Grue (monster)

A grue is a term for a fictional predatory monster that dwells in the dark. The word was first used as a fictional predator in Jack Vance's Dying Earth universe (described as being part "ocular bat", part "unusual hoon", and part man).

Dave Lebling introduced a similar monster, whose name was borrowed from Vance's grues, into the interactive fiction computer game Zork, published by Infocom. Zork's grues fear light and devour human adventurers, making it impossible to explore the game's dark areas without a light source. The grue subsequently appeared in other Infocom games.

Due to Zork's prominent position in hacker history and lore, grues have served as models for monsters in many subsequent games, such as roguelike games and MUDs.

A common catchphrase associated with grues is the line that displays whenever players in Zork and related Infocom games enter a dark area without a light source: "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

Ur-grue

In the fourth Zork game, Beyond Zork, an evil being called an "Ur-grue" is introduced as the primary villain. Though similar in name, the Ur-grue is significantly different from the classic grue, being more akin to an evil god than a simple predatory monster.

Grue (river)

The Grue is a torrent in north-west Italy, a right tributary of the Scrivia, whose 32-kilometre (20 mi) course lies entirely within the Province of Alessandria, Piedmont.

The river’s source is at Bocchetta del Barillaro, at an elevation of 636 metres (2,087 ft) close to the watershed with the Val Borbera. The river follows a tortuous course through the Ligurian Apennines, and between the hills of Tortona, before entering the Po plain at Viguzzolo. From here its path is straighter and it debouches into the Scrivia near Castelnuovo Scrivia at 85 metres (279 ft) above sea level.

The communes through whose territory the Grue passes are Dernice, Garbagna, Avolasca, Casasco, Montemarzino, Montegioco, Cerreto Grue, Sarezzano, Viguzzolo, Berzano di Tortona, Tortona, and Castelnuovo Scrivia.

References

The initial version of this article was a translation from it:Grue (torrente), its counterpart in the Italian Wikipedia.

Coordinates: 44°58′48″N 8°52′16″E / 44.9800°N 8.8711°E / 44.9800; 8.8711