Waugh, Evelyn (Arthur St. John)

(born Oct. 28, 1903, London, Eng.—died April 10, 1966, Combe Florey, near Taunton, Somerset) English novelist. After an Oxford education, he devoted himself to solitary, observant travel and the writing of novels, soon earning a wide reputation for sardonic wit and technical brilliance. His finest satirical novels are Decline and Fall (1928), Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934), Scoop (1938), and The Loved One (1948). He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1930, and his Catholicism is insistently reflected in his novels from then on. After service in World War II he led a retired life, growing increasingly conservative and misanthropic. His later works, more serious and ambitious but written with less élan, include Brideshead Revisited (1945) and the Sword of Honour trilogy—Men at Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955), and Unconditional Surrender (1961).

Learn more about Waugh, Evelyn (Arthur St. John) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Common name for plants in the family Hypericaceae, which contains 350 species of herbs or low shrubs in eight genera. The family is sometimes considered part of the family Guttiferae. The majority of species (about 300) belong to the genus Hypericum. Their leaves are opposite or whorled, dotted with glands, and usually have smooth margins. Several species are cultivated in temperate regions for their handsome flowers. H. perforatum, a showy golden flower grown in both the Old and New Worlds whose buds contain a red oil, has long been credited with magical and medicinal powers; today it is being widely used and studied for its possible efficacy against depression.

Learn more about Saint-John's-wort with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Marie-René-Auguste-Aléxis Saint-Léger Léger

(born May 31, 1887, Saint-Léger-les Feuilles, Guad.—died Sept. 20, 1975, Presqu'ile-de-Giens, France) French poet and diplomat. He served in various diplomatic posts from 1914 until his dismissal by the collaborationist Vichy government in 1940. He spent the years 1940–57 in exile in the U.S. The language of his poetry, admired especially by poets for its precision and purity, is difficult, and he made little appeal to the general public. His works include Anabasis (1924; translated by T.S. Eliot), Exile (1942), Winds (1946), Seamarks (1957), and Birds (1962). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960.

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(born Feb. 1, 1882, Compton, Que., Can.—died July 25, 1973, Quebec, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1948–57). One of Canada's most prominent lawyers, he served in the Canadian House of Commons (1942–58) and in W.L. Mackenzie King's cabinet as minister of justice and attorney general (1942–46) and minister of external affairs (1945–48). As leader of the Liberal Party (1948), he succeeded King as prime minister. He promoted Canadian unity by equalizing provincial revenues and expanded social security and university education. He supported Canadian membership in NATO and helped establish the St. Lawrence Seaway.

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orig. Ruth Dennis

(born Jan. 20, 1877, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died July 21, 1968, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. modern-dance innovator and teacher. She was a vaudeville performer before developing her dramatic dance act based on Asian dance forms. From 1906 to 1909 she toured in Europe to wide acclaim. In 1915 she and her husband, Ted Shawn, established the Denishawn dance company and school to present a new choreographic style of abstract “music visualization.” The company frequently toured until it disbanded in 1931 when St. Denis and Shawn separated. Her interest in the use of dance in religion led her to found the Society of Spiritual Arts. She continued to perform, teach, and lecture into the 1960s.

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orig. Ruth Dennis

(born Jan. 20, 1877, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died July 21, 1968, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. modern-dance innovator and teacher. She was a vaudeville performer before developing her dramatic dance act based on Asian dance forms. From 1906 to 1909 she toured in Europe to wide acclaim. In 1915 she and her husband, Ted Shawn, established the Denishawn dance company and school to present a new choreographic style of abstract “music visualization.” The company frequently toured until it disbanded in 1931 when St. Denis and Shawn separated. Her interest in the use of dance in religion led her to found the Society of Spiritual Arts. She continued to perform, teach, and lecture into the 1960s.

