Hœnir

The Æsir send in exchange Hœnir, an obscure figure in Old Norse mythology, and perhaps understandably so, since the Vanir soon discover that Hœnir, though extremely good-looking, is like a ventriloquist's dummy.

2008, Heather O'Donoghue, From Asgard to Valhalla, Bloomsbury Publishing, unnumbered page:

2014, Dagulf Loptson, Playing With Fire, Lulu, EPUB Edition, unnumbered page,
Unfortunately, little information remains about the Æsir god Hœnir. In Gylfaginning, Snorri tells us that Hœnir was given as a hostage to the Vanir in exchange for Njörðr in a pledge of truce.

Rather curiously, it is Hœnir who is said to have imbued the lifeless wood with óðr ('frenzy', 'passion'), rather than Odin, who derives his own name from the quality.

2022, Andrew Orchard, Dictionary of Norse Myth & Legend, Hachette, unnumbered page:

(Norse mythology) A Norse Æsir god, who, along with Odin and Lodur, created the first humans.


antelabbit

Synonym of jackalope (“folkloric animal”)


asantaist

From a- + Santa + -ist, based on atheist.

Nearly everyone but small children are asantaists, while the same is true of aunicornists — even if they have never once decided as an absolute fact, or even as a matter of faith, that unicorns do not exist.

2016 January 30, Nicholas Bittner, The Roads Around Religion, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 11:

(rare, humorous) A person who does not believe in Santa Claus.


Vidofnir

Borrowed from Old Norse Víðópnir or Víðófnir.

The special magic that lay within Laevatein's powers was such that it was the only weapon that could kill the cock Vidofnir ("Tree Snake").

1989, William O. Cord, The Teutonic Mythology of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung, E. Mellen Press, page 175:

2003, William P. Reaves (translator), Viktor Rydberg, Our Fathers' Godsaga: Retold for the Young, [1887, Viktor Rydberg, Fädernas Gudasaga berättad för Ungdomen], iUniverse, page 203,
In the poem Fjölsvinnsmál, which portrays Svipdag's arrival in Asgard, Svipdag asks the guardian by the gate under what condition it would be possible to persuade the subterranean dis Sinmara (the "sinew maimer" Mimir-Nidhad's queen) to surrender the sword she keeps. The guardian replies that Sinmara is gripped by a severe sorrow for which Vidofnir has compassion; she will only be happy again, if a luminous sickle, lying among Vidolfnir′s völnur, is given to her.

18 Vidofnir: in v. 24 it is revealed that Vidofnir is a cockerel roosting in the tree of Mimi.
[…]
24 Sinmara: probably a giantess, cf. 'pale giantess' in v. 29. How Vidofnir oppresses her is not clear.

2014, Carolyne Larrington, editor, The Poetic Edda, Revised edition, Oxford University Press, page 318:

2019, Glenn Searfoss, Cycles of Norse Mythology, Andrews UK (Acorn Books), unnumbered page,
"The unbidden visitor can pass their sleepless watch by offering up two morsels stripped from beneath the wings of the gay cock, Vidofnir. It is a treat they cannot resist; when tossed at their feet it will allow a man to slip by while they eat."

(Norse mythology) A mythological bird (variously, a falcon or a rooster) that inhabits the top of Mímameiðr, a tree identified with Yggdrasil; sometimes positioned on the brow of another cosmic bird.


Archegetes

(Greek mythology) Leader or founder; an epithet of the god Apollo.


aumakua

(Hawaiian mythology) In Hawaiian mythology, a personal or family god that originated as a deified ancestor, and which takes on physical forms such as animals to watch over descendants.


aleprechaunist

From a- + leprechaun + -ist, based on atheist.

"Put it this way. You believe in leprechauns?"
"Uh... no." She smirks. "I firmly renounce any and all belief in leprechauns."
"And so, if I wanted to fully and richly characterize your world view, do you think ‘aleprechaunist’ would do it?"

2002 January 8, Dale McGowan, Calling Bernadette's Bluff: A Novel, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 200:

Am I an atheist? No. Nor am I an aleprechaunist—that label would be just as silly.

2015 January 6, Marshall Brain, How "God" Works: A Logical Inquiry on Faith, Sterling Ethos, →ISBN, page 263:

Nobody can actually say for certain that anything doesn't exist, but I'm an atheist in the same way as I am an aleprechaunist and an afairyist and an apinkunicornist.

2019 February 24, Dawkins on Religion, spoken by Richard Dawkins, via Al Jazeera:

(very rare, humorous) A person who does not believe in leprechauns.


adragonist

From a- + dragon + -ist, based on atheist.

(very rare, humorous) A person who does not believe in dragons.


Gorgoneion

From Ancient Greek γοργόνειον (gorgóneion), neuter of γοργόνειος (gorgóneios, “pertaining to a gorgon”).
The moon was named after the pendant, because of its association with the Greek goddess Athena (and thus with her Roman equivalent, Minerva).

2000, Extract from [1840, Lewis, Donaldson (translators)], K. O. Müller, Introduction to A Scientific Study of Mythology, Burton Feldman, Robert D. Richardson (editors), The Rise of Modern Mythology, 1680-1860, Indiana University Press, page 419,
On returning home, he turns Polydectes and his people to stone, and then gives the Gorgoneion to his protectress Athena, who fixes it upon her shield.

(Greek mythology) The head of the gorgon Medusa.

(Greek mythology) A pendant, worn by the goddess Athena, which features an image of Medusa's head.


dragonflame

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dragonflame.wav

The records of the battle speak only of rolling smoke and of dragonflame mixed with the white fire of the three Ancients.

1981 November, David J[ames] Ritchie, “A History of the Third Fomorian War: The Last Struggle and Decline of the Sidh in Albion”, in Ares, number 11, New York, N.Y.: Simulations Publications, Inc., section “The Great Worm”, page 7, column 2:

She felt her skin pop and eyes melt in the blast of dragonflame, and the snapping of her bones as his teeth skewered her—

1985, Dave Smeds, The Sorcery Within, New York, N.Y.: Ace Fantasy Books, →ISBN, page 272:

Already weakened by blasts of dragonflame, the dome cracked under the force of impact, and a moment later half of it came tumbling down, crushing both dragon and dragonslayers under tons of broken stone and rubble.

2013, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens”, in George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, editors, Dangerous Women, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, pages 765–766:


dragonfire

“Spurs!” Imbri sent in a dream like a blast of dragonfire. “Hotter than the breath of Baal, your thought! But I don’t use the spurs, once my steed is tame,” he argued.

1982, Piers Anthony, Night Mare, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books, page 100:

With a roar of dragonfire something enormous blazed by overhead, as if the Moon itself were dropping onto us.

1982, Mike Scott Rohan, Run to the Stars, Arrow Books, →ISBN, page 14:

At the same time, it made me desperate to get to Ember. To get us all out of here and find someplace safe before the world exploded in a hellstorm of dragonfire.

2017, Julie Kagawa, Legion, HQ, →ISBN, page 210:


dragon whisperer

en-noun

dragon whisperer (plural dragon whisperers)

(fantasy) One who has the ability to talk to and control dragons.


Chrysaor

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Χρυσάωρ (Khrusáōr).

Pegasus alone issues from the neck of the winged and decapitated Medusa,ᵇ or Chrysaor and Pegasus at the same moment.ᶜ

1855, Archaeologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, Volume 36, Society of Antiquaries of London, page 59:

Medusa embraces a winged horse and a youth who have been identified as her sons, Pegasus and Chrysaor. This interpretation is problematic because it involves a temporal impossibility:⁷⁶ the inversion of time sequence. The myth, which is as early as Hesiod (Theogony, 270–82), states clearly that Pegasus was born after Medusa was decapitated.

2002, Nannó Marinatos, The Goddess and the Warrior, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 65:

An innovation comes with Chrysaor, an enigmatic figure who appears in myth in multiple forms: the most famous is the offspring of Medusa and the progenitor of various monsters, including Geryon,³⁴ making Chrysaor hardly a heroic figure.

