Sir Balan

Sir Balan le Savage, brother of Sir Balin from Northumberland, is a minor character mentioned in various Arthurian legends. His story is retold, along with his brother's, in The Ballad of Balin and Balan, Book II in Malory's Le Morté d' Arthur and by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in Idylls of the King.

After Balin fought with Sir Lanceor of Ireland and killed him (in turn causing Lanceor's lover Colombe to take her own life, which makes him destined to make the Dolorous Stroke), he went on to find his brother Balan, who was also in disfavour of King Arthur. Merlin foretold of a curse that was laid on the brothers by a damsel after Balin drew a magical sword from the damsel's gilt and failed to return it, thereby laying a fatal curse "on him and the man he loves most".

Balan, joined by his brother, decide to attack King Rience in order to regain their lost honour for King Arthur. The Brothers succeeded in ambushing Rience en route to sleep with the Lady de Vance and brought the king before Arthur. Rience's capture resulted in the forming of an alliance of twelve rebel kings, including King Rience's brother, King Nero. The kings, most notably Nero and Lot, were captured or killed by Arthur with the help of Balin and Balan.

Sir

Sir is an honorific address used in a number of situations in many anglophone cultures. The term can be used as a formal prefix, especially in the Commonwealth, for males who have been given certain honors or titles (such as knights and baronets), where usage is strictly governed by law and custom.

The term is commonly used as a respectful way to address a man, usually of superior social status or military rank. Equivalent terms of address to females are "ma'am" or "madam" in most cases, or in the case of a very young woman, girl, or unmarried woman who prefers to be addressed as such, "miss". The equivalent term for a knighted woman or baronetess is Dame, or "Lady" for the wife of a knight or baronet.

Etymology

"Sir" derives from the Middle French honorific title sire. Sire developed alongside the word seigneur, also used to refer to a feudal lord. Both derived from the Vulgar Latin senior, sire comes from the oblique case declension senior and seigneur, the nominative case declension seniōrem.

Sirá

Sirá is a village and municipality (obec) in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.

The municipality covers an area of 6.43 square kilometres (2.48 sq mi), and has a population of 105 (as at 3 July 2006).

Sirá lies approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) north-east of Rokycany, 28 km (17 mi) east of Plzeň, and 58 km (36 mi) south-west of Prague.

References

Æsir

In Old Norse, ǫ́ss (or áss, ás, plural æsir; feminine ásynja, plural ásynjur) is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in the indigenous Germanic religion known as Norse religion. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Týr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage the Æsir-Vanir War, which results in a unified pantheon.

The cognate term in Old English is ōs (plural ēse) denoting a deity in Anglo-Saxon paganism. The Old High German is ans, plural ensî. The Gothic language had ans- (based only on Jordanes who glossed anses with uncertain meaning, possibly 'demi-god' and presumably a Latinized form of actual plural *anseis). The reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is *ansuz (plural *ansiwiz). The a-rune ᚫ was named after the æsir.

Unlike the Old English word god (and Old Norse goð), the term ōs (áss) was never adopted into Christian use.

Etymology

Æsir is the plural of áss, óss "god" (gen. āsir) which is attested in other Germanic languages, e.g., Old English ōs (gen. pl. ēsa) and Gothic (as reported by Jordanes) anses "half-gods". These all stem from Proto-Germanic *ansis ~ ansuz, which itself comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énsus (gen. h₂n̥sóus) "life force" (cf. Avestan aŋhū "lord; lifetime", ahura "godhood", Sanskrit ásu "life force",ásura "god" (< *h₂n̥suró)). It is widely accepted that this word is further related to *h₂ens- "to engender" (cf. Hittite hass- "to procreate, give birth", Tocharian B ās- "to produce").

Balan

Balan can refer to:

Places

People

Other uses

Balan (film)

Balan (Malayalam: ബാലൻ‌) is a 1938 Malayalam film directed by S. Nottani. It was the third feature film (after Vigathakumaran and Marthanda Varma) and first talkie in Malayalam. Based on the short story "Vidhiyum Mrs. Nayarum" by A. Sundaram, its screenplay and dialogues are written by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. The film is a melodrama and was the first movie in this genre in Malayalam. It is produced by T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres, Salem. The film, which stars K. K. Aroor, Master Madanagopal, M. V. Shanku, K. Gopinath, Alleppey Vincent, C. O. N. Nambiar, M. K. Kamalam, K. N. Lakshmi, Baby Malathi, A. B. Pious and Subhadra, is about the struggle of two orphaned children. German cinematographer Bado Gushwalker handled the camera while Varghese and K.D. George did the editing. Its music was composed by K. K. Aroor and Ibrahim. There are overall 23 songs in the film.

The film was a milestone in Malayalam film history, not only for being the second talkie, but also for being one of the first commercially successful films. Through the film, Alleppey Vincent became the first "speaking person" of Malayalam cinema, K. K. Aroor the first "speaking hero" and M. K. Kamalam the first "speaking heroine". "Hello Mister" was the first recorded sound, which was in the voice of Alleppey Vincent.

List of named devils in Dungeons & Dragons

Within the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game materials, a number of devils are given characteristics or roles within the story lines. This is a list of the devils that have appeared in the various materials as characters that are specifically named.

Some of the characters are based on devils in folklore traditions, while some were created specifically for the game.

Abigor

Abigor is a Duke of Hell in the service of Baalzebul, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Abigor appears as a large hairless humanoid with small horns, black hooves, a forked tail and ochre skin. He has large crimson bat wings and a loud, bellowing voice. Abigor is a vassal of Baalzebul, commanding 60 companies of cornugons (horned devils). He was nearly slain by Nisroch, for which Nisroch was sentenced to become one of the Rabble of Devilkin.

Abigor first appears in Ed Greenwood's article "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon #76 (1983). Abigor was briefly mentioned in Faces of Evil: The Fiends (1997). Abigor was briefly detailed in Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006).