Chapter Trismogistus to Troubadours of T by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Trismogistus to Troubadours

Trismogistus [thrice greatest ]. Hermes, the Egyptian philosopher, or Thoth, councillor of Osiris, King of Egypt, to whom is attributed a host of inventions- amongst others the art of writing in hieroglyphics, the first code of Egyptian laws, harmony, astrology, the lute and lyre, magic, and all mysterious sciences.

Tristram (Sir), Tristrem, Tristan, or Tristam. Son of Rouland Rise, Lord of Ermonie, and Blanche Fleur, sister of Marke, King of Cornwall. Having lost both his parents, he was brought up by his uncle. Tristram, being wounded in a duel, was cured by Ysolde, daughter of the Queen of Ireland, and on his return to Cornwall told his uncle of the beautiful princess. Marke sent to solicit her hand in marriage, and was accepted. Ysolde married the king, but was in love with the nephew, with whom she had guilty connection. Tristram being banished from Cornwall, went to Britany, and married Ysolt of the White Hand, daughter of the Duke of Brittany. Tristram then went on his adventures, and, being wounded, was informed that he could be cured only by Ysolde. A messenger is dispatched to Cornwall, and is ordered to hoist a white sail if Ysolde accompanies him back. The vessel came in sight with a white sail displayed; but Ysolt of the White Hand, out of jealousy, told her husband that the vessel had a black sail flying, and Tristram instantly expired. Sir Tristram was one of the knights of the Round Table. Gotfrit of Strasbourg, a German(minstrel) at the close of the twelfth century, composed a romance in verse, entitled Tristan et Isolde. It was continued by Ulrich of Turheim, by Henry of Freyberg, and others, to the extent of many thousand verses. The best edition is that of Breslau, two vols. 8vo, 1823. (See Ysolt, Hermite .)
   Sir Tristram's horse. Passetreul.

Triton Son of Neptune, represented as a fish with a human head. It is this sea-god that makes the roaring of the ocean by blowing through his shell.

“Hear old Triton blow his wreathëd horn [hear the sea roar]". Wordsworth.

   A Triton among the minnows. The sun among inferior lights. Luna inter minores ignes.

Triumph A word formed from thriambos, the Dionysiac hymn.

“Some ... have assigned the origin of ... triumphal processions to the mythic pomps of Dionysus, after his conguests in the East, the very word triumph being ... the Dionysiac hymn.”- Pater: Marius the Epiourean, chap. xii.

Trivet Right as a trivet. (See Right .)

Trivia Goddess of streets and ways. Gay has a poem in three books so entitled.

“Thou, Trivia, aid my song.
Through spacious streets conduct thy bard along ...
To pave thy realm, and smooth the broken ways,
Earth from her womb a flinty tribute pays.”
Gay: Trivia, bk. i.

Trivial strictly speaking, means “belonging to the beaten road.” (Latin, trivium, which is not tres vioe [three roads], but from the Greek tribo [to rub], meaning the worn or beaten path.) As what comes out of the road is common, so trivial means of little value. Trench connects this word with trivium (tres vioe or cross ways), and says the gossip carried on at these places gave rise to the present meaning of the word.

Trivium The three elementary subjects of literary education up to the twelfth century- Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic. (See Quadrivium .)
   N.B. Theology was introduced in the twelfth century.

Troehilus (The), says Barrow, “enters with impunity into the mouth of the crocodile. This is to pick from the teeth a leech which greatly torments the creature.

“Not half so bold
The puny bird that dares, with teasing hum.
Within the crocodile's stretched jaws to come.”
Thomas Moore-Lalla Rookh, pt. i.

Troglodytes (3 syl.). A people of Ethiopia, south-east of Egypt. Remains of their cave dwellings are still to be seen along the banks of the Nile. There were Troglodytes of Syria and Arabia also, according to Strabo. Pliny (v. 8) asserts that they fed on serpents. (Greek, trogle, a cave; duo, to get into.)

“King Francois, of eternal memory ... abhorred these hypocritical snake-eaters.”- Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (Ep. Ded. iv.).

   Troglodyte. A person who lives so secluded as not to know the current