2010, Lee E. Patterson, Kinship Myth in Ancient Greece, University of Texas Press, page 120:

(Greek mythology) A son of Poseidon and Medusa and brother of the winged horse Pegasus, often depicted as a young man, who sprang along with Pegasus from the blood of the decapitated Medusa.


shapechange

en-verb

shapechange (third-person singular simple present shapechanges, present participle shapechanging, simple past and past participle shapechanged)

shapechanges (present singular third-person)
shapechanging (participle present)
shapechanged (participle past)
shapechanged (past)

He clapped the big man on the shoulder and quickly left. In the shadows of the bridge he shapechanged and headed for Greenvale.

2004, Keri Arthur, Generation 18, London: Piatkus, published 2009, →ISBN, page 161:

(science fiction, fantasy) To shapeshift.


shapechange

I watched Michael's face and asked, "Why was he there then? I'd have put down money that it was a demon, but it was just a shapechange. There was a mortal inside it. Who was he?"

2003, Jim Butcher, Death Masks, New York, N.Y.: Roc Books, →ISBN, page 78:

(science fiction, fantasy) An instance of shapechanging.


Philomel

Above the antique mantel was displayed / As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene / The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king / So rudely forced; […]

1922 October, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part II. A Game of Chess.”, in The Waste Land, 1st book edition, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, published December 1922, →OCLC, page 19:

(Greek mythology) Alternative form of Philomela


Calydonian Boar

(Greek mythology) A giant boar, who was sent by the goddess Artemis to ravage the area of Calydon.


Calydonian Hunt

(Greek mythology) The Calydonian boar hunt: the process of hunting the Calydonian Boar.


walking dead

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-walking dead.wav

The term I've typically seen used for the latter is "walking dead" -- meaning you can still wander around, but no progress can be made, and therefore you have effectively lost the game -- ie "died" -- and just don't know it.

2005 March 4, M. Damian Dollahite, “Re: Boundlessness & IF”, in rec.arts.int-fiction (Usenet):

There are numerous ways to instantly get killed, as well as walking dead situations, which were practically banned across all other adventure games when this game was released in 1996.

2018 October 3, Kurt Kalata, “Dragon Lore II: Heart of the Dragon Man”, in Hardcore Gaming 101:

[I]t’s inevitable that we’d have some walking dead scenarios. Regretfully, I hit one. [...] I left my Boysenberry computer at my house when I headed off to the airport. [...] I [...] jumped into a cannibal-infested jungle before discovering that I lose immediately if I parachute in without the computer.

2021 February 23, Joe Pranevich, “Missed Classic: Bureaucracy - Won! And Final Rating”, in The Adventurers Guild:

(video games) Corresponding to an unwinnable game state, where the player can still act in the game world but victory is impossible.


scisaac

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Scott McCall and Isaac Lahey from the Teen Wolf series.


guivre

The guivre / The legless and wingless guivre would have seemed a mere serpent, albeit an immensely powerful one, except for its massive dragon head, horned and bearded. Guivres liked to live in forests and wells—anywhere near water[…]

(heraldry, mythology) A serpentine creature, variously one with no limbs (like a simple snake, but often depicted swallowing someone), or with wings and only two legs (a wyvern).


hel-shoes

(Norse mythology) Shoes that were purportedly placed on the dead so that they could walk to Valhalla.


Necessitas

(Roman mythology, Orphic theology) The personification of absolute necessity; Ananke.


keythong

Unclear. From Middle English keythong: attested in one medieval document describing Edward IV’s French Expedition of 1475, which records that the badge of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond, featured a "peyr [pair] keythongs". Later writers including Colin Cole (The Coat of Arms 98, 1976) argued this denoted "male griffins" and that these were definitely separate monsters from "griffins" in the medieval period (although both the animals termed male griffins and those termed griffins are depicted with penises in medieval art), while Roger Barnes argues it referred to the two interlinked thongs of an Ormond knot.

The Earl of Ormonde,—a pair of keythongs. (?) * […] * The word is certainly so written, and I have never seen it elsewhere. The figure resembles the Male Griffin, which has no wings, but rays or spikes of gold proceeding from several parts of his body, and sometimes with two long strait horns.—Vide Parker’s Glossary, under Griffin.

1852, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Badges”, in The Pursuivant of Arms, or Heraldry Founded upon Facts, London: W. N. Wright, […], page 183:

Ormond. Earl of Ormond. Temp. Edward. IV. A pair of keythongs.

1870, [Fanny] Bury Palliser, “Badges”, in Historic Devices, Badges, and War-Cries, London: Sampson Low, Son & Marston, […], page 317:

English armory knows an animal which it terms the male griffin, which has no wings, but which has gold rays issuing from its body in all directions. [Hugo Gerard] Ströhl terms the badge of the Earls of Ormonde, which from his description are plainly male griffins, keythongs, which he classes with the panther; and probably he is correct in looking upon our male griffin as merely one form of the heraldic panther.

1904, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, “Beasts”, in The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory, London: T. C. & E. C. Jack […] and Edinburgh, page 136, column 2:

Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings; in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an ‘alce’ or a ‘keythong.’

[2001, Osita Iroku, A Day in the Life of God, →ISBN, page 85:

Folks gave the beast many names. Griffin, griffon, gryphon, alce, keythong, gryphen, griffen, gryphen, and opinicus…

[2009, Benjamin Towe, The First Wandmaker (Elfdreams of Parallan; II), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 20:

The more common representation of the griffin is the female griffin, a creature with wings. Male griffins do NOT have wings and are termed “alces” or “keythongs.”

[2009 June, The Celator, volume 23, number 6:

They’d befriended him because he fed them the tastiest morsels, Alce, the gilded griffin, preferred Marvel while Keythong, the agate stone one, craved DC Comics.

2010, Shirin Dubbin, Dreams’ Dark Kiss, Carina Press, Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN:

There were griffins in all their variety—the standard winged, lion-rumped, eagle-headed; the wingless keythong; the opinicus, with a lion’s forelegs; and the hippogriff, with its horse parts thrown in for good measure. They all looked more or less the same to Meg, and she was surprised to see each kind grouped in its own offish little clique, the keythongs eyeing the hippogriffs with dark suspicion, who in turn raised their hackles at the traditional griffins.

2011, Laura L. Sullivan, Guardian of the Green Hill, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 287:

figure 11 Cloven-hoofed, wingless griffin (also called an alce or a keythong in later heraldry) symbolizing the sun, and two-legged dragon (wyvern) symbolizing the moon.

[2011, Marc Michael Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 58:

Gryphons are egg-layers, though it is the Keythong who guards the nest and warms the eggs. Keythongs are somewhat larger, considerably faster and far more vicious than their female counterparts.

2012, Timothy Groves, “[The Creatures] Keythong”, in The Book of Creatures, →ISBN, page 115:

He didn’t even know the animal’s gender. But most gryphons were supposed to be female. Male gryphons were quite rare — what were they called in heraldry? Keythongs, that was it.

2015, D.R. Ranshaw, “Allies and Foes”, in Gryphon’s Heir (The Annals of Arrinor; I), FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 45:

Alce / Variations: Anthalops, Alcida, Calopus, Keythong, Panthalops, Tapopus / In heraldic symbology the alce is a wingless, male griffin with rays or spikes of gold protruding from several parts of its body; on occasion it also sports two long straight horns atop its head. A pair of such creatures is present on the coat of arms of the Earl of Ormande.

2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 22, column 1:

"Wait, I thought griffins had wings," said Julia. "Why don't you just fly up and we'll meet you at the top?" "For the last time, I am a keythong. Female griffins have the wings and the grace and all that nonsense. Keythongs have spikes on their back and the balance of a drunken hobgoblin.[…]"

2017, David A Wilson, “This Quest Thing”, in Aaron Gray and the Dragon War, →ISBN, page 23:

The live-born gryphlets and opiniclets are revered as prophets and leaders of the future, primarily because they will soar high above their wingless brothers and sisters, that subset of gryphonic beings known as keythongs and kryphons. […] “Jo and Roonen, there is a group of wingless gryphons ahead of you in a clearing. They have some sort of encampment there.” “Those are what the gryphons call ‘keythongs,’ Warford,” Jophriel responds, “They are part of a ground squadron. Don’t do anything. Let us talk to them first.” Warford grumbles about it being dangerous to try to communicate with the keythongs but does not try to dissuade them.

