Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
---|---|---|
King name "Una" | Christian | Truth, so called because truth is one. She starts with St. George on his adventure, and being driven by a storm into "Wandering Wood," retires for the night to Hypocrisy's cell. St. George quits the cell, leaving Una behind. In her search for him she is caressed by a lion, who afterwards attends her. She next sleeps in the hut of Superstition, and next morning meets Hypocrisy dressed as St. George. As they journey together Sansloy meets them, exposes Hypocrisy, kills the lion, and carries off Una on his steed to a wild Forest. Una fills the air with her shrieks, and is rescued by the fauns and satyrs, who attempt to worship her, but, being restrained, pay adoration to her åśś. She is delivered from the satyrs and fauns by Sir Satyrane, and is told by Archimago that St. George is dead, but subsequently hears that he is the captive of Orgoglio. She goes to king Arthur for aid, and the king both slays Orgoglio and rescues the knight. Una, now takes St. George to the house of Holiness, where he is carefully nursed, and then leads him to Eden, where their union is consummated. Spenser: Faerie queene |
King name "Upius" | Greek | A king of Bithynia whose son, Bormus, a youth of extraordinary beauty, was abducted by nymphs. Greek |
King name "Urgan" | s | A mortal born and christened, but stolen by the king of the fairies and brought up in elf-land. He was sent to Lord Richard, the husband of Alice Brand, to lay on him the "curse of the sleepless eye" for killing his wife's brother Ethert. When Lord Richard saw the hideous dwarf he crossed himself, but the elf said, "I fear not sign made with a bloody hand." Then forward stepped Alice and made the sign, and the dwarf said if any woman would sign his brow thrice with a cross he should recover his mortal form. Alice signed him thrice, and the elf became "the fairest knight in all Scotland, in whom she recognised her brother Ethert." Scotland |
King name "Utixo" | Khoi | A benevolent deity who lived in the sky, sending Rain for the crops, and speaking with thunder. Khoi |
God name "Utnapishtim" | Sumerian | Utnapishtim is the wise king of the Sumerian city state of Shuruppak who, along with his wife, survived a great flood sent by Enlil to drown every living thing on earth. Utnapishtim was secretly warned by the water god Ea of Enlil's planned and constructed a great boat or ark to save himself, his family and representatives of each species of animal. |
Goddess name "Vaga" | s | Sabra, goddess of the Severn, being a prudent, well-conducted maiden, rose with the first streak of morning dawn, and, descending the eastern side of the hill, made choice of the most fertile valleys, whilst as yet her sisters slept. Vaga, goddess of the Wye, rose next, and, making all haste to perform her task, took a shorter course, by which means she joined her sister ere she reached the sea. The goddess Rhea, old Plinlimmon's pet, woke not till roused by her father's chiding; but by bounding down the side of the mountain, and selecting the shortest course of all, she managed to reach her destination first. Thus the Cymric proverb, There is no impossibility to the maiden who hath a fortune to lose or a husband to win." Welsh |
King name "Vairgin" | Chukchee | The Sun, moon, stars, and constellations are also known as vairgit; but the Sun is a special vairgin, represented as a man clad in a bright garment, driving dogs or reindeer. He descends every evening to his wife, the 'Walking-around-Woman'. The moon is also represented as a man. He is not a vairgin, however, but the son of a kele of the lower worlds. He has a låśśo, with which he catches people who look too fixedly at him. Shamans invoke the moon in incantations and spells. Chukchee |
Goddess name "Venus" | Greek | The goddess of love among the Romans, and more especially of sensual love. Previously to her identification with the Greek Aphrodite, she was one of the least important divinities in the religion of the Romans, and it is observed by the ancients themselves, that her name was not mentioned in any of the doçúɱents relating to the kingly period of Roman history. |
King name "Verdandi" | Norse | One of the three norns, along with Urd and Skuld. Her name literally is the present tense of be or "to be" and is commonly translated as "in the making" or "that which is happening / becoming". She is the present moment. Norse |
King name "Vidyaraja" | Buddhist | king of Knowledge. Buddhist |
Goddess name "Virbius" | Roman | An ancient mythical king of Aricia and a favourite of Diana, who, when he had died, called him to life and intrusted him to the care of the nymph Aegeria. The fact of his being a favourite of Diana, the Taurian goddess, seems to have led the Romans to identify him with Hippolytus who, according to some traditions, had established the worship of Diana. Roman |
King name "Virtus" | Roman | The Roman personification of manly valour. She was represented with a short tunic, her right breast uncovered, a helmet on her head, a spear in her left hand, a sword in the right, and standing with her right foot on a helmet. There was a golden statue of her at Rome, which Alaricus, king of the Goths, melted down. Roman |
King name "Vivien" | Britain | Lady of the lake. Vivien, mistress of Merlin, the enchanter, who lived in the midst of an imaginary lake, surrounded by knights and damsels. Tennyson, in the Idylls of the king, tells the story of Vivien and Merlin. Britain |
Goddess name "Vor" | Nordic / Icelandic | Goddess. Of Germanic origin, one of the AESIR goddesses listed by Snorri in Prose Edda. He suggests that Vor may be concerned with the making of oaths and of marriage agreements, punishing those who break them. Possibly also Var(a), though Snorri lists her as a separate Aesir goddess.... |
Goddess name "Wachilt" | Celtic | Goddess of the sea who rose from the depths and halted the ship of king Vilkinus of Norway, proclaiming that she was pregnant with his child. Celtic |
Spirit name "Wah Kah Nee" | Chinook | A sacred being, able to walk unprotected, even barefoot, through the Winter and to communicate with its spirits, asking for the return of the Sunshine to warm her people. Chinook |
King name "Waking a Witch" | Britain | If a witch was obdurate, the most effectual way of obtaining a confession was by what was termed "waking her." For this purpose an iron bridle or hoop was bound across her face with four prongs thrust into her mouth. The "bridle" was fastened behind to the wall by a chain in such a manner that the victim was unable to lie down; and in this position she was kept sometimes for several days, while men were constantly by to keep her awake. Britain |
King name "Wayland" | Scandinavian | Wayland the Scandinavian Vulcan, was son of the sea-giant Wate, and the sea-nymph Wac-hilt. He was bound apprentice to Mimi the smith. king Nidung cut the sinews of his feet, and cast him into prison, but he escaped in a feather-boat. |