Chapter Gold of Nibelungen to Goliards of G by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Golden Fleece (The), the fleece of the ram which transported Phryxo s to Colchis. When Phryxos arrived there, he sacrificed the ram and gave the fleece to king Æetês, who hung it on a sacred oak. It was stolen by Jason, in his “Argonautic expedition.”

The Golden Fleece of the North. Fur and peltry of Siberia are so called.

Golden Fountain (The), a fountain which in twenty-four hours would convert any metal or mineral into gold.—R. Johnson: The Seven Champions of Christendom, ii. 4 (1617).

Golden Gate of Constantinople, added by Theodosius to Constantine’s wall. It consists of a triumphal arch, surmounted with a bronze statue of Victory. The gate is amply decorated with gilt ornaments and inscriptions. See Count Robert of Paris, ii., by sir W. Scott.)

Golden Horn (The), the inlet of the Bosphorus on which Constantinople stands; so called from its shape and beauty.

Golden Legends (The), a collection of hagiology, made in the thirteenth century by James de Voragine, a Dominican. The legends consist of 177 sections, each of which is devoted to a particular saint or festival, arranged in the order of the calendar. Longfellow wrote a dramatic poem so called (1851).

Golden Mouth, St. Chrysostom (347–407). The name is the Greek chrusos stoma, “gold mouth.”

Golden State (The), California, in North America.

Golden Stream (The), Joannes Damascenus (died 756).

Golden-tongued (The), St. Peter of Ravenna (433–450). Our equivalent is a free translation of the Greek chrysologos (chrusos logos, “gold discourse”).

Golden Valley (The), the eastern portion of Limerick; so called from its great fertility.

Golden Water (The). One drop of this water in the basin of a fountain would fill it, and then throw up a jet d’eau of exquisite device. It was called “golden” because the water looked like liquid gold.—Arabian Nights (“The Two Sisters,” the last tale).

(In Chery and Fairstar, by the comtesse D’Aulnoy, the “golden water” is called the “dancing water.”)

Goldfinch (Charles), a vulgar, horsy fellow, impu dent and insolent in manner, who flirts with Widow Warren, and conspires with her and the Jew Silky to destro y Mr. Warrens will. By this will the widow was left £600 a year, but the bulk of the property went to Jack Milford his natural son, and Sophia Freelove the daughter of Widow Warren by a former marriage. (See Beagle, p. 98.)

Father was a sugar-baker, grandfather a slop-seller, I’m a gentleman.—Holcroft: The Road to Ruin, ii. x (1792).

Goldiebirds (Messrs.), creditors of sir Arthur Wardour.—Sir W. Scott: The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Gold-mine (The) or Miller of Grenoble, a drama by E. Stirling (1854). (For the plot, see Simon.)

Gold-mine of Europe (The). Transylvania was once so called; but the supply of gold obtained therefrom has now very greatly diminished.

Gold-mines (King of the), a powerful, handsome prince, who was just about to marry the princess All- Fair, when Yellow Dwarf claimed her as his betrothed, and carried her to Steel Castle on a Spanish cat. (For the rest of the tale, see All-Fair, p. 28.)—Comtesse d’Aulnoy: The Yellow Dwarf (1682).