2019, Paula Grover, The Gryphon, FriesenPress, →ISBN, pages 4 (Opinicus) and 237 (The Quest Begins):

They had the opportunity to secure animals for their treasure hunting—griffins (fore-half of an eagle with wings and hind-half of a lion), griffinoids like opinicuses (full lion's body with eagle head and wings), keythongs (fore-half of a giant eagle, hind-half of a lion and spiky protrusions on its back and head), axex (peacock-like head, wings, wild cat-like body), hieracosphinxes (strong lion body with an eagle head, larger than all). […] Also, the hall was a menagerie of beasts. Noble keythongs (wingless griffinoid with the body of a lion and the head and forelegs of an eagle), axex (head of a hawk and a body of a very slim, sleek lion), and opinicuses (often mistaken for griffins — all four of its legs are those of a lion with a giant eagle head with or without wings).

2021, Austin Dragon, Kingdom at Titan’s End (The Fabled Quest Chronicles; 6), California: Well-Tailored Books, →ISBN:

A mythical beast resembling a griffin with no wings, often classified as a male griffin.

John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond
Ormond knot


epimacus

Supporters 2 Epimacus’s, the Necks purfled and the ſlip of their Bellies Or, Beaked Sable and Wings extending upward gules.

1708, A New View of London: or, An Ample Account of That City, in Eight Sections. […], volume II, London: […] John Nicholson […], and Robert Knaplock […], page 613, column 2:

Here are a great collection of antique gems in intaglio; a canopus of agate, an epimacus of chalcedony; a head of Tiberius of one ſingle turquoiſe as large as a hen’s egg, a very great curioſity: […]

1770 December 28, [Anna, Lady Miller], “Letter XXIX.”, in Letters from Italy, Describing the Manners, Customs, Antiquities, Paintings, &c. of That Country, in the Years mdcclxx and mdcclxxi, to a Friend Residing in France, by an English Woman, volume II, London: […] Edward and Charles Dilly, published 1776, pages 117–118:

The Opinicus, or Epimacus / This creature appears to be a variety of the griffin family.

1906, John Vinycomb, Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry, Chapman and Hall, Limited, […], page 162:

It would be a very interesting but a lengthy task to trace out the origin and history of the various traditional monsters, such as the basilisk, the gorgon, the cockatrice, the salamander, and the epimacus, which have come into European legend and belief, and to give some account of the special deadly qualities of each.

1910, Ray Lankester, “The Dragon: A Fancy or a Fact”, in Science from an Easy Chair, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. […], page 125:

Thus were born from credulity, fancy and fertile imagination, in successive ages, dragons, medusas, basilisks, salamanders, gorgons and unicorns, the cocatrice, the epimacus and the seductive mermaid.

1930, Indian State Railways Magazine, page 15:

On another shield is engraved the Company’s crest—an epimacus, an imaginary beast resembling a griffin.

1966, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, volume 39, page 367:

[…] a shop named Charms and Marvels, the marvelousness if it supposedly a presence of wizards with magical powers to clothe a naked visitor like myself in the wink of an eye and free of charge, but where instantly its marionettes, foliage on bureaus, specimens in apothecaries’ gallipots, taxidermized epimacuses, hippogriffs, manticores, and unbashful bijou putti sprung to life; […]

2009, William Penn, “Garden Speedwells, Rain Lilies”, in Love in the Time of Flowers, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, section 1, page 586:


tsuchigumo

(Japanese mythology) A member of a race of spider-like yokai.


Cybelean

(mythology) Of or relating to the goddess Cybele in Greek and Anatolian mythology.


Jotunheim

(Norse mythology) A realm in Nordic mythology inhabited by the jötnar.


dragonlength

Further investigation proved that the plateau was isolated and ample to pasture a huge herd of food[-]beasts for the dragons. It ended in a sheer drop of several dragonlengths into denser jungle on one side, the sea-side escarpment on the other.

1968, Anne McCaffrey, “The Cold Between”, in Dragonflight, Ballantine Books, published 1974, →ISBN, page 262:

An elv’in scoutship was not a large ship, less than two dragonlengths.

2002, James Clemens (pseudonym; James Paul Czajkowski), Wit’ch Star, New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books, →ISBN, page 28:

The Copper stood before the massive Black Rock in the center of the Lavadome; it was dozens of dragonlengths high, heavy and black and forbidding.

2007, E. E. Knight (pseudonym; Eric Frisch), chapter 22, in Dragon Outcast (The Age of Fire; 3), Roc Books, →ISBN, page 257:

(fantasy) A distance equal to the length of a dragon.


Despoina

(Greek mythology) the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon


knife-ear

From an allusion to the pointed ears common in fantasy depictions of elves. Popularised by Dragon Age: Origins (2009) and its subsequent use in the Dragon Age franchise. Possibly influenced by the earlier round-ear.

You've a lot of nerve, knife-ears. This'll go badly for you.

2009 November 3, BioWare (developer), David Gaider (lead writer), Dragon Age: Origins, →OCLC, scene: wedding cutscene in the City Elf origin:

"Hard to believe the elves wiped out the Knights of Saint Augustine. Their captain was capable of summoning the angel, you know? How did a couple of knife-ears stand up to the Kingdom's strongest knights and an angel?”

2020, 616th Special Information Battalion (trans. ZackZeal), Her Majesty's Swarm: Volume 1, unnumbered page

"Get your ass in here. It's time you started acting like the chicano ork you are and not some pansy elf listening to Americano music by yourself all the time. That's what knife-ears do! Now get in here!"

2022, O. C. Presley, Shadowrun: Kings of the Street, unnumbered pages


Buffyatric

I'm Harper. Resident breadbaker, librarian, Buffyatric, occasional pirate wench, and quondam Irish harper.

1997 October 28, SjPete, “Stranger enters, goes to corner table”, in alt.pub.coffeehouse.amethyst (Usenet):

Uh-oh, better be careful what you say in that regard. I made the same point here just a few weeks ago and got flamed by one of the posting board's "Buffyatrics" (which group actually doesn't seem distinguishable from the younger set, at least not according to some of the items posted at their website).

1998 October 4, David Samuel Barr, “Joss Answers Questions — Spoilers”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer (Usenet):

The word "gay" has been adopted as a generic term to cover both male and female homosexuals (aka lesbians). Even *I* know that and I'm an ageing Buffyatric!

2004 April 1, Dave K, “BtVS on new gay channel”, in uk.media.tv.buffy-v-slayer (Usenet):

(fandom slang) An elderly fan of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003).


barbegazi

en-noun

barbegazi (plural barbegazi or barbegazis)

Both male and female barbegazi wear white fur garments which help them blend into the snowy scenery.

1996, D. J. Conway, Magickal, Mythical, Mystical Beasts, Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 199:

Some humans living in the region say that the Barbegazi are very helpful, but the credit is more often than not given to the St. Bernard dogs.

2001, D. J. Conway, Magickal Mystical Creatures: Invite Their Powers into Your Life, Llewellyn Publications, published 2018, →ISBN:

Barbegazi are such expert rescuers, you see.

2013, Raynetta J. Stocks, The Isle of Kishi Mora (The Lova Chronicles), book 2, RJS Books, →ISBN, page 122:

A halfling has been hiding in the snow outside the barbegazi village.

2016, Kim McDougall, Hibernaculum, Kim McDougall, →ISBN:

You couldn't keep a barbegazi inside a house. […] Similar to polar bears, barbegazi are covered in an insulating underfur, topped by long guard hairs.

2019, H. S. Norup, The Missing Barbegazi, North Star Editions, →ISBN:

Frozenfalls are specifically for the Queen herself; there are, however, some small ice creatures such as qiqirns, barbegazis, ice-cream cats, snow aliens, ice wraiths and there is also one ice dragon; but no other guardian or creatures are allowed on this island.

2022, Bianca Steyn, Reborn, Dorrance Publishing Co, →ISBN, page vi:

(mythology) A kind of gnomelike or dwarflike mythical creature.


grey folk

One of the most important of all Yuletide observances was the 'saining' required to guard life or properties from the Trows. If the proper observances were omitted, the 'grey-folk' were sure to take advantage of the opportunity.

