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Igor, 1151–1202, Russian prince

(Encyclopedia)Igor (Igor Sviatoslavich) ēˈgər svyäˌtəsläˈvĭch [key], 1151–1202, Russian prince. In 1185 he was defeated by the Cumans in an expedition that was immortalized in the epic Slovo o polku Igor...

Hrotswith von Gandersheim

(Encyclopedia)Hrotswith rôsvēˈtä fən gänˈdərs-hīm [key], 10th-century German dramatist, a nun. Of a noble Saxon family, Hrotswith was well educated. Her long epic poems—one including a fragment on Empero...

Daniel, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Daniel, Samuel, 1562?–1619, English poet and historian. He was tutor to William Herbert, 3d earl of Pembroke, and later to Lady Anne Clifford. Eventually he found favor with James I, and in 1603 he ...

Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich mēkhəyĕlˈ əlyĭksänˈdrəvĭch shôˈləkhŏf [key], 1905–84, Russian novelist. Sholokhov won international fame for an epic novel of his native land, The Sil...

Noyes, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Noyes, Alfred noiz [key], 1880–1958, English poet, best known for his poems “The Highwayman” and “The Barrel-Organ.” His first volume of verse, Loom of Years, appeared in 1902. It was follow...

Anglo-Saxon literature

(Encyclopedia)Anglo-Saxon literature, the literary writings in Old English (see English language), composed between c.650 and c.1100. See also English literature. Old English literary prose dates from the latter ...

Lusitania, Roman province

(Encyclopedia)Lusitania lo͞osĭtānˈēə [key], Roman province in the Iberian Peninsula. As constituted (c.a.d. 5) by Augustus it included all of modern central Portugal as well as much of W Spain. The province t...

Holberg, Ludvig, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Holberg, Ludvig, Baron lo͞oᵺˈvē bärōnˈ hōlˈbĕr [key], 1684–1754, Danish dramatist, essayist, poet, and historian, apostle of the Enlightenment in Scandinavia. Born in Norway, he studied t...

De Mille, Cecil B.

(Encyclopedia)De Mille, Cecil B. (Cecil Blount De Mille), 1881–1959, American movie director and producer, b. Ashfield, Mass. In 1914, together with Samuel Goldwyn, he made the first feature-length film in Hollyw...

allegory

(Encyclopedia)allegory, in literature, symbolic story that serves as a disguised representation for meanings other than those indicated on the surface. The characters in an allegory often have no individual persona...