Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Asgard

(Encyclopedia)Asgard ăsˈgärd [key], in Norse mythology, home of the gods, also known as Aesir. It consisted of luxurious palaces and halls, in which the gods (whose chief was Odin) dwelled, conferred, and banque...

Ohthere

(Encyclopedia)Ohthere ōthērˈə [key], fl. 880, Norse explorer. His account of his voyage around the North Cape, along Lapland, and into the White Sea was incorporated by Alfred the Great in the introduction to h...

bibliography

(Encyclopedia)bibliography. The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Modern bibliography b...

Kielland, Alexander Lange

(Encyclopedia)Kielland, Alexander Lange äləksänˈdər längˈə khĕlˈlän [key], 1849–1906, Norwegian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Two early volumes of short stories—Tales of Two Countries...

Harold I

(Encyclopedia)Harold I or Harold Fairhair, Norse Harald Haarfager, c.850–c.933, first king of Norway, son of Halfdan the Black, king of Vestfold (SE Norway). After succeeding his father, Harold initiated a series...

kosher

(Encyclopedia)kosher [Heb.,=proper, i.e., fit for use], in Judaism, term used in rabbinic literature to mean what is ritually correct, but most widely applied to food that is in accordance with dietary laws based o...

Nasir ad-Din

(Encyclopedia)Nasir ad-Din näˈsər äd-dēn [key], 1831?–1896, shah of Persia (1848–96). He and his able vizier, Mirza Taqi Khan, were responsible for shaking Persia from a long period of inertia. He traveled...

carpe diem

(Encyclopedia)carpe diem kärˈpĕ dēˈĕm [key], a descriptive term for literature that urges readers to live for the moment [from the Latin phrase “seize the day,” used by Horace]. The theme, which was widel...

Man, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Man, Isle of, island and dependency of the British crown (2015 est. pop. 83,000), 227 sq mi (588 sq km), off Great Britain, in the Irish Sea. The coast is rocky with precipitous cliffs; the Calf of Ma...

Ethiopic

(Encyclopedia)Ethiopic ēthēŏpˈĭk [key], extinct language of Ethiopia belonging to the North Ethiopic group of the South Semitic (or Ethiopic) languages, which, in turn, belong to the Semitic subfamily of the A...