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Look up dungeon or oubliette in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette is a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling.
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Etymology [link]
The word dungeon comes from Old French donjon (also spelt dongon), which in its earliest usage, meant "a keep, the main tower of a castle which formed the final defensive position to which the garrison could retreat when outer fortifications were overcome". The first recorded instance of the word in English near the beginning of the 14th century also meant "an underground prison cell beneath the castle keep". While some sources cite Medieval Latin dom(i)niōn- "property" (and ultimately dominus "lord") as the original source, it is more likely that the word derives from the Frankish *dungjo, *dungjon- ("dungeon, vault, bower"), from Proto-Germanic *dungjōn, *dungō ("a cover, enclosed space, treasury, vault"), from Proto-Indo-European *dhengh- ("to cover, hide, conceal"),[1] related to Old High German tung ("a cellar, underground living quarter"), Old English dung ("a dungeon, prison"), and Old Norse dyngja ("a lady's bower"). In English, a dungeon now usually only signifies the sense of underground prison or oubliette, typically in a basement of a castle, whereas the alternate spelling donjon is generally reserved for the original meaning.
In French the term donjon still refers to a "keep", and the term oubliette is a more appropriate translation of English "dungeon". Donjon is therefore a false friend to "dungeon" (for instance, the game "Dungeons and Dragons" is titled "Donjons et Dragons" in its French editions).
An oubliette (from the French oubliette, literally "forgotten place") was a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling. The word comes from the same root as the French oublier, "to forget", as it was used for those prisoners the captors wished to forget.
The earliest use of oubliette in French dates back to 1374, but its earliest adoption in English is Walter Scott's Ivanhoe in 1819: 'The place was utterly dark—the oubliette, as I suppose, of their accursed convent.'[2] There is no reason to suspect that this particular place of incarceration was more than a flight of romantic elaboration on existing unpleasant places of confinement described during the Gothic Revival period.
History [link]
Few Norman keeps in English castles originally contained prisons, though they were more common in Scotland. Imprisonment was not a usual punishment in the Middle Ages, so most prisoners were kept pending trial or awaiting the penalty, or for political reasons. Noble prisoners would not generally be held in dungeons, but would live in some comfort in castle apartments. The Tower of London is famous as prison for political detainees, and Pontefract Castle at various times held Thomas of Lancaster (1322), Richard II (1400), Earl Rivers (1483), Scrope, Archbishop of York (1405), James I of Scotland (1405–1424) and Charles, Duke of Orléans (1417–1430). Purpose-built prison chambers in castles became more common after the 12th century, when they were built into gatehouses or mural towers. Some castles had larger provision for prisoners, such as the prison tower at Caernarvon Castle. Alnwick Castle and Cockermouth Castle, both in the Borders region between England and Scotland had prisons in the gatehouse with oubliettes beneath them.[3]
Features [link]
Although many real dungeons are simply a single plain room with a heavy door or with access only from a hatchway or trapdoor in the floor of the room above, the use of dungeons for torture, along with their association to common human fears of being trapped underground, have made dungeons a powerful metaphor in a variety of contexts. Dungeons, in the plural, have come to be associated with underground complexes of cells and torture chambers. As a result, the number of true dungeons in castles is often exaggerated to interest tourists. Many chambers described as dungeons or oubliettes were in fact storerooms, water-cisterns or even latrines.[4]
An example of what might be popularly termed an "oubliette" is the particularly claustrophobic cell in the dungeon of Warwick Castle's Caesar's Tower, in central England. The access hatch consists of an iron grille. Even turning around (or moving at all) would be nearly impossible in this tiny chamber.[citation needed]
In literature [link]
Oubliettes and dungeons were a favourite topic of nineteenth century gothic novels or historical novels, where they appeared as symbols of hidden cruelty and tyrannical power, the very antithesis of Enlightenment values such as justice and freedom. Usually found under medieval castles or abbeys, they were used by villainous characters, often Catholic monks and inquisitors, to persecute blameless characters. In Alexandre Dumas's La Reine Margot, Catherine de Medici is portrayed gloating over a victim in the oubliettes of the Louvre.[5]
Modern criminals' dungeons [link]
The term "dungeon" is still used to describe an underground prison, such as the hidden cells built by certain notorious criminals:
- Marc Dutroux, Belgium
- John Esposito,[6] United States
- Josef Fritzl,[7] Austria
- John Jamelske, United States
- Viktor Mokhov,[8] Russia
- Wolfgang Priklopil, Austria
References [link]
- ^ "Webster's New World College Dictionary, "dungeon."
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ Bottomley, Frank, The Castle Explorer's Guide, Kaye & Ward, London, 1979 ISBN 0-7182-1216-9 pp 143–145
- ^ Bottomley, Frank, The Castle Explorer's Guide, Kaye & Ward, London, 1979 ISBN 0-7182-1216-9 p 145
- ^ Alexandre Dumas, La Reine Margot, XIII Oreste et Pylade
- ^ McQuiston, John (1994-07-27). "Man Sentenced to Prison In Kidnapping of L.I. Girl". New York Times. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE2D6113EF934A15754C0A962958260. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ "Josef Fritzl: Incest dungeon father could face up to 3,000 counts of rape". The Telegraph (London). 2008-08-03. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/joseffritzl/2619085/Josef-Fritzl-Incest-dungeon-father-could-face-up-to-3000-counts-of-rape.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22.[dead link]
- ^ "Russian girls rescued after 3 years in rape dungeon". Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-05-07. https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/06/1083635279844.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
See also [link]
https://wn.com/Dungeon
Dungeon (magazine)
Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150. Starting in 2008, Dungeon and its more widely read sister publication, Dragon, went to an online-only format published by Wizards of the Coast. Both magazines went on hiatus at the end of 2013, with Dungeon Issue 221 being the last released.