1888, Biot Edmonndston, Jessie Saxby, The Home of a Naturalist, page 136:

(Scotland, mythology) elves, the fae, the wee folk.


origo gentis

Derived from Medieval Latin origo gentis (“origin, beginning of a people”).

(mythology, historical) The origin story of a tribe or people.


Nessus shirt

In Greek mythology, a shirt (chiton) soaked with the poisoned blood of the centaur Nessus that killed Heracles upon wearing it.

No wonder then that, with this age-long suppression (necessary in a sense though it may have been) which marks the Christian dispensation, there should have been associated endless Sickness and Crime and sordid Poverty, the Crucifixion of animals in the name of Science and of human workers in the name of Wealth, and wars and horrors innumerable! Hercules writhing in the Nessus-shirt or Prometheus nailed to the rocks are only as figures of a toy miniature compared with this vision of the great and divine Spirit of Man caught in the clutches of those dread Diseases which through the centuries have been eating into his very heart and vitals.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 189:

(figuratively) A fatal present or inescapable fate.


Kitezh

(Slavic mythology, folklore) A city in Russian folklore that was believed to have disappeared under a lake, to avoid being conquered by the Mongols.


gallows god

It is from this tree that Odin hanged himself in sacrifice, making the world-tree a gallows and himself the gallows god.

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 20:

(Norse mythology) A byname for the God Odin, so called for being hanged on the world tree Yggdrasil.


wolf-child

Odin watched the wolf-child grow with foreboding, for in his dreams the wolf had been there at the end of everything[.]

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 78:

(mythology, fantasy) A being that is part wolf, part child.


frost giant

Calque of Old Norse hrímþurs, from hrím (“rime, frost”) + þurs (“giant, troll”).

There were frost giants and mountain giants at Balder's funeral[.]

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 221:

(Norse mythology) A type of large, strong, and fearsome supernatural beings that live in cold and icy regions.


Gauri

A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Marpesia

From Ancient Greek Μαρπησία (Marpēsía, literally “snatcher”).

bor

(Greek mythology) The queen of the Amazons, who ruled with her sister Lampedo, and helped to establish the Greek city of Ephesus.


maenadism

(Greek mythology) The frenzied state of a female follower of Dionysus.


Homlin

(mythology, Russia) In the city of Kaliningrad, a mythological creature, who, according to legend, lives next to people, and at night produces amber products; according to legend, they bring happiness and goodness.


Heorot

A legendary mead hall ruled over by Hrothgar, as described in the poem Beowulf


Thaumas

(Greek mythology) A sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia


brazen age

These last bear some resemblance to the golden, silver, brazen, and iron ages of the Greeks.

1841, Elphinstone, Hist. India, volume I, page 257:

(mythology) The third of the four mythological ages of mankind, said to come between the silver and the iron age.

ద్వాపరము

myth: third age of man, after the silver age and before the iron age


Island of the Blest

en-proper noun

Island of the Blest (plural Islands of the Blest)

The Feeries of romance may be divided into three kinds: Avalon, placed in the ocean, like the Island of the Blest; those that, like the palace of Pari Banou, are within the earth; and, lastly, those that, like Oberon's domains, are situate 'in wilderness among the holtis hairy.'

1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 45:

(mythology) A paradisial island or archipelago, located to the far West, the abode of good people after death.


Dark Alfs

But the Döckalfar (Dark Alfs) dwell below under the ground, and are unlike them in appearance, and still more unlike in actions.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 109:


Light Alfs

The former were, according to the ideas of those times, of a good and elevated nature, and of a friendly disposition towards men, whence they also received the name of White or Light Alfs or Spirits.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 106:

In his Edda Snorri tells us that the Light Alfs are bright and shining, very fair to look upon, which fits well with the first reading of the word's etymology.

2023, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Elves, Wights & Trolls, The Three Little Sisters, page 83:


Alfar

The Alfar still live in the memory and traditions of the peasantry of Scandinavia.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 135:

"Ill is it with the Æsir, ill is it with the Alfar."

1964, J. A. Macculloch, The Mythology of All Races, New York: Cooper Square Publishers, page 220:


Sleipnir

Borrowed from Old Norse Sleipnir (“the slipper, the slippy one”).

bor+

And Ranald swore first by the white Christ, and then by the head of Sleipnir, Odin’s horse[.]

1866, Charles Kingsley, chapter 33, in Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 443:

(Norse mythology) The eight-legged horse of Odin.


Teumessian fox

[…]there is a place called Teumessus, where they say Europa was concealed by Jupiter. It is likewise said of the Teumessian fox, that it was nourished by Bacchus for the purpose of destroying the Thebans; aod that when it was on the point of being taken by that dog which Diana gave to Procris the daughter of Erechtheus, both the dog and the fox were changed into stones.

1824, Pausanias, The Description of Greece, →OCLC:

When Amphitryon came to Thebes he found that another curse had descended on that unlucky city. For the Teumessian Fox, which was as large and savage as a wolf, had been sent by Dionysus to plague the land, catching children and carrying them away to its lair, as a punishment for the things he had suffered in Thebes.

1961, Green, Roger Lancelyn, Heroes of Greece and Troy, retold from the ancient authors, →OCLC:

One Greek myth has it that Laelaps and the Teumessian Fox were cast into space where they formed the two constellations, Canis Major and Minor.

2015, Hankins, Justine, author, Dogopedia : a compendium of canine curiosities:

(Greek mythology) A giant fox destined to never be caught.


snowdragon

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Of icicles and snowdragons […] Prizes were given for some of the best ice statues, which included a Hobbit and home, a lounging mermaid and a snowy-white dragon.

1978, Val Rush, “Of icicles and snowdragons . . . / . . . The blizzard of ’78”, in Renaissance 1978, Kingston, R.I.: University of Rhode Island, page 70, column 1:

Other times, we’d make snowdragons, and snowhorses and a big pile of snowballs.

1992, Isabelle Knockwood, Gillian Thomas, Out of the Depths: The Experiences of Mi’kmaw Children at the Indian Residential School at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Roseway Publishing, →ISBN, page 72:

Dragon liked his new smaller snowman but it was still not quite right. So Dragon turned the snowman into a snowdragon. Dragon had a great time playing with his new snowdragon.

2005, Sonia Sander, Dragon's Snowy Day, page 8:

“Let’s do it,” said Jayden. “We can build snowdragons.” […] Then we spent the next hour: • Building snowmen. • Building snowdragons. (We used old gardening gloves for wings and twigs for claws.)

2017, Tom Nicoll, There’s a Dragon in My Stocking!, London: Stripes, →ISBN, pages 62–64:

(rare) A visual representation of a dragon made from snow.

“This is the northern edge of the darklands,” said Hargoth. “We live all our lives in a state of siege. Anyone, anything, may come. Sometimes the great snowdragons, with the frost white on their wings and their hungry teeth showing.[…]”

1974, Leigh Brackett, “The Ginger Star”, in The Book of Skaith: The Adventures of Eric John Stark, Garden City, N.Y.: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., published 1976, page 85:

In the sky a blizzard of mighty snowdragons wheeled in impatient spirals, their white riders eager to join the fray.

1991, Andrew Bill, The Well of Hope, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.: Holland Studio Craft Ltd., →ISBN, page 1:

Mournfully, Barbara the Barbarian stroked the proud back of Fearless, while her six bodyguards tested their arrows and dreamed of riding through the snowy wastes of Barbaria on the backs of their snowdragons, wind streaming through their mustaches, cats meowing happily on their shoulders, flying back, back in time to a village that no longer existed.

2015, Cressida Cowell, How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury: The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Viking (How to Train Your Dragon; 12), New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 86:

(rare, fantasy) A dragon associated with snow.


ur-myth

(anthropology, mythology) A myth believed to be a precursor or prototype to all existing myths.


wee folk

(mythology) Small magical humanoid creatures such as fairies.


