Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) elf, in Germanic mythology, a type of fairy. Usually represented as tiny people, elves are said to dwell in forests, in the sea, and in the air. Although they can be friendly to man, they are more fre...

(Encyclopedia) Lactantius, Lucius Caelius Firmianus lo͞oˈshəs sēˈlēəs fûrmēāˈnəs lăktănˈshəs [key], c.260–a.d. 340, Christian author and apologist, b. Africa. He taught rhetoric at Diocletian's sch...

(Encyclopedia) Lethe lēˈthē [key], in Greek mythology, river of forgetfulness in Hades. The dead drank from Lethe upon their arrival in the underworld. ...

(Encyclopedia) Hyperboreans hīˌpərbôrˈēənz, –bôrēˈənz [key], in Greek mythology, people dwelling in a state of perfect bliss in the Far North who were Apollo worshipers. ...

(Encyclopedia) Momus mōˈməs [key], figure in Greek mythology. He was the personification of censure and mockery. ...

(Encyclopedia) Hephaestus hĕfĕsˈtəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian god. According to Homer he was the son of Hera and Zeus, but Hesiod states that he was conceived and borne by Hera alone. Orig...

(Encyclopedia) Michigan, University of, main campus at Ann Arbor; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1817 at Detroit as the Catholepistemiad, or Univ., of Michigania, rechartered 1821 (as Univ. of Mich.) and ...

(Encyclopedia)  Broad, Eli, 1933-2021, American financier and philanthropist, Bronx, N.Y., Michigan State College (BA, 1954). Broad was the son of poor Lithuania-Jewis...

(Encyclopedia) nix or nixie, in Germanic mythology, water sprite. The nixes could assume various shapes, most frequently as half human and half fish. They could do favors for humans, particularly in teaching them be...

(Encyclopedia) Ogyges ŏjˈĭjēz [key], in Greek mythology, ancient king of Boeotia or Attica. During his reign the Ogygian flood, a vast and destructive deluge, occurred. ...