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chansons de geste

(Encyclopedia)chansons de geste shäNsôNˈ də zhĕst [key] [Fr.,=songs of deeds], a group of epic poems of medieval France written from the 11th through the 13th cent. Varying in length from 1,000 to 20,000 lines...

Undset, Sigrid

(Encyclopedia)Undset, Sigrid sĭˈgrĭd o͝onˈsĕt [key], 1882–1949, Norwegian novelist. Poverty forced Undset to do secretarial work for a time (1898–1908). Her early novels of contemporary life, among them J...

Brunhild

(Encyclopedia)Brunhild brĭnˈhĭld [key], mighty female warrior of Germanic mythology and literature. In the Nibelungenlied, a medieval German epic poem (see under Nibelungen), she is the warlike queen of Iceland,...

Bryn Mawr College

(Encyclopedia)Bryn Mawr College, at Bryn Mawr, Pa; undergraduate for women, graduate coeducational; opened 1885 by the Society of Friends, with a bequest from Joseph W. Taylor of Burlington, N.J. Modeled on a group...

Sliven

(Encyclopedia)Sliven slēˈvĕn [key], city (1993 pop. 106,958), E central Bulgaria, at the foot of the Balkan Mts. A textile center, it also produces carpets, wood and metal products, foodstuffs, and wine. Sliven ...

Avellino

(Encyclopedia)Avellino ävāl-lēˈnō [key], city, capital of Avellino prov., Campania, S Italy. It is an agricultural and light manufacturing center. Although damaged by earthquakes i...

Zamora

(Encyclopedia)Zamora thämōˈrä [key], city (1990 pop. 63,436), capital of Zamora prov., NW Spain, in Castile and León, on the Duero River. It is a communications and agricultural marketing and processing center...

Griselda

(Encyclopedia)Griselda grĭzĕlˈdə [key], long-suffering heroine of medieval story, whose husband subjects her to numerous trials in order to test her devotion. The story originated in a widespread W European fol...

Leavis, F. R.

(Encyclopedia)Leavis, F. R. (Frank Raymond Leavis) lēˈvĭs [key], 1895–1978, English critic and teacher. Leavis was one of the most influential literary critics of the 20th cent. A formidable controversialist, ...

Veles

(Encyclopedia)Veles vĕlˈĕs [key], town (1994 pop. 56,751), North Macedonia, on the Vardar River. It is a road and rail junction and the market center for a fruit- and vegetable-producing region. An ancient town,...
 

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