Scholomance

(folklore) A fabled underground school of black magic in Romania.


dragonrider

Those handsome dragonriders, too, so brave in their wher-hide accouterments, proud on the necks of their great beasts—they did not submit kindly to close examination without a few disappointing revelations.

1968, Anne McCaffrey, Dragonflight, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published 1974, →ISBN, page 108:

The dragonriders turned their beasts, two hundred beasts at least, treading once again over the crops they had already destroyed.

1984, Eric Affabee, The Siege of the Dragonriders (Wizards, Warriors & You; 2), New York, N.Y.: Avon, →ISBN, page 4:

Once asleep, a dragon is extremely difficult and even dangerous to wake,[…]. An experienced dragonrider never allows his animal to sleep unless he knows there is a competent wizard nearby.

1989, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, The Prophet of Akhran (Rose of the Prophet; 3), New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN:


Fenris

He will slay Fenris (q.v.), survive Ragnarok and avenge the death of Odin.

1996, John Grant, An Introduction to Viking Mythology, page 15:

Finally, Odin caught Fenris the wolf cub and dragged the howling, struggling beast back home to Asgard.

2000, Vic Parker, Traditional Tales from Norse Lands, page 20:

I wanted to struggle against this beast like Odin fighting Fenris at the end of days, but I knew that like him, I would lose.

2009, Andrew Donskin, Viking Blood: Tor Scaldbane, Scandinavia 1008 AD, page 2:


Brunhilda

(mythology) Alternative form of Brunhild


Nereus

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Νηρεύς (Nēreús).

(Greek mythology) The eldest son of Pontus (the sea) and Gaia (the earth).


animagus

Coined by J. K. Rowling for her Harry Potter series as a blend of animal + magus. Term is introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999).

There is also the question of what we imagine the universes in the multiverse would look like in general. One is virtually forced to speculate, way beyond anything physics can say, that all possible universes exist, in order to guarantee one like ours coming about. Most of these universes would be dead. Of the tiny minority that had life at all, some would really have mythical creatures like unicorns, werewolves and animagi.

2007, Rodney D. Holder, “Is the universe designed?”, in Denis Alexander, editor, Has Science Killed God? The Faraday Papers on Science and Religion, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, published 2019, →ISBN, part 4 (Science, Faith and Philosophy):

When we match our crown chakras with the topmost lion and its crown, we have the odd experience of looking out from the eyes of the golden lion atop the Ray pillar, as if we have become this lion, shapeshifting like an animagus into a lion’s form, or perhaps into the Lion, as in the Lion archetype, one of the Holy Beasts, the angelic order with the four heads, one for each of the zodiacal quarters and one the figure of a lion.

2011, Richard Leviton, Hierophantic Landscapes: Lighting up Chalice Well, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, the Rondanes, and Oaxaca, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 519, column 1:

Lucifer was an Animagus, not by God’s hand, but perhaps by evolution or by willing it later and he used it in a successful attempt to lead Adam and Eve astray in the Garden of Eden.

2022, Barb Cantrell, I Want My Kids to Know Who God Really Is, Conneaut Lake, Pa.: Page Publishing, →ISBN:

"This is my friend Leonard. Leo you can transform back now." / Alexa smiled at the dog. All of a sudden, the husky jumped up onto his hind legs and before their very eyes the husky turned into a man. / "Dude that was awesome! Are you a..." Shinara questioned. / "An animagus? Yes." Leonard said looking back at Alexa.

2022, C[harlie-]L[ee] Davies, The Dark Elf: The Return of the Queen, London: Europe Books, →ISBN:

(fantasy) A person who can transform into an animal.

animago

a person who can transform into an animal


Nicander

Borrowed from Latin Nicander, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek Νίκανδρος (Níkandros). Cognate with French Nicandre.

(Greek mythology) According to Herodotus, one of the three Peleiades.


T'ien

From Mandarin 天 (Tiān), Wade–Giles romanization: Tʻien¹.

Confucius had a lively faith in T’ien and that faith was the ultimate source of his greatness. For one thing, that faith convinced him that one’s happiness depends upon the approval of T’ien rather than the praises of men, upon one’s interior qualities rather than external things. Once he said, “I do not murmur against T’ien, nor grumble against men. My studies lie low, but my penetration rises high. T’ien alone knows me.”²⁰

1965, John C.H. Wu, “Confucius: The Man and His Ideas”, in Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality, Angelico Press, published 2017, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 7:

As we have seen, the Taipings thought of God as having emotions. He loves his sons and becomes angry when the people forsake him and take to the way of the devil. The Taipings thought of God as kind and compassionate but jealous. T’ien in the minds of the ancient Chinese exhibits the same emotions: Tien^([sic – meaning T'ien]) is said to be compassionate and to love the people.⁵¹ T’ien so loves the people that he grants them their wishes.⁵² The sovereign T’ien is often angry when the people are misruled.⁵³ This anger finds vent in the punishment of the wicked. Tung Chung-shu of the Han describes the emotional nature of T’ien in the following words: “Heaven has its own feelings of joy and anger and a mind which experiences sadness and pleasure, analogous to those of man.”⁵⁴

1967, Vincent Y. C. Shih, “The Classics and Confucianism”, in The Taiping Ideology: Its Sources, Interpretations, and Influences (Far Eastern and Russian Institute Publications on Asia), number 15, University of Washington Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 173:

(Chinese mythology) Alternative form of Tian (“Heaven, God”)


elle-people

It is also necessary to watch cattle so that they may not graze in any place where the Elle-people have been. If any animal goes to a place where the Elle-people have spit or done what is worse, it is attacked by some grievous disease, which can only be cured by giving it a handful of St. John's wort, which was pulled at twelve o'clock on St. John's night.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 140:

"I tremble at the very thought of the Elle-people of whom our villagers tell, while thou hast not a single fear. Why is it, sister?"

1861, Dinah Craik, Romantic Tales, Leipzip: Berhard Tauchnitz, page 164:

(mythology) A type of elf of Scandinavian folklore.


elle-maid

The Wilde Frauen or Wild-women of Germany bear a very strong resemblance to the Elle-maids of Scandinavia. Like them they are beautiful, have fine flowing hair, live within hills, and only appear singly or in the society of each other.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 33:

(mythology) A type of female elf of Scandinavian folklore.


elle-folk

"We're none of the elle-folk who dance in the hills and weave fates, ye mun go to them for that."

1860, Harriet Elizabeth Prescott, Sir Rohan's Ghost: A Romance, Boston: J.E. Tilton and Co., page 293:

Still the Elle-folk are often mentioned in the legends he proceeds to give as inhabiting houes, notwithstanding an explicit opening statement that they ‘dwell in the Elle-mosses,’ and notwithstanding the fact also that the so-called Elle-kone of the houes seems evidently to want the hollow back.

1865 November, J[ohn] C[hristopher] Atkinson, “Comparative Danish and Northumbrian Folk Lore. […] Chapter VII. Elle Folk.”, in The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Younger Members of the English Church, volume XXX, part 179, London: John and Charles Mozley, […]; and J[ohn] H[enry] Parker, […], footnote, page 476:

The ellefolk live in mosses, banks and mounds, under alder-trees and in alder-thickets.

1896, William Alexander Craigie, Scandinavian Folk-lore, London: Alexander Gardner, page 175:


Ninurta

Ultimately from Sumerian 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒅁 (ᵈNIN.URTA)

A Mesopotamian god associated with agriculture and war


vampire time

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In vampire time Aleya had not really been around that long, but the sound, the scent, the routines that were uniquely her were missing. He missed her.

2010, Oliver Bonewits, Of Blood And Magic - A Vampire's Story, page 215:

Ah, she was young in real time or vampire time?

2016, Kathryn Meyer Griffith, The Last Vampire, page 214:

Such elaborate patterning is made possible by vampire time and enables both stasis – the male vampire's desire for his true love remains unchanged over the years – and change – the object of that love may actually change as it is switched from one female to another.

2016, Lorna Jowett, Kevin Robinson, David Simmons, Time on TV, page 130:

He was younger than Nikolai by a few hundred years which, in vampire time, was not that much.

2020, Isadora Brown, The Vampire's Executioner:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see vampire, time.

Time, when considered relative to a vampire's immortal lifespan.


time vampire

The telephone is to time vampires what blood banks are to real vampires.

