezia Borgia (q.v.), the natural son of Lucrezia di Borgia before her marriage with Alfonso duke of Ferra'ra. Genove'fa. The heroine of an old German folk-tale (very like folk-tales from all parts of the world) which relates that she was the wife of a Count Palatine Siegfried, of Brabant, in the time of Charles Martel. Being suspected of infidelity, she was driven into the forest of Ardennes, where she gave birth to a son, who was nourished by a white doe. In time, Siegfried discovered his error, and restored his wife and child to their home. The name is another form of Genevieve. Genre Painter. A painter of domestic, rural, or village scenes, such as A Village Wedding, The Young Recruit, Blind Man's Buff, The Village Politician, etc. Wilkie, Ostade, Gerard, Dow, etc., belonged to this class. In the drama, Victor Hugo introduced the genre system in lieu of the stilted, unnatural style of Louis XIV's era. We call those "genre" canvases, whereon are painted idyls of the fireside, the roadside, and the farm; pictures of real life. E. C. Stedman: Poets of America, ch. iv. Gentle Grafter, The. A volume of short stories by O Henry (Am. 18621910). Gentle Shepherd, The. The title and chief character of Allan Ramsay's pastoral drama (1725). Gentleman from Indiana, The. A novel by Booth Tarkington (Am. 1899). The hero is John Harkless, the young editor of a country newspaper in Indiana. His courageous struggles, particularly against the lawless White Caps, bring him enemies; and when he vanishes after an attack upon him, he is given up for dead. However, he reappears, and the novel ends with his marriage to the charming girl who has run his paper in his absence and so made possible his nomination to Congress. Geoffrey Crayon. See Crayon, Geoffrey. George. Let George do it. A popular phrase meaning "Let somebody else do it." The allusion is to a popular comic supplement feature by the American cartoonist McManus. George-a-Green. As good as George-aGreen. Resolute-minded; one who will do his duty come what may. George-a-Green was the mythical Pinder (Pinner or Pindar) or pound-keeper of Wakefield, who resisted Robin Hood, Will Scarlett, and Little John single-handed when they attempted to commit a trespass in Wakefield. Were ye bold as George-a-Green, I shall make bold to turn again. Butler: Hudibrus. Robert Greene wrote a comedy (published 1599) called George-a-Greene, or the Pinner of Wakefield. George Barnwell. See Barnwell. George Dandin. A comedy by Molière (Fr. 1668). The principal character, George Dandin, is a rich French tradesman, who marries Ang'elique, the daughter of M. de Sotenville; and has the "privilege of paying off the family debts, maintaining his wife's noble parents and being snubbed on all occasions to his heart's content. He constantly said to himself, in self-rebuke, 66 Vous l'avez voulu, vous l'avez voulu, George Dandin' (You have no one to blame but yourself! you brought it on yourself, George Dandin!)" Hence his name is used with reference to one who brings trouble upon his own head; also to one who marries above his station. George, St. See under Saint George, W. L. (1882- ). English novelist, author of The Second Blooming, etc. George Warrington. (In Thackeray's Pendennis.) See Warrington, George. Georgianna. The heroine of J. L. Allen's Kentucky Cardinal (q.v.) and its sequel Aftermath. Geraint'. In Arthurian legend, a tributary prince of Devon, and one of the knights of the Round Table. In the Mabinogion story he is the son of Erbin. as he is in the French original, Chrestien de Troyes' Eric et Enide, from which Tennyson drew his Geraint and Enid in the Idylls of the King. In the latter. Geraint, overhearing part of Enid's words, fancied she was faithless to him. and treated her for a time very harshly; but Enid nursed him so carefully when he was wounded that he saw his error, 66 did he doubt her more, but rested in her fealty, till he crowned a happy life with a fair death." nor Geraldine. The Fair Geraldine. Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald (d. 1589) is so called in the Earl of Surrey's poems. She was the youngest daughter of the Earl of Kildare. Lady Geraldine's Courtship. A poem by Mrs. Browning (1844). The lady falls in love with a peasant-poet, whom she marries. Gerard. The father of Erasmus, whose love story is told in Reade's Cloister and the Hearth (q.v.). Gerda, or Gerdhr. In Scandinavian mythology (the Skírnismál), a young giantess, wife of Frey, and daughter of the frost giant Gymer. She is so beautiful that the brightness of her naked arms illumines both air and sea. According to the myth, Frey (the god of fruitfulness) married Gerda (the frozen earth), and she became the mother of children. German. For the German Plato, the German Voltaire, etc., see Plato, Voltaire. Germont, Alfred. Hero of Verdi's Il Trovatore (q.v.). Gerolstein, Rudolph, Grand Duke of. In Eugene Sue's Mysteries of Paris, a powerful young prince who loves to go about "playing Providence" in disguise, meting out punishment, as well as rewards where he believes they are most fitting. Géronte. (1) In Molière's Médécin Malgré Lui, the father of Lucinde (q.v.). (2) In Molière's Fourberies de Scapin, father of Léandre and Hyacinthe. (See Scapin.) The name is common in French comedy as that of a father of a family. Gerontius, The Dream of. A poem by Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) in which Gerontius makes his last journey to God, carried by his guardian angel through a world of good and evil spirits. Gerould, Katharine Fullerton (1879 -). American fiction writer and essayist, author of Vain Oblations, etc. She is best known for her short stories. Gerryman'der. So to divide a county or nation into representative districts as to give one special political party undue advantage over others. The word is derived from Elbridge Gerry, who adopted the scheme in Massachusetts when he was governor. Gilbert Stuart, the artist, looking at the map of the new distribution, with a little invention converted it into a salamander. "No, no!" said Russell, when shown it, "not a Salamander, Stuart, call it a Gerry-mander." Hence, to hocus-pocus statistics, election results, etc., so as to make them appear to give other than their true result, or so as to affect the balance. Ger'trude. In Shakespeare's Hamlet (q.v.), Hamlet's mother. In Saxo Grammaticus she is called Geruth. Gertrude of Wy'oming. A poem by Thomas Campbell (1809). The setting is in the wilds of the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. The heroine, Gertrude, is the daughter of the patriarch Albert; the hero is Henry Waldegrave, who as a boy spends three years in the patriarch's home and later returns to marry Gertrude. The settlement is attacked by a mixed army of Indians and British and both Albert and Gertrude are shot. Henry then joins the army of Washington. Gertrude, St. See under Saint. Gerund or Gerundio, Friar. Hero of a satirical romance, Fray Gerundio de Campazas (Sp. 1758), ridiculing the wandering friars of Spain and their pretentious sermons. Gervaise. One of the principal characters in the novels of Zola's Rougon Macquart series (q.v.). Ger'yon. In Greek mythology, a monster with three bodies and three heads, whose oxen ate human flesh, and were guarded by Orthros, a two-headed dog. Hercules slew both Geryon and the dog. Geryon eo. In Spenser's Faerie Queene (V. xi) a giant with three bodies typifying Philip II of Spain (master of three kingdoms), the Spanish rule in the Netherlands, or sometimes the Inquisition. He was the son of Geryon. Gesmas. The impenitent thief crucified with our Lord. In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, he is called Gestas. The penitent thief was Dismas, Dysmas, Demas, or Dumacus. Gess'ler. The tyrannical Austrian governor of the three forest cantons of Switzerland who figures in the Tell legend. See William Tell. Gesta Romano'rum. A pseudo-devotional compilation of popular tales in Latin (many from Oriental sources), each with an arbitrary "moral" attached for the use of preachers, assigned in its collected form to about the end of the 14th century. The name, meaning "The Acts of the Romans," is merely fanciful. It was first printed at Utrecht about 1472. Shakespeare drew the plot of Pericles from the Gesta Romanorum, as well as the incident of the three caskets in the Merchant of Venice; and many other English poets from Chaucer to William Morris have drawn material from it. Gestas. The traditional name of the impenitent thief. See Dysmas. Gethsemane. The garden where Jesus spent the last hours before his betrayal; hence any scene of spiritual struggle, sorrow and renunciation. Ghengis Khan. A title assumed by Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar (13361405). Ghent, Stephen. The hero of Moody's drama The Great Divide (q.v.). Ghetto. The Jewish quarter of a city, in some cases a district to which they are restricted. Israel Zangwill has a book of sketches and tales entitled Children of the Ghetto (1892). Ghibellines. The imperial and aristocratic faction in Italy in the Middle Ages, opposed to the Guelphs (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). The name was the war cry of the followers of the Emperor Conrad at the battle of Weinsberg (1140) and is the Italian form of Ger. Waiblingen, an estate in Wurtemberg then belonging to the Emperor's family, the House of Hohenstaufen. See Goblin. Ghismonda. Daughter of Tancred in Boccaccio's Decameron IV. 1. For her story, see Sigismonda. Giafar (or Jaffar the Barmecide). Vizier of the Caliph Haroun al Raschid and companion of his adventures. He appears frequently in the Arabian Nights. Giaffir. In Byron's Bride of Abydos (q.v.), pasha of Aby'dos, and father of Zuleika. Giall. The Styx of Scandinavian mythology, the river on the frontiers of Niflheim, or hell. Over it the doomed pass on a golden bridge. Giallarhorn. In Scandinavian mythology, Heimdall's horn, the blast of which turned the world from its course, let loose the powers of evil, and thereby started the war against the Esir. Giamschid. See Jamshid. Gian ben Gian. In Arabic legend, a king of the Jinn and founder of the Pyramids. He was overthrown by Azaʼzael or Lucifer. uncommon as Giants, i.e. persons well above the average height and size, are by no means "" sports or "freaks of nature"; but the widespread belief in pre-existing races or individual instances of giants among primitive peoples is due partly to the ingrained idea that the present generation is invariably a degeneration "There were giants in the earth in those days" (Gen. vi. 4) and partly to the existence from remote antiquity of cyclopean buildings, gigantic sarcophagi, etc., and to the discovery from time to time in pre-scientific days of the bones of extinct monsters which were taken to be those of men. The giants of Greek mythology were, for the most part, sons of Tar'tarus and Ge. When they attempted to storm heaven, they were hurled to earth by the aid of Hercules, and buried under Mount Etna. Those of Scandinavian mythology were evil genii, dwelling in Jotunheim (giantland), who had terrible and superhuman powers, could appear and disappear, reduce and extend their stature at will, etc. See Fasner; Fasolt. For the principal giants known to legend see Adamastor, Eegæon, Alifanfaron, Amerant, Anteus, Ascapart, Atlas, Balan, Blunderbore, Briareus, Brobdingnag, Cacus, St. Christopher, Corflambo, Cormoran, the Cyclops, Enceladus, Eph'ialtes, Ferragus, Fierabras, Finn, Galligantus, Gargantua, Geryoneo, Gog and Magog, Grangousier, Grantorto, Guy of Warwick, Gyges, Jotun, Maugis or Malegigi, Orgoglio, Orion, Pantagruel, Polyphemus, the Seven Champions, Skrymir, the Titans, Tityus, Typhoeus, Typhon. Giants. The nickname of New York Nationals. See Baseball Teams. Giaour. Among Mohammedans, one who is not an adherent of their faith, especially a Christian; generally used with a contemptuous or insulting implication. In Byron's poem The Giaour (1813) Leilah, the beautiful concubine of the Caliph Hassan, falls in love with a Giaour, flees from the seraglio, is overtaken, put to death, and cast into the sea. The Giaour cleaves Hassan's skull, flees for his life, and becomes a monk. Six years afterwards he tells his history to his father confessor on his death-bed, and prays him to "lay his body with the humblest dead, and not even to inscribe his name on his tomb." Accordingly, he is called "the Giaour," and is known by no other name. Gibbie, Goose. In Scott's Old Mortality a half-witted lad, first entrusted to keep the turkeys," but afterwards "advanced to the more important office of minding the cows." He was in the service of Lady Bellenden. Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794). English historian, famous for his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gib'eonite. A slave's slave, a workman's laborer, a farmer's understrapper, or Jack-of-all-work. The Gibeonites were made "hewers of wood and drawers of water" to the Israelites (Josh. ix. 27). Gibraltar. The Gibraltar of America or of the New World. Quebec; more properly Cape Diamond, Quebec. Gideon. In the Old Testament, one of the judges of Israel. With a company of only three hundred men, he delivered his people from the Midianites. The army was purposely reduced to three hundred by eliminating all who were afraid and all who drank from a stream |