Galaphrone, or Galafron.—A king of Cathay and father of Angelica in Bojardo’s Orlando Innamorato and Ariosto’s Furioso.
Gamp, Mrs.—A nurse who is a prominent character in Dickens’ novel of Martin Chuzzlewit. She is celebrated for her constant reference to a certain Mrs. Harris, a purely imaginary person, for whose feigned opinions and utterances she professes the greatest respect, in order to give the more weight to her own.
Gan, Ganelone, Ganelon, or Gano.—The character of Sir Ganelon was marked with spite, dissimulation, and intrigue, but he was patient, obstinate, and enduring. He loved solitude, disbelieved in the existence of moral good, and has become a byword for a false and faithless friend. Dante has placed him in his Inferno.
Gander-Cleugh.—“Folly-Cliff,” that mysterious place where a person make a goose of himself, in Tales of My Landlord, Sir Walter Scott.
Garcia, Pedro.—A mythical personage, of whom mention is made in the preface to Gil Bias, in which is related how two scholars of Salamanca discovered a tombstone with the inscription “Here lies interred the soul of the Licentiate Pedro Garcia,” and how, on digging beneath the stone, was found a leathern purse containing a hundred ducats.
Gareth.—In Arthurian Romance a knight of the Round Table, who was first a scullion in King Arthur’s kitchen, but afterward became champion of the Lady Linet, or Lynette, whose sister Lionès, or Lyonors, he delivered from Castle Perilous.
Garganelle (gär-ga-nel´).—The mother of Gargantua in Rabelais’ celebrated romance of this name.
Gargantua (gär-gan´tū-ä).—Rabelais’ celebrated romance, the hero of which is a gigantic personage, about whom many wonderful stories are related. He lived for several centuries, and at last begot a son, Pantagruel, as wonderful as himself. The Pleasant Story of the Giant Gargantua and of his Son Pantagruel, so satirized the monastic orders of his time that it was denounced by the spiritual authorities. Francis I., however, protected the author, and allowed him to print the third part of it in 1545.
Gargery (gar´jer-i), Mrs. Joe.—Great Expectations, Dickens. Pip’s sister. A virago, who kept her husband and Pip in constant awe. Joe Gargery, a blacksmith, married to Pip’s sister. A noble-hearted, simple-minded young man, who loved Pip sincerely. Joe Gargery was one of nature’s gentlemen.
Gaspar, or Caspar.—(The white one), one of the three magi or kings of Cologne. His offering to the infant Jesus was frankincense, in token of divinity.