Related Words

Fortuna: From the Latin fortuna, fortune. Interchangeable with Part of Fortune.

Cavalier Drama: A form of English drama comprising court plays that the Queen gave patronage to in the 1630s. Most critics have been underimpressed with these plays, given that they are mostly unoriginal an . . . View Full Definition

Eucatastrophe: (Grk. Eu+catastrophe, 'happy or fortunate ending') As Christopher Garbowski describes in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, Tolkien coined this term in his Andrew Lang Lecture entitled 'On Fai . . . View Full Definition

Danelaw: (Anglo-Saxon, Dena lagu) The region of northeast England up to the southern part of Scotland that was conquered and inhabited by Viking invaders. In 871 CE, a Wessex army under King Aethelre . . . View Full Definition

Boethian: Having to do with the philosophy of Boethius, i.e., a philosophy of predestination suggesting all events appearing evil, misfortunate, disastrous, or accidental are none of these things. Rat . . . View Full Definition

Anti-Semitic Literature: Literature that vilifies Jews or encourages racist attitudes toward them. Much of the religious literature produced in medieval and Renaissance Europe unfortunately engaged in anti-Semitism . . . View Full Definition

Arsis: In classical metrical analysis, Greeks referred to the stressed syllable in a metrical foot as a thesis, and the unstressed syllable in a metrical foot as an arsis. Unfortunately, the Roman . . . View Full Definition

Foul Papers: Rough drafts of a manuscript that have not been corrected and are not to be sent to the printers. They are typically full of blotted out passages and scribbled revisions. Some of Shakespeare . . . View Full Definition

Humors: (alias bodily humors) In ancient Greece, Hippocrates postulated that four bodily humors or liquids existed in the body corresponding to the four elements existing in matter. These four liqui . . . View Full Definition

Scribal Corruption: A general term referring to errors in a text made by later scribes rather than the original authors. In many cases, these mistakes are obviously the result of human error while copying, such . . . View Full Definition