Guinevere (gwin´e-ver), or Guenever.—A corrupt form of Guanhumara, daughter of King Leodegrance of the land of Camelyard. She was the most beautiful of women, was the wife of King Arthur, but entertained a liaison with Sir Launcelot du Lac. Arthur, when informed of the conduct of Launcelot, went with an army to Brittany to punish him. Mordred, left as regent, usurped the crown, proclaimed that Arthur was dead, and tried to marry Guinevere; but she shut herself up in the Tower of London, resolved to die rather than marry the usurper. When she heard of the death of Arthur, she stole away to Almesbury, and became a nun.
Gulliver, Lemuel.—The imaginary hero of Swift