Lofty, a detestable prig, always boasting of his intimacy with people of quality.—Goldsmith, The Good-natured Man (1767).
Lofty (Sir Thomas), a caricature of Lord Melcombe. Sir Thomas is a man utterly destitute of all capacity, yet sets himself up for a Mecænas, and is well sponged by needy scribblers, who ply him with fulsome dedications.—Samuel Foote, The Patron.
Log (King), a roi fainéant. The frogs prayed to Jove to send them a king, and the god threw a log into the pool, the splash of which terribly alarmed them for a time; but they soon learnt to despise a monarch who allowed them to jump upon its back, and never resented their familiarities. The croakers complained to Jove for sending them so worthless a king, and prayed him to send one more active and imperious; so he sent them a stork, which devoured them.—Æsop’s Fables.
Logistil´la, a good fairy, sister of Alci´na, the sorceress. She taught Ruggie´ro (3 syl.) to manage the hippogriff, and gave Astolpho a magic book and horn. Logistilla is human reason personified.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Logothete (The), or chancellor of the Grecian empire.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
Lohengrin, “Knight of the Swan,” son of Parsival. He came to Brabante in a ship drawn by a swan, and having liberated the Duchess Elsa, who was a captive, he married her, but declined to reveal his name. Not long after his marriage he went against the Huns and Saracens, performed marvels of bravery, and returned to Germany covered with glory. Elsa, being laughed at by her friends for not knowing the name of her husband, resolved to ask him of his family; but no sooner had she done so than the white swan re-appeared and carried him away.—Wolfram von Eschenbach (a minnesinger, thirteenth century).
L’Oiseleur (“the bird-catcher”), the person who plays the magic flute.—Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (1791).
Loki, the god of strife and spirit of all evil. His wife is Angerbode (4 syl.), i.e. “messenger of wrath,” and his three sons are Fenris, Midgard, and Hela. Loki gave the blind god Höder an arrow of mistletoe, and told him to try it; so the blind Höder discharged the arrow and slew Balder (the Scandinavian Apollo). This calamity was so grievous to the gods, that they unanimously agreed to restore him to life again.—Scandinavian Mythology.
Lolah, one of the three beauties of the harem, into which Don Juan in female disguise was admitted. She “was dusk as India and as warm.” The other two were Katin´ka and Dudù.—Byron, Don Juan, vi. 40, 41 (1824).
Lol´lius, an author often referred to by writers of the Middle Ages, but probably a “Mrs. Harris” of Kennotwhere.