Who closed their left eyes up, as never to be freed,
Till there they had achieved some high adventurous deed.
Drayton, Polyolbion, xviii. (1613).
Man´fred (Count), son of Sig´ismund. He sells himself to the prince of darkness, and received from him seven spirits to do his bidding. They were the spirits of “earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, and the star of his own destiny.” Wholly without human sympathies, the count dwelt in splendid solitude among the Alpine Mountains. He once loved the beautiful As´tarte (2 syl.), and, after her murder, went to the hall of Arima´nês to see her. The spirit of Astarte informed him that he would die the following day; and when asked if she loved him, she sighed “Manfred,” and vanished.—Byron, Manfred (1817).
⁂ Byron sometimes makes Astarte two syllables, and sometimes three. The usual pronunciation is As.tar-te.
Mangerton (The laird of), John Armstrong, an old warrior who witnesses the national combat in Liddesdale valley between his own son (the Scotch champion), and Foster (the English champion). The laird’s son is vanquished.—Sir W. Scott, The Laird’s Jock (time, Elizabeth).
Maniche´an (4 syl.), a disciple of Manês or Manichee, the Persian heresiarch. The Manicheans believe in two opposing principles—one of good, and the other of evil. Theodora, wishing to extirpate these heretics, put 100,000 of them to the sword.
Yet would she make full many a Manichean.
Byron, Don Juan, vi. 3 (1824).
Man´ito or Mani´tou, the Great Spirit of the North American Indians. These Indians acknowledge two supreme spirits—a spirit of good and a spirit of evil. The former they call Gitchê-Manĭto, and the latter Mitchê-Manito. The good spirit is symbolized by an egg, and the evil one by a serpent.—Longfellow, Hiawatha, xiv.