Learn more about St. Denis, Ruth with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 22, 1892, Rockland, Maine, U.S.—died Oct. 19, 1950, Austerlitz, N.Y.) U.S. poet and dramatist. Her work is filled with the imagery of the Maine coast and countryside. In the 1920s, when she lived in Greenwich Village, she came to personify the romantic rebellion and bravado of youth. Among her volumes are Renascence (1917); A Few Figs from Thistles (1920); The Harp Weaver (1923, Pulitzer Prize); The Buck in the Snow (1928), which introduced a more sombre tone; the sonnet sequence Fatal Interview (1931); and Wine from These Grapes (1934).

Learn more about Millay, Edna St. Vincent with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 8, 1923, Jefferson City, Mo., U.S.—died June 20, 2005, Dallas, Texas) U.S. inventor. He studied at the University of Wisconsin. In 1958 he joined Texas Instruments; there he built the first integrated circuit, a device in which all of a circuit's components are integrated on a single semiconductor surface. He also coinvented a handheld calculator with a thermal printer that is used in portable data terminals. The owner of more than 60 patents, he received the National Medal of Science (1970), the Kyoto Prize (1993), and the Nobel Prize for Physics (2000), shared with Herbert Kroemer and Zhores Alferov.

Learn more about Kilby, Jack (St. Clair) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 8, 1923, Jefferson City, Mo., U.S.—died June 20, 2005, Dallas, Texas) U.S. inventor. He studied at the University of Wisconsin. In 1958 he joined Texas Instruments; there he built the first integrated circuit, a device in which all of a circuit's components are integrated on a single semiconductor surface. He also coinvented a handheld calculator with a thermal printer that is used in portable data terminals. The owner of more than 60 patents, he received the National Medal of Science (1970), the Kyoto Prize (1993), and the Nobel Prize for Physics (2000), shared with Herbert Kroemer and Zhores Alferov.

Learn more about Kilby, Jack (St. Clair) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass.) U.S. writer, illustrator, and designer. He studied at Harvard University and worked as an illustrator before publishing his first children's book, The Doubtful Guest, in 1957. In this and later books such as The Hapless Child (1961) and The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1962), his arch nonsense verse and mock-Victorian prose accompany pen-and-ink drawings of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals in Edwardian costume whose dignified demeanour is undercut by silly, often macabre events. His work has been anthologized in Amphigorey (1972), Amphigorey Too (1975), and Amphigorey Also (1983).

Learn more about Gorey, Edward (St. John) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Oct. 28, 1903, London, Eng.—died April 10, 1966, Combe Florey, near Taunton, Somerset) English novelist. After an Oxford education, he devoted himself to solitary, observant travel and the writing of novels, soon earning a wide reputation for sardonic wit and technical brilliance. His finest satirical novels are Decline and Fall (1928), Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934), Scoop (1938), and The Loved One (1948). He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1930, and his Catholicism is insistently reflected in his novels from then on. After service in World War II he led a retired life, growing increasingly conservative and misanthropic. His later works, more serious and ambitious but written with less élan, include Brideshead Revisited (1945) and the Sword of Honour trilogy—Men at Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955), and Unconditional Surrender (1961).

Learn more about Waugh, Evelyn (Arthur St. John) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass.) U.S. writer, illustrator, and designer. He studied at Harvard University and worked as an illustrator before publishing his first children's book, The Doubtful Guest, in 1957. In this and later books such as The Hapless Child (1961) and The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1962), his arch nonsense verse and mock-Victorian prose accompany pen-and-ink drawings of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals in Edwardian costume whose dignified demeanour is undercut by silly, often macabre events. His work has been anthologized in Amphigorey (1972), Amphigorey Too (1975), and Amphigorey Also (1983).

Learn more about Gorey, Edward (St. John) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 22, 1892, Rockland, Maine, U.S.—died Oct. 19, 1950, Austerlitz, N.Y.) U.S. poet and dramatist. Her work is filled with the imagery of the Maine coast and countryside. In the 1920s, when she lived in Greenwich Village, she came to personify the romantic rebellion and bravado of youth. Among her volumes are Renascence (1917); A Few Figs from Thistles (1920); The Harp Weaver (1923, Pulitzer Prize); The Buck in the Snow (1928), which introduced a more sombre tone; the sonnet sequence Fatal Interview (1931); and Wine from These Grapes (1934).

Learn more about Millay, Edna St. Vincent with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Bifröst (Old Norse bifrǫst, literally the "tremulous way", from bifask "to tremble" and rǫst "a distance") in Norse mythology is the bridge leading from Midgard, the realm of mortals, to Asgard, the realm of the gods, which the gods travel daily to hold their councils and pass judgments at Urdarbrunn (Well of Urd) under the shade of the tree Yggdrasill. The bridge itself is the rainbow and its guardian is the god Heimdallr, whose hall of Himinbjorg is located at the upper end of the bridge. The red color was the flaming fire, which served as a defense against the giants. The bridge is destroyed at the end of the world, Ragnarök. It was built by the Æsir.

Much of what we know concerning Bifröst comes from Snorri (quoted below), but mention of it is also made in the Poetic Edda. For example, in Grímnismál, stanza 29 mentions Thor crossing over rivers (such as the Körmt and Örmt and the "Kerlaugs twain") which boil from the fire of Bifröst each day on his way to the judgement place at Yggdrasil, and later in stanza 44 it is named as the best of bridges in a list of the foremost of things (including Yggdrasil of trees, Sleipnir of horses, etc). In Fáfnismál, stanza 15 (as well as Snorri) indicates that it will collapse when ridden upon by the fire giants during the destruction of Ragnarök.

Some scholars, including Åke Ohlmarks and Franz Rolf Schröder thought that Bifröst may have originally represented the Milky Way and was reinterpreted by Snorri as a rainbow when confronted with variations in terminology.

His alternative names include Bilröst, Ásbrú, Bifrost (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish form).

The Prose Edda

In the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, there is a description of Bifröst:

Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hver er leið til himins af jörðu?" Þá svarar Hár ok hló við: "Eigi er nú fróðliga spurt. Er þér eigi sagt þat at guðin gerðu brú til himins af jörðu, ok heitir Bifröst? Hana muntu sét hafa, kann vera at þat kallir þú regnboga. Hon er með þrim litum ok mjök sterk ok ger með list ok kunnáttu meiri en aðrar smíðir. Ok svá sem hon er sterk, þá mun hon brotna þá er Muspells megir fara ok ríða hana, ok svima hestar þeira yfir stórar ár. Svá koma þeir fram." Þá mælti Gangleri: "Eigi þótti mér goðin gera af trúnaði brúna, er hon skal brotna mega, er þau megu gera sem þau vilja." Þá mælti Hár: "Eigi eru goðin hallmælis verð fyrir þessa smíð. Góð brú er Bifröst, en engi hlutr er sá í þessum heimi er sér megi treystask þá er Muspells synir herja." - Eysteinn Björnsson's edition

Then said Gangleri: "What is the way to heaven from earth?" Then Hárr answered, and laughed aloud: "Now, that is not wisely asked; has it not been told thee, that the gods made a bridge from earth to heaven, called Bifröst? Thou must have seen it; it may be that ye call it 'rainbow.' It is of three colors, and very strong, and made with cunning and with more magic art than other works of craftsmanship. But strong as it is, yet must it be broken, when the sons of Múspell shall go forth harrying and ride it, and swim their horses over great rivers; thus they shall proceed." Then said Gangleri: "To my thinking the gods did not build the bridge honestly, seeing that it could be broken, and they able to make it as they would." Then Hárr replied : "The gods are not deserving of reproof because of this work of skill: a good bridge is Bifröst, but nothing in this world is of such nature that it may be relied on when the sons of Múspell go a-harrying." - Brodeur's translation