1994, Davida Jean Weinberg, Reciprocity Reconsidered, page 287:

TV is the biggest time vampire in our culture.

Believe it or not, a "gentle clue" to a time vampire is the equivalent of a two-by-four over the head for most people.

2004, Shaun Belding, Winning with the Customer from Hell, page 184:

The night is a time-vampire as far as taking care of your skin goes.

2005, Judy Steinberg, Raechel Donahue, The Ropes: Girls Have the Rules, Women Know the Ropes, page 159:

That any systematic critique of the capitalist employer as time vampire is thereby short-circuited is plain.

2013, T. Ferguson, Victorian Time: Technologies, Standardizations, Catastrophes, page 24:

Yes, the apps on your computer and phone are the biggest time vampires of all time.

2020, Brent Spencer, A Handbook for the Online Student: Learning in Difficult Times:

(informal, derogatory) A person, obligation, or activity that drains one's time; a time-waster.

Do you mean that Jarmyn Thanatos is some kind of a— a time vampire?

1997, Brad Strickland, John Bellairs, The Bell, the Book and the Spellbinder:

“I'm a time vampire,” Loretta Vampireclanso-called-jiangshi said. “I can take time from people, or give it away.”

2017, Emily Martha Sorensen, Trials of a Teenage Werevulture:

But I was laying low, and vampires can't always be choosers, even time vampires.

(science fiction) A variety of vampire that feeds off time or potential years of life.


Ireima

(Meitei mythology) An ancient Meitei goddess of water, aquatic life, diseases and illnesses.


Grimnir

Borrowed from Old Norse Grímnir (“masked one”). Compare Old Norse Grímr, from which comes the synonym Grim. See also Icelandic gríma (“mask”).

Grimnir taught Geirrodr how to unseat an opponent from his horse with a minimum amount of effort. And sometimes late in the evening Grimnir talked of Asgardr and the Æsir themselves, as if he had actually been there.

2010, Heilan Yvette Grimes, The Norse Myths, Hollow Earth Publishing, page 116:

To torture him into talking, the king strung Grimnir between two fires for eight nights.
King Geirrod had a ten-year-old son named after his brother, Agnar. Agnar gave Grimnir a whole horn to drink, saying it was wrong for his father to torture an innocent man.

2014, Jeramy Dodds, transl., The Poetic Edda, Coach House Books, page 67:

(Norse mythology) Odin; specifically, the name adopted by Odin in Grímnismál ("The Lay of Grimnir", also called "Grimnir's Sayings", in the Poetic Edda).


Curitis

(Roman mythology) An epithet of the goddess Juno.


Resheph

Ultimately from Eblaite 𒀭𒊏𒊓𒀊 (ra-sa-ap). Cognate with Ugaritic 𐎗𐎌𐎔 (ršp), Egyptian ršpw, and Hebrew רֶשֶׁף

A god associated with plague, featured in Eblaite, Ugaritic, and Egyptian myth


Khambrangchak

Borrowed from Manipuri ꯈꯝꯕ꯭ꯔꯥꯡꯆꯥꯛ (khamb͟raangchaak).

(Meitei mythology) A bird species. It is known for one female of its species, causing a chain of damages while preparing for visiting to her paternal family


peach of immortality

en-noun

peach of immortality (plural peaches of immortality)

Calque of Chinese 仙桃 (xiāntáo, literally “immortal peach”).

calque

(Chinese mythology) A kind of peach believed to grant longevity to those who consume it.


Alastor

(Greek mythology) Any of several characters in Greek mythology, variously spirit, human, a horse of the underworld.


Roman charity

en-noun

Roman charity (countable and uncountable, plural Roman charities)

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(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A story where someone is sentenced to die by starvation; but their daughter saves them by secretly breastfeeding them.

Cimon and Pero (Rubens)
Peter Paul Rubens


Adrastean

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Adrasteia or Adrastea in Greek mythology.


Astarionmancer

As a professional Astarionmancer, you can get “Very High Approval” without the need to be evil.

I’m an Astarionmancer with a lot of thoughts and not enough creative outlets.

As a fellow Astarionmancer I don't mind a little peck before finishing his personal quest, but after that he should be more passionate.

(Baldur's Gate fandom slang) A player who romances Astarion during a playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3.


Astarionmance

As someone who's romancing both Astarion and Gale in simultaneous separate playthroughs, I am loving the difference so much: Galemance caters to my soft Harlequin Romance side while Astarionmance is so totally my Bodice-Ripper bag, baby!

2020 November 7, TheAbominableMomo, Reddit:

i will wait patiently for bg3 console release and NOT watch any more Astarionmance videos

2023 August 16, TheFallowMyre (@DemiPixellated), Twitter:

I just started a new Astarionmance as a reward for abstaining from him for a whole game 😅

2024 February 6, Becky (@Beckyhelene), Twitter:

(Baldur's Gate fandom slang) The Astarion romance subplot in the video game Baldur's Gate 3.


Vagitanus

(Roman mythology) A male deity involved with childbirth.


vampling

It was usually right after these conversations that my brand-new vamplings got their first glimpse of how fast their fellow vampires can heal.

2004, David Sosnowski, Vamped, page 186:

“No, cara mia. You are a vampling. The chance that you would drink too much and harm the comar is too great. I stay.”

2011, Kristen L. Painter, Out for Blood, page 337:

Vampling bloodlust was worse than puberty. I was green enough to recall my own cringe-worthy growing pains —my recent cow blood confession, case in point.

2020, Angela Roquet, Out for Blood, unnumbered page:

(informal) A newly-turned or fledgling vampire.


Sudalai Madan

Borrowed from Tamil சுடலைமாடன் (cuṭalaimāṭaṉ).

bor+

(Tamil religion) a Dravidian folk religion deity, considered to be a son of Shiva and Parvati.


Madurai Veeran

Borrowed from Tamil மதுரைவீரன் (maturaivīraṉ).


Annamar

(Hinduism, Tamil religion) a Tamil village deity of the Nalavar and Pallar castes


water sprite

(folklore) A general term for an elemental spirit associated with water, said to be able to breathe water or air and sometimes is able to fly.


Suchus

From Latin Sūchus, from Ancient Greek Σοῦχος (Soûkhos), ultimately from Egyptian s-b-k:I3 (sbk). Doublet of Sobek.

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">sbk</i>

(Egyptian mythology) Synonym of Sobek (“An ancient Egyptian deity associated with the crocodile.”)


Buto

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Βουτώ (Boutṓ), from Egyptian wAD-t-I12 (wꜣḏt (literally “green one”)), an allusion to the skin of the cobra. Doublet of Wadjet.

der

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">wꜣḏt</i> (literally “green one”)


dragonriding

Anne McCaffrey of Dragonflight fame, experienced relief noting that . . . “Leessa (was), for once, appropriately clad for dragonriding,” and finds it noteworthy that he had actually read her books!

1981, Richard Riehn, “[Book reviews] Wonderworks, Science Fiction and Fantasy Art, by Michael Whelan”, in Philip O[lcott] Stearns, editor, Fantasy Modeling, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Fantasy Modeling Inc., →OCLC, page 44, column 2:

He took hold of the leather harness and said, “I’m ready.” / “Good, Aarondar. It is . . . nice that you have acquired a taste for dragonriding.” Turiana snorted in amusement, and gathered herself for flying.

1986 December, R[hondi] A[nn] V[ilott] Salsitz, chapter 21, in Where Dragons Rule, New York, N.Y.: Signet, →ISBN, page 243:

Troll fights every Saturday, centaur roller derby Tuesday nights, zombie paintball every second Friday, unicorn jousting at Christmas and a dragonriding tournament in June.

2017 October 10, Jessica Townsend, “Welcome to Nevermoor”, in Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Sydney, N.S.W.: Lothian, Hachette Australia, →ISBN, page 83:


Jafnhár

From Old Norse Jafnhár (literally “Just-as-High”), from jafn (“equal, the same”) + hár (“high, tall”). Compare Hár.

compound

(Norse mythology) One of the three enthroned figures who feature opposite King Gylfi in the Gylfaginning.

