Rōnin
A rōnin (浪人) was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.
In modern Japanese usage, the term also describes a salaryman who is "between employers" or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.
Etymology
The word rōnin literally means "wave man". It is an idiomatic expression for "vagrant" or "wandering man", someone who is without a home. The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It then came to be used for a samurai who had no master. (Hence, the term "wave man" illustrating one who is socially adrift.)
The word "浪人" means a "drifter" or a "wanderer", i.e. "he who drifts/wanders".
Status
According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (the Code of the Samurai), a samurai was supposed to commit seppuku (also "hara kiri" — ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master. One who chose not to honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of rōnin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by daimyo, the feudal lords.
Ronin (comics)
Ronin, in comics, may refer to:
See also
Ronin (disambiguation)
A rōnin is a samurai without a master.
Ronin may also refer to:
In entertainment
Companies
Misery (band)
Misery was a death metal band from Brisbane, Australia. Since forming in 1991, the band has released four albums and an EP. The band split in 2005, but has reformed once more for an East Coast Australian tour in support of its final album On Demon Wings in 2009.
Background
The group was formed in 1991 by bassist Damon Robinson and guitarist Scott Edgar, who had both been members of earlier Brisbane groups Guardian, Northwinds, Savage, A.I.M. and Black Magic. The band's first line-up featured Robinson, Edgar, drummer Anthony Dwyer, Northwinds guitarist Brad Allen, and vocalist Darren Goulding. Allen was soon replaced by Laszlo Khaninghinis, and the band recorded two demos in 1992 - Sorting of the Insects and Astern Diabolus before releasing their first album A Necessary Evil in 1993.
Soon after the album's release, Misery's reputation as a heavy act was immediately established, and the band undertook its first national tour in support of Pungent Stench. Goulding was fired from the group not long after the tour, to be replaced by former Mausoleum vocalist Moises Contreras. Goulding would later go on to front Sydney band Sulkus, Wagga Wagga death metal group Manticore, and Sydney nu-metal outfit Art Imitates Crime. In 1994, the band released the Insidious EP with Contreras on vocals; its accompanying video clip Torn was banned from television airplay. Supports with Deicide and Morbid Angel, and an appearance at the Big Day Out festival soon followed. Contreras' stay with the band would also be short-lived, and after his departure Robinson decided to take up the band's vocal duties himself. Contreras would go on to form melodic death metallers Sakkuth.
Misery (Maroon 5 song)
"Misery" is a song by American band Maroon 5. It was released on June 22, 2010 by A&M Octone Records via the iTunes Store. The song was released in advance of the band's mid-2010 tour, and is the first single from their third studio album, Hands All Over, which was released on September 21, 2010.
Background and writing
Written by Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Sam Farrar, the song is about the narrator finding himself in a difficult situation when a relationship fades. "Why won't you answer me? / The silence is slowly killing me / Girl you really got me bad," he states in the lyrics. The song documents the decay of a relationship, familiar territory for the band. Frontman Adam Levine told MTV News: "'Misery' is about the desperation of wanting someone really badly in your life but having it be very difficult. Kind of what all the songs I write are about. I'm not treading on new ground, but I think a lot of people – including myself – deal with that all the time. Relationships are difficult, and it's good therapy to write about them."
Misery (novel)
Misery is a 1987 psychological horror novel by Stephen King. The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1988, and was later made into a Hollywood film and an off-Broadway play of the same name. When King was writing Misery in 1985 he planned the book to be released under the pseudonym Richard Bachman but the identity of the pseudonym was discovered before the release of the book.
The novel focuses on Paul Sheldon, a writer famous for Victorian-era romance novels involving the character of Misery Chastain. One day he is rescued from a car crash by crazed fan Annie Wilkes, who transports him to her home and, once finding out what he has done to Misery in his latest book, forces him to write a new book modifying the story - no matter what it takes.
Plot summary
Paul Sheldon, the author of a best-selling series of Victorian-era romance novels surrounding the heroine character Misery Chastain, has just finished the manuscript of his new crime novel, Fast Cars, while staying at the Hotel Boulderado; since 1974, he has completed the first draft of every one of his novels in the same hotel room. With his latest project finished, he has an alcohol-induced impulse to drive to Los Angeles rather than fly back home to New York City. However, a snowstorm hits while he is driving through the mountains. Sheldon drives off a cliff and crashes upside down into a snowbank.