Each issue featured a variety of self-contained, pre-scripted, play-tested game scenarios, often called "modules" (commonly referred to as "adventures" or "scenarios"). Dungeon Masters (DMs) could either enact these adventures with their respective player groups as written or adapt them to their own campaign settings. Dungeon aimed to save DMs time and effort in preparing game sessions for their players by providing a full complement of ideas, hooks, plots, adversaries, creatures, illustrations, maps, hand-outs, and character dialogue. It was a resource containing several modules per issue, significantly cheaper than standard-format modules.
Dungeon (band)
Dungeon was a melodic power metal/thrash metal band based in Sydney, Australia, considered by some as one of Australia's leading metal bands. The group existed from 1989 to 2005, released six full-length albums, and toured heavily both throughout Australia and internationally.
History
(1989–1996) Formation and early period
The band was formed in the New South Wales outback mining town of Broken Hill in 1989 by guitarist Tim Grose featuring himself, bassist Eddie Tresize and drummer Ian DeBono. According to an extensive bio at the band's official website, Grose took on the singing role due to an inability to find a suitable vocalist. The band played popular rock and metal covers and shortly expanded to a five piece with the addition of Tim's niece Carolyn Boon on keyboards and Jason Hansen on guitar. Randall Hocking replaced Tresize and by the end of 1990 the group's line up featured Grose, Boon, Jamie Baldwin (bass), Dale Fletcher (guitar) and Darryl Riess (drums). By February 1991 however, only Tim Grose remained but a short time later guitarist Dale Corney joined him and the pair wrote and played as a duo for about a year before relocating to Sydney in 1992. A demo was recorded and Grose and Corney decided to rebuild a complete band line-up.
Counterfeit²
Counterfeit² is the first solo LP by Martin Gore, the primary songwriter for the band Depeche Mode, and his second release (his first being Counterfeit e.p. in 1989).
Released April 28, 2003 in Europe and April 29, 2003 in the USA, Counterfeit² is an album featuring 11 covers of songs that Gore considered influential to his own compositions for Depeche Mode. He recorded this album around the same time as David Gahan recorded his first solo album Paper Monsters, after the Exciter tour was finished, and around the same time Andrew Fletcher produced Client's self-titled debut album. Counterfeit² is a very synth heavy album compared to Depeche Mode's prior two albums, Exciter and Ultra, and includes a song sung completely in German ("Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen"). The album could at one point be heard in full at Martin Gore's website.
Gore also went on a brief tour consisting of a few concerts in Europe and only Los Angeles in North America.
Track listing
CD: Mute / CDSTUMM214 (UK)
Counterfeit (poker)
In community card poker, a player or hand is said to be counterfeited when a community card does not change the value of his hand, but makes it more likely that an opponent will beat it. This occurs primarily in Omaha hold 'em hi-lo split and sometimes in Texas hold 'em. Counterfeiting also occurs in the Badugi variant of draw poker.
Omaha hold 'em
The more common occurrence of counterfeiting in Omaha is when a person's best possible low hand, called the "nut low", is counterfeited. As an example, say Alice has A♠ 3♣ J♦ Q♦ while Bob holds A♣ 2♦ 9♦ J♠ and Carol holds 9♥ T♥ K♥ A♥. If the flop comes 6♥ 7♥ 8♥, Carol has a lock on the high hand with her 10-high straight flush, but Alice and Bob are still competing for the low half of the pot. Bob holds an 8-7-6-2-A, ahead of Alice's 8-7-6-3-A. In fact, Bob currently holds the nut low hand; no one can have a better low hand.
However, if the turn card is 2♣, Alice and Bob's fortunes have changed. Alice now has the nut-low of 7-6-3-2-A, while Bob must still play the A-2 from his hand for a low of 8-7-6-2-A. The turn card did not make Bob's hand worse, but it did make Alice's hand better. Bob's only chance at the low pot now is if a 3 comes on the river, counterfeiting Alice's hand and giving both Alice and Bob a 7-6-3-2-A to split the low half of the pot. (If a 3 does come on the river, the nut low hand becomes A-4 to make 6-4-3-2-A.)
Counterfeit (band)
Counterfeit are an English Punk rock band from London, England, formed in 2015, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Jamie Campbell Bower, guitarist Tristan Marmont and bassist Roland Johnson. Drummer Jimmy Craig & Guitarist Sam Bower joined late in 2015.
The band are currently unsigned and have toured internationally. Their debut EP Come Get Some was released on 27 November 2015 by Check On. The band are going back on tour this April.
Band members
Current members
Discography
Extended plays