יפנהר

Norse mythology: enthroned figure in the Gylfaginning


Sun Wukong

Borrowed from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 孫悟空 /孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng, literally “Sun Awakened-to-Emptiness”).

bor

(Chinese mythology) A fictional anthropomorphic monkey with various abilities and magical powers best known for being one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese epic Journey to the West, and is revered as a deity by some Buddhists and most Taoists.


Daphnidian

en-adj

Daphnidian (comparative more Daphnidian, superlative most Daphnidian)

more Daphnidian (comparative)
most Daphnidian (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to the poet Daphnis in Greek legend.


Aegaeonian

Aegaeonian (comparative more Aegaeonian, superlative most Aegaeonian)

more Aegaeonian (comparative)
most Aegaeonian (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to Aegaeon in Greek mythology


Methonean

Methonean (comparative more Methonean, superlative most Methonean)

more Methonean (comparative)
most Methonean (superlative)

/mɛθəˈniːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to Methone in Greek mythology.


Anthean

Anthean (comparative more Anthean, superlative most Anthean)

more Anthean (comparative)
most Anthean (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to Anthe in Greek mythology.


Pallenean

Pallenean (comparative more Pallenean, superlative most Pallenean)

more Pallenean (comparative)
most Pallenean (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to Pallene in Greek mythology.


Telestoan

Telestoan (comparative more Telestoan, superlative most Telestoan)

more Telestoan (comparative)
most Telestoan (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Telesto in Greek mythology.


Calypsoan

Calypsoan (comparative more Calypsoan, superlative most Calypsoan)

more Calypsoan (comparative)
most Calypsoan (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to Calypso in Greek mythology.


Helenean

Helenean (comparative more Helenean, superlative most Helenean)

more Helenean (comparative)
most Helenean (superlative)

They hasten youth / Into maturer womanhood; they give / A brighter lustre to the beaming eye, / Fairer proportions to the moulded form / Of Helenéan beauty, and impart / A deeper current to the fervent stream / Of the unsealed affections.

1841, Pliny Earle, “Angelina”, in Marathon, and Other Poems, Philadelphia: Henry Perkins, page 76:

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda.


Polydeucean

Polydeucean (comparative more Polydeucean, superlative most Polydeucean)

more Polydeucean (comparative)
most Polydeucean (superlative)

(mythology) Of or relating to the god Polydeuces (a.k.a. Pollux) in Greek mythology.


Deimian

(mythology) Of or relating to Deimos in Greek mythology.


Selenian

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to the god Selene in Greek mythology.


Thebean

(mythology) Of or relating to Thebe in Greek mythology.


Himalian

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Himalia in Greek mythology.


Elarian

(mythology) Of or relating to the princess Elara in Greek mythology.


Pasiphaëan

(mythology) Of or relating to the queen Pasiphaë or Pasiphae in Greek mythology.


Sinopean

(mythology) Of or relating to Sinope in Greek mythology.


Lysithean

(mythology) Of or relating to Lysithea (a.k.a. Lysithoe) in Greek mythology.


Anankean

/ænəŋˈkiːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the god Ananke in Greek mythology.


Ledean

(mythology) Of or relating to the queen Leda in Greek mythology.


Nereidian

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereids in Greek mythology.


Naiadian

(mythology) Of or relating to the Naiads in Greek mythology.


Thalassian

(mythology) Of or relating to Thalassa, the personification of the Sea in Greek mythology.


Despinian

(mythology) Of or relating to the god Despina (a.k.a. Despoena) in Greek mythology.


Galatean

/ɡæləˈtiːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Galatea in Greek mythology.


Larissian

(mythology) Of or relating to Larissa in Greek mythology.


Halimedean

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Halimede in Greek mythology.


Psamathean

/sæməˈθiːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Psamathe in Greek mythology.


Saonian

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Sao in Greek mythology.


Laomedeian

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Laomedeia in Greek mythology.


Nesoan

(mythology) Of or relating to the Nereid Neso in Greek mythology.


hippocampian

(mythology) Of or relating to the hippocamp, a creature in Greek mythology.


Hydrian

(mythology) Of or relating to the monster Hydra in Greek legend.


Dysnomian

(mythology) Of or relating to the demon Dysnomia in Greek mythology.


Orthosian

/ɔːrˈθoʊʒiən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the god Orthosia in Greek mythology.


Thyonean

/ˌθaɪəˈniːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to Thyone in Greek mythology.


Iocastean

(mythology) Of or relating to Iocaste (Jocasta) in Greek mythology.


Pasithean

(mythology) Of or relating to the Grace Pasithea in Greek mythology.


Kallichorean

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Kallichore (Callichore) in Greek mythology.


Callichorean

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Callichore in Greek mythology.


Taygetean

/ˌteɪədʒəˈtiːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the nymph Taygete, one of the Pleiades in Greek mythology.


Aoedean

/ˌeɪəˈdiːən/

(mythology) Of or relating to the muse Aoede in Greek mythology.


Euphrosynean

(mythology) Of or relating to the Grace Euphrosyne in Greek mythology.


Hektorean

(mythology) Of or relating to the hero Hektor in the Iliad.


Nemesian

(mythology) Of or relating to the Greek god Nemesis.


Hebean

(mythology) Of or relating to the Greek god Hebe.


Elektrian

(mythology) Of or relating to the tragic figure Elektra in Greek mythology.


Electrian

(mythology) Of or relating to the tragic figure Electra in Greek mythology.


Hermionean

(Greek mythology) Of or relating to Hermione of Greek mythology.


domovyk

(Slavic mythology) In Ukrainian folklore, a spirit of a house who protects the inhabitants.


mavka

(Slavic mythology, mythology) In Ukrainian folklore, a forest spirit who lures men to their deaths.


zaratan

Ultimately from Arabic سَرَطَان (saraṭān, “crab”), possibly via Spanish zaratán.

[…]turtle known as zaratans. Living for millennia, these slow-moving gentle giants dine exclusively on sea […] a zaratan's shell grows ever more complex as it ages.

2019 June 18, Lindsay Cibos-Hodges, Jared Hodges, Draw Baby Beasties: Create Little Dragons, Unicorns, Mermaids and More, Penguin, →ISBN, page 86:

[…] turtle—a zaratan. On the zaratan's back were hundreds of tiny green frogs nestled in the seaweed, with bat wings and long reptile tails.

2019 October 8, Megan Linski, Alicia Rades, Hidden Legends, The Air Omen, Crystallite Publishing:

[…] from the colossal zaratan that cruises the seas to the gigantic roc that rules the skies or the deadly basilisk that haunts the ruins of ancient cities.

2023 September 7, Emily Hawkins, A Natural History of Magical Beasts, →ISBN, page 54:

(mythology) In Arabic folklore, an extremely large (sea) turtle, the shell of which resembles an island.


Gondlir

Borrowed from Old Norse Gǫndlir (“wand bearer", "wand wielder”) (Gǫnd + -lir), where the wand is a magical implement possibly used for shamanic travel. It has also been suggested that Gǫnd may signify "wolf" (implying a spirit or otherwise magical wolf).

bor

2015, Neil Gaiman, The American Gods Quartet, 2019, Ebook, Hachette Livre (Headline Publishing Group), unnumbered page,
I told you I would tell you my names. This is what they call me. I am called Glad-of-War, Grim, Raider and Third. I am One-eyed. […] I am All-Father, and I am Gondlir Wand-bearer.


imbunche

(folklore) In Chilote folklore, a deformed humanoid monster that protects the entrance to a warlock's cave.


Telegonus

From Ancient Greek Τηλέγονος (Tēlégonos)

(Greek mythology) the son of Circe and Odysseus.


Spawnstarion

Gods, I would love a DLC where we get to find a cure for Spawnstarion. I need that. Until then my headcanon must suffice.

Resist Durge and Spawnstarion is the best romance experience of this game.

2024 February 1, deleted_account, Reddit:

I find it incredibly sweet and I have Spawnstarion repeat that line a lot to my Tavs lol.

2024 March 10, somethingaboutme, Reddit:

(Baldur's Gate fandom slang) The vampire spawn version of Astarion from the video game Baldur's Gate 3.


rota Fortunae

/ˌɹəʊtə ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːni/

Unadapted borrowing from Latin rota Fortūnae (literally “Fortuna’s wheel”), from rota (“wheel”) + Fortūnae (the genitive dative singular of Fortūna (“the Roman goddess of fate, fortune, and luck”)).

ubor

As a medievalist Ignatius believed in the rota Fortunae, or wheel of fortune, a central concept in De Consolatione Philosophiae, the philosophical work which had laid foundation for medieval thought. […] Was his wheel rapidly spinning downward?

1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, chapter 2, in A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN, section I, page 27:

Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune#English

(mythology, philosophy) Synonym of Wheel of Fortune (“the mythological wheel turned randomly by Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate, fortune, and luck, to determine people's fortunes which were thus unpredictable”)


Vlad the Impaler

A Romanian (Wallachian) prince (c. 1431 - c. 1476), who was known for impaling people.


Khodiyar

Transliteration of Gujarati ખોડિયાર (khoḍiyār).

translit

A Hindu folk goddess worshiped in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.


Harrowing of Hell

The source of the Harrowing of Hell tradition is, of course, the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, the oldest manuscripts of which date back to the fifth century, and that work was tremendously popular in England from the earliest days of Christianity there.

1991, M. B. McNamee, “Beowulf-An Allegory of Salvation?”, in Robert D. Fulk, editor, Interpretations of Beowulf, Indiana University Press, page 94:

(Christianity, theology, chiefly dated or historical) Christ's freeing from the underworld of those souls of the dead who merited entry to Heaven.

descente aux Enfers

Christ's freeing of souls from the underworld


primordial chaos

But this I now know, that rather than be your sun-flower, and turn and incline to you, e'en let the world return to its primordial chaos.

1757, G. W. Rabener, Satirical Letters, volume 2, page 283:

That of the first (1 in our appendix) is more theogonic than cosmogonic; it contains the succession of the generations of the gods, emanating from primordial chaos.

1882, François Lenormant, The Beginnings of History: According to the Bible and the Traditions of Oriental Peoples; From the Creation of Man to the Deluge, page 54:

The primordial chaos encompasses both creative and destructive forces and is capable of bringing forth new life and of destroying it in a blind rage.

2012, Alexander D. Ornella, “Disruptive Violence as Means to Create a Space for Reflection: Thoughts on Tarantino's Attempts at Audience Irritation”, in Robert von Dassanowsky, editor, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds: A Manipulation of Metacinema, Continuum, page 222:

(mythology) The original unordered state of the universe, especially in classical cosmogonies.


Thorsman

An Icelandic priest and famous Thorsman, Thorolfr Mostur-Beard, established a holy place on the headland which he named Thorsnes ("Thorr's Headland"), […]

1993, Kveldulf Gundarsson, Teutonic Religion, page 56:

Also because Odinists are more prone to using underhanded tricks like this than, say, Thorsmen.

2013, Wayland Skallagrimsson, Heathenry: A Study of Asatru in the Modern World, page 98:

We [Lokeans] are as much a part of the community as the Thorsmen, Tyrswomen, and everyone else.

2022, Lea Svendsen, Loki and Sigyn: Lessons on Chaos, Laughter & Loyalty from the Norse Gods, page 66:

(Germanic paganism) One who honours Thor as their primary god.


Freysman

Many of the Freysmen and hofs to Frey already mentioned were Icelandic, and early Iceland was a republic, not a kingdom.

2001 May 2, Ann Gróa Sheffield, “Frey, God of the World”, in The Pomegranate: A New Journal of Neopagan Thought, number 16, page 34:

The other path of Frey is that of the (slightly to very) effeminate shaman/priest with his skirt hemmed with tinkling bells, and this the Freysman who is most likely to go down this road.

2006, Raven Kaldera, Wyrdwalkers: Techniques of Northern-Tradition Shamanism, page 13:

It has been an honor and privilege to assemble this anthology, and the experience has brought me from quietly thinking Frey is really great to confidently identifying as a Freysman.

2010, Joshua Tenpenny, “Forward”, in Honey, Grain, and Gold, page i:

(Germanic paganism) One who honours Frey as their primary god.


Odinsman

This is creating a rather fractured view of Odin in modern times. When many modern Odinsmen talk about him, they talk about him in terms of the ancient views of him, fearing to say anything too radically different from what the ancient lore says of him.

2013, Wayland Skallagrimsson, Heathenry: A Study of Asatru in the Modern World, page 50:

I felt the strain of my personal warder behind me—my lover, an Odinsman—trying to hold the chair.

2015, Diana L. Paxson, The Essential Guide to Possession, Depossession, and Divine Relationships, page 242:

(Germanic paganism) One who honours Odin as their primary god.


Odinswoman

Rev. Galina Krasskova is currently gythia of Urdabrunnr Kindred in New York and has been a dedicated Odinswoman, practicing seidhrkona and would be ju-ju woman for close to a decade.

2003 June 2, Peter Carlson, “Hex Advice, Coven To Coven”, in The Washington Post:

I had established that I am not an Odinswoman.

(Germanic paganism) A woman who honours Odin as her primary god.


fulltrui

Borrowed from Icelandic fulltrúi (“one who is fully trusted”).

bor+

Perhaps my fulltrui and god-husband [Loki] isn’t always the most truthful, but one of the things he has taught me to value is following through once you've said you'll do something.

2009, Galina Krasskova, Raven Kaldera, quoting Elizabeth Vongvisith, Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner: A Book of Prayer, Devotional Practice, and the Nine Worlds of the Spirit, page 175:

Let’s say a person vows to become fulltrui to Frey.

2013, Patricia M. Lafayllve, A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru, page 156:

He [Odin] does not object to my contacts with other gods; indeed, through me, he seems eager to meet them, but he is my fulltrui, the fully trusted one, with whom (or perhaps I should say for whom) I have now worked for thirty years.

2017, Diana L. Paxson, Odin: Ecstasy, Runes, & Norse Magic, unnumbered page:

(Germanic paganism) A deity to whom one is wholeheartedly and/or exclusively devoted.


underground people

The inhabitants of Rügen believe in three kinds of Dwarfs, or underground people, the White, the Brown, and the Black, so named from the colour of their several habiliments.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 281:

Gross superstition still prevails in most parts of Nordland, particularly regarding the underground people.

1872 November 2, Overland Monthly: Devoted to the Development of the Country, San Francisco, page 425, column 1:

(folklore) Any of the fairy folk, trolls, dwarfs, or other supernatural beings, that primarily live underground.


monster girl

Calque of Japanese モンスター娘 (monsutā musume).

calque

(anime and manga) A fictional female character who shares visual traits with a monster.

monster meisje

fictional female character with monster traits


monster boy

Gender inversion of monster girl, which is a calque of Japanese モンスター娘 (monsutā musume).

(anime and manga) A fictional male character who shares visual traits with a monster.

hirviöpoika

fictional male character with monster traits


cyclops girl

Never heard of that one, sounds like a light novel, she's cute though, I know there's another cyclops girl from a light novel, forgot her name, but she's from Monster girl doctor

2023 October 7, Hitomi 👁🎧 🔜@ ALA & Magfest (@HitomiOnpa), Twitter:

Synonym of monoeye (“type of monster girl”)


Aiaia

(Greek mythology) Archaic form of Aeaea.


Heliades

(Greek mythology) The daughters of Helios and Clymene.


Oizys

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ὀϊζύς (Oïzús).

1987, Richard S. Caldwell (translator), Hesiod, Theogony, Hackett Publishing Company (Focus), page 40,
Next Momos and painful Oizys were born to the dark goddess Nyx, though she lay with no one,

(Greek mythology) The (female) personification of pain and distress; said by Hesiod is his Theogony to be the offspring of Nyx (Night) and produced without the assistance of a father; identified with the Roman Miseria (Misery).


Rhoeo

(Greek mythology) A lover of Apollo and mother of Anius, king of Delos and priest of Apollo.


Mene

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μήνη (Mḗnē).

(Greek mythology) A goddess of the Moon, specifically presiding over the months, sometimes regarded as an epithet of Selene.