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Book of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Book of the Dead, term used to describe Egyptian funerary literature. The texts consist of charms, spells, and formulas for use by the deceased in the afterworld and contain many of the basic ideas of...

Williams College

(Encyclopedia)Williams College, at Williamstown, Mass.; coeducational; chartered 1785, opened as a free school 1791, became a college 1793, named for Ephraim Williams. The Williams campus, noted for its fine old bu...

Mimir

(Encyclopedia)Mimir mēˈmĭr [key], in Norse mythology, giant who guarded the well of wisdom. According to one legend Mimir was beheaded by the enemies of the gods of Asgard; his head was then preserved by Odin, w...

Frigg

(Encyclopedia)Frigg or Frigga, Norse mother goddess and the wife of Odin (Woden). One of the most important goddesses of Germanic religion, she was queen of the heavens, a deity of love and the household. She was o...

Ymir

(Encyclopedia)Ymir ēˈmĕr [key], in Norse mythology, primeval giant and progenitor of a race of giants. Odin and his brothers slew Ymir; from his skull they fashioned the sky, from his flesh the earth, from his b...

Chrysoloras, Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Chrysoloras, Manuel krĭsəlôrˈəs [key], c.1350–1415, Greek teacher and writer, b. Constantinople. Traveling to Italy on a diplomatic mission, he became celebrated for his teaching and introduced...

Niflheim

(Encyclopedia)Niflheim nēˈfəlhīmˌ [key], in Norse mythology, lowest region of the underworld. A land of mist and cold, Niflheim was sometimes called the home of the dead. See also Hel. ...

Hel

(Encyclopedia)Hel hĕl [key], in Norse mythology, the underworld (sometimes called Niflheim) and the goddess who ruled there. In early Germanic mythology, Hel was the goddess who ruled the majestic abode for the de...

Notker Labeo

(Encyclopedia)Notker Labeo läˈbēō [key], c.950–1022, German monk, also known as Teŭtonĭcus. He was a teacher at St. Gall. Notker translated into Old High German Boethius' Consolations of Philosophy, Capella...

Bell, Clive

(Encyclopedia)Bell, Clive, 1881–1964, English critic of art and literature. He was a member of the Bloomsbury group. His works include Art (1914), Since Cézanne (1922), Landmarks in Nineteenth-Century Painting (...