Chapter Æra to Agag of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Æra to Agag

Æra [ERA.]

Aërated Bread Bread made light by means of carbonic acid gas instead of leaven.

Aërated Water Water impregnated with carbonic acid gas, called fixed air.

Aerians Followers of Aerius, who maintained that there is no difference between bishops and priests.

Æschylus the most sublime of the Greek tragic poets. He wrote 90 plays, only 7 of which are now extant. Æschylus was killed by a tortoise thrown by an eagle (to break the shell) against his bald head, which it mistook for a stone (B.C. 535--456). See Horace, Ars Poetica, 278.

Pronounce Ees-ke-lus.

Æschylus of France Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon. (1674--1762.)

Æsculapius The Latin form of the Greek word Asklepios, the god of medicine and of healing. Now used for "a medical practitioner."

Æsir plural of As or Asa, the celestial gods of Scandinavia, who lived in Asgard (god's ward), situate on the heavenly hills between earth and the rainbow. The chief was Odin. We are told that there were twelve, but it would be hard to determine who the twelve are, for, like Arthur's knights, the number seems variable. The following may be mentioned: - (1) Odin; (2) Thor (his eldest son, the god of thunder); (3) Tyr (another son, the god of wisdom); (4) Baldur (another son, the Scandinavian Apollo); (5) Bragi (the god of eloquence); (6) Vidar (god of silence); (7) Hödur the blind (Baldur's twin brother); (8) Hermod (Odin's son and messenger); (9) Hoenir (divine intelligence); (10) Odur (husband of Freyja, the Scandinavian Venus); (11) Loki (the god of mischief, though not an asa, lived in Asgard); (12) Vali (Odin's youngest son); another of Odin's sons was Kvasir the keen-sighted. Then there were the Vanir, or gods of air, ocean, and water; the gods of fire; the gods of the Lower World; and the Mysterious Three, who sat on three thrones above the rainbow. Their names were Har (the perfect), the Like-perfect, and the Third person.

Wives of the Æsir: Odin's wife was Frigga; Thor's wife was Sif (beauty); Baldur's wife was Nanna (daring); Bragi's wife was Iduna; Odur's wife was Freyja (the Scandinavian Venus); Loki's wife was Siguna.

The Æsir built Asgard themselves, but each god had his own private mansion. That of Odin was Gladsheim; but his wife Frigga had also her private abode, named Fensalir; the mansion of Thor was Bilskirnir; that of Baldur was Broadblink; that of Odur's wife was Folkbang; of Vidar was Landvidi (wide land); the private abode of the goddesses generally was Vingolf.

The refectory or banquet hall of the Æsir was called Valhalla.

Niörd, the water-god, was not one of the Æsir, but chief of the Vanir; his son was Frey; his daughter, Freyja (the Scandinavian Venus); his wife was Skadi; and his home, Noatun.

Æson's Bath Sir Thomas Browne (Religio Medici, p. 67) rationalises this into "hair-dye." The reference is to Medea renovating Æson, father of Jason, with the juices of a concoction made of sundry articles. After Æson had imbibed these juices, Ovid says: -

"Barba comæque,
Canitie posita, nigrum rapuere, colorem."
Metamorphoses, vii. 288.

Æsonian Hero (The). Jason, who was the son of Æson.

Æsop's Fables were compiled by Babrios, a Greek, who lived in the Alexandrian age.

Æsop,