Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Merlin, in Arthurian legend, magician, seer, and teacher at the court of King Vortigern and later at the court of King Arthur. He was a bard and culture hero in early Celtic folklore. In Arthurian leg...

(Encyclopedia) Masson, André äNdrāˈ mäsôNˈ [key], 1896–1987, French painter and graphic artist. An exponent of surrealism until 1928, Masson developed “automatic writing”—spontaneous linear expression...

(Encyclopedia) Kildare, county (1991 pop. 122,656), 654 sq mi (1,694 sq km), E central Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Kildare. The region is a flat plain, containing the greater portion of the Bog of Allen,...

(Encyclopedia) Emory University ĕmˈərē [key], near Atlanta, Ga.; coeducational; United Methodist; chartered as Emory College 1836, opened 1837 at Oxford. It became Emory Univ. in 1915 and in 1919 moved to Atlant...

(Encyclopedia) Dodona dōdōˈnə [key], in Greek religion, the oldest oracle, in inland Epirus, near modern Janina, sacred to Zeus and Dione. According to Herodotus, an old oak tree there became an oracle when a bl...

(Encyclopedia) Whipple, Fred Lawrence, 1906–2004, American astronomer, b. Red Oak, Iowa. After graduating from the Univ. of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1931), he accepted a position at Harvard, where he remained f...

(Encyclopedia) Sierra Morena syāˈrä mōrāˈnä [key], mountain range, SW Spain, extending c.375 mi (600 km) eastward along the southern edge of the Meseta (central plateau) from the Portuguese border to the Sier...

(Encyclopedia) Guernica gārnēˈkä [key], officially Gernika-Lumo, historic town, Bizkaia (Vizcaya or Biscay) ...

(Encyclopedia) astringent əstrĭnˈjənt [key], substance that shrinks body tissues. Astringent medicines cause shrinkage of mucous membranes or exposed tissues and are often used internally to check discharge of s...

(Encyclopedia) Marshall. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,711), seat of Saline co., N central Mo.; inc. 1839. In a large farm area, it is a processing center for grain, eggs, meat, and dairy products. Marshall is the seat of Mi...