Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus (/ˈkwɜːrkəs/;[1] Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 600 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus (stone oaks), as well as in those of unrelated species such as Grevillea robusta (silky oaks) and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). The genus Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America contains the largest number of oak species, with approximately 90 occurring in the United States, while Mexico has 160 species of which 109 are endemic. Classification Genus Quercus The genus Quercus is divided into the following sections: Genus Cyclobalanopsis Old oak tree on the shore of Lake Koluvere, Estonia. The ring-cupped oaks of eastern and southeastern Asia. Hybridization Uses Genetics
Norse mythology An undead völva, a Scandinavian seeress, tells the spear-wielding god Odin of what has been and what will be in Odin and the Völva by Lorenz Frølich (1895) For the practices and social institutions of the Norse pagans, see Norse paganism Norse mythology, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of mythology of the North Germanic people stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes and/or family members of the gods. Sources[edit]
Meliae Description[edit] Many species of Fraxinus, the ash trees, exude a sugary substance, which the ancient Greeks called méli, "honey". The species of ash in the mountains of Greece is the Manna-ash (Fraxinus ornus). The Meliae were nurses of the infant Zeus in the Cretan cave of Dikte, according to Callimachus, Hymn to Zeus. Of "manna", the ash-tree sugar, the standard 19th-century US pharmacopeia, The Dispensatory of the United States of America (14th edition, Philadelphia, 1878) said: Fermented honey preceded wine as an entheogen in the Aegean world. Meliae[edit] Argive genealogy in Greek mythology[edit] References[edit] Sources[edit] Ruck, Carl A.P. and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth 1994, p. 140.Burkert, Walter, 1985. External links[edit]
Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The genus first appeared in the Miocene geological period about 20 million years ago, originating in what is now central Asia.[1] These trees flourished and spread over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward across the Equator into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, many species and cultivars were also planted as ornamental street, garden, and park trees in Europe, North America, and parts of the Southern Hemisphere, notably Australasia. The other genera of the Ulmaceae are Planera (water elm) and Zelkova (zelkova). Taxonomy[edit] Etymology[edit] The name Ulmus is the classical name for these trees, with the English name "elm" and many other European names derived from it.[7] Familiar species[edit] Pests and diseases[edit]
Fraxinus European Ash in flower Narrow-leafed Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) shoot with leaves Selected species[edit] Eastern North America Western and southwestern North America Fraxinus anomala Torr. ex S.Watson – Singleleaf AshFraxinus berlandieriana DC. – Mexican AshFraxinus cuspidata Torr. – Fragrant AshFraxinus dipetala Hook. & Arn. – California Ash or Two-petal AshFraxinus dubiaFraxinus gooddingii – Goodding's AshFraxinus greggii A.Gray – Gregg's AshFraxinus latifolia Benth. – Oregon AshFraxinus lowellii – Lowell AshFraxinus papillosa Lingelsh. – Chihuahua AshFraxinus purpusiiFraxinus rufescensFraxinus texensis (A.Gray) Sarg. – Texas AshFraxinus uhdei (Wenz.) Western Palearctic (Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia) Eastern Palearctic (central and east Asia) Closeup of European Ash seedsUnusual "treelets" growing from a fallen ash tree in Lawthorn wood, Ayrshire, Scotland Ecology[edit] Threats[edit] Canker on an Ash tree in North Ayrshire, Scotland Emerald ash borer Uses[edit] Cultural aspects[edit]
Poetic Edda Collection of Old Norse poems Poetic Edda is the modern attribution for an unnamed collection of Old Norse anonymous poems, which is different from the Edda written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the Codex Regius. The Codex Regius is arguably the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. From the early 19th century onwards, it has had a powerful influence on later Scandinavian literatures. Codex Regius was written during the 13th century, but nothing was known of its whereabouts until 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest. Bishop Brynjólfur sent Codex Regius as a present to the Danish king, which gave the name. Composition[edit] The Eddic poems are composed in alliterative verse. Authorship[edit] Date[edit] [edit]
Beowulf Beowulf (/ˈbeɪ.ɵwʊlf/; in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf]) is the conventional title of an Old English epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature due to the fact that it is the oldest surviving epic poem of Old English and also the earliest vernacular English literature.[2] The full poem survives in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, located in the British Library. Written in England, its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet[a] is dated between the 8th[5] and the early 11th century.[6] In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through Ashburnham House in London that had a collection of medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. Historical background[edit] Approximate central regions of tribes mentioned in Beowulf, with the location of the Angles in Angeln. Summary[edit] While earlier scholars (such as J.R.R. The view of J.
Hundings The Hundings (Old English Hundingas, the "hound-clan") are a legendary tribe or clan in early Germanic sources, mostly mentioned due to their feud with the Wulfings (the "wolf-clan"). In the Poetic Edda, Hunding is a king of the Saxons, slain by Helgi Hundingsbane. The Gesta Danorum mentions a Danish king Helgo who slew Hundingus, king of Saxony, in single combat.[1] The historical core of the story is likely a conflict between the Eastern Geats (the wolf-clan) and the Lombards (the hound-clan).[2] Hunding itself is a patronymic translating to "son of a hound", while the Hundings as a clan (sibb) would be the descendants of Hunding. In Eddaic account of a feud between the Hundings and the Wulfings surrounding Helgi Hundingsbane may correspond to the Lombard story, and Malone (1926) explains the whole story of Lamicho as the Hunding version of the same feud. The Hundingas in Old English literature are mentioned in Beowulf, and in Widsith. See also[edit] References[edit]
Aconitum The name comes from the Greek ἀκόνιτον, meaning "without struggle". Toxins extracted from the plant were historically used to kill wolves, hence the name wolf's bane.[6] Description[edit] Dissected flower of Aconitum vulparia, showing the nectaries Ecology[edit] This plant[clarification needed] is used as a food plant by some Lepidoptera species including Dot Moth, The Engrailed, Mouse Moth, Wormwood Pug, and Yellow-tail. Uses[edit] The roots of Aconitum ferox supply the Nepalese poison called bikh, bish, or nabee. Several species of Aconitum have been used as arrow poisons. Cultivation[edit] Several species of Aconitum are cultivated in gardens, having either blue or yellow flowers. Medicinal use[edit] Aconitum delphinifolium, monkshood from Alaska In Western medicine preparations of aconite were used until just after the middle of the 20th century, but it is no longer employed as it has been replaced by safer and more effective[citation needed] drugs and treatments. Toxicology[edit]
Wulfing The Wulfing navy on the move, an illustration from the poems on the Wulfing Helgi Hundingsbane The Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings[Note 1] (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful clan in Beowulf, Widsith and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of Beowulf does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the Old Norse form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats.[1] In Old Norse sources, the clan figure prominently in the Heimskringla and in Sögubrot, where Hjörvard and his son Hjörmund belong to it. It is also mentioned in the Lay of Hyndla and in Skáldskaparmál where Eiríkr the Wise was one of its members. Sam Newton and others (including Rupert Bruce-Mitford), have proposed that the East Anglian Wuffing dynasty was derived from the Wulfings, and it was at their court that Beowulf was first composed.[2] Location[edit] According to the Norse sagas, the Wulfings ruled the Geatish petty kingdom of Östergötland. Known Wulfings[edit] [edit]
Zeus Name The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church. The god's name in the nominative is Ζεύς Zeús /zdeús/. The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek 𐀇𐀸, di-we and 𐀇𐀺, di-wo, written in the Linear B syllabic script.[14] Zeus in myth Zeus, at the Getty Villa, A.D. 1 - 100 by unknown. Birth When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Infancy Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. King of the gods Zeus and Hera Consorts and children 2The Charites/Graces were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome but they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. 3Some accounts say that Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus were born parthenogenetically. 4According to one version, Athena is said to be born parthenogenetically. Roles and epithets
Odin Major god in Norse mythology Odin (;[1] from Old Norse: Óðinn, IPA: [ˈoːðinː]) is a widely revered god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, from which stems most surviving information about the god, Odin is associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and is the husband of the goddess Frigg. In wider Germanic mythology and paganism, the god was known in Old English as Wōden, in Old Saxon as Wōdan, and in Old High German as Wuotan. Odin is a prominently mentioned god throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania through the tribal expansions of the Migration Period and the Viking Age. In Old English texts, Odin holds a particular place as a euhemerized ancestral figure among royalty, and he is frequently referred to as a founding figure among various other Germanic peoples, such as the Langobards. Attestations[edit] 36.