Chapter Koppenberg to Kyrie Elyson de Montalban of K by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Koppenberg to Kyrie Elyson de Montalban

Koppenberg, the mountain of Westphalia to which the pied piper (Bunting) led the children, when the people of Hamelin refused to pay him for killing their rats.—Browning.

The Old Man of the Mountain led the children of Lorch into the Tannenberg, for a similar offence.

Korigans or Korrigans, nine fays of Brittany, not above two feet in height, who can predict future events, assume any shape, and move from place to place as quick as thought. They sing like syrens, and comb their long hair like mermaids. The Korigans haunt fountains, flee at the sound of bells, and their breath is deadly.—Breton Mythology.

Kosciusko (Thaddœus), the Polish general who contended against the allied army of Russia under the command of Suwarrow, in 1794. He was taken prisoner and sent to Russia, but in 1796 was set at liberty by the czar.

Hope for a season bade the world farewell,
And Freedom shrieked—as Koschiusko fell.
   —Campbell: Pleasures of Hope, i. (1799).

Krakamal, the Danish death-song.

Kriemhild [Kreem-hild), daughter of Dancrat, and sister of Günther king of Burgundy. She first married Siegfried king of the Netherlanders, who was murdered by Hagan. Thirteen years afterwards, she married Etzel (Attila) king of the Huns. Some time after her marriage, she invited Günther, Hagan, and others to visit her, and Hagan slew Etzel’s young son. Kriemhild now became a perfect fury, and cut off the head of both Günther and Hagan with her own hand, but was herself slain by Hildebrand. Till the death of Siegfried, Kriemhild was gentle, modest, and lovable, but afterwards she became vindictive, bold, and hateful.—The Nibelungen Lied (by the German minnesingers, twelfth century).

Krook, proprietor of a rag-and-bone warehouse, where everything seems to be bought and nothing sold. He is a grasping drunkard, who eventually dies of spontaneous combustion. Krook is always attended by a large cat, which he calls “Lady Jane,” as uncanny as her master.—Dickens: Bleak House (1852).

Kruitzner, or the “German’s Tale,” in Miss H. Lee’s Canterbury Tales. Lord Byron founded his tragedy of Werner on this tale.

The drama [of Werner] is taken entirely from the “German’s Tale” [Kruitzner], published in Lee’s Canterbury Tales, written by two sisters…I have adopted the characters, plan, and even the language of many parts of the story.—Byron: Preface to Werner (1822).

Krux, a dirty-minded, malicious brute, without sufficient courage to be a villain, but quite mean-spirited enough to be malicious.—Robertson: School (1869).

Kubla Khan. Coleridge says that he composed this fragment from a dream, after reading Purchas’s Pilgrimage, a description of khan Kubla’s palace; and he wrote it down on awaking (1797).

(It is said that Tartini composed The Devil’s Sonata in his sleep.)

Rouget de Lisle slept at the harpsichord whilst composing the Marseillaise; on waking he recalled the song as one recalls the impression of a dream, and then wrote down words and music (1792).

Kudrun, called the German Odyssey (thirteenth century); divided into three parts called Hagen, Hilde, and Kudrun.

N.B.—Hagen is the son of Siegebrand king of Irland, and is carried off by a griffin to a distant island, where three princesses take charge of him. In due time a ship touches on the island, takes all the four to Irland, and Hagen marries Hilda, the youngest of the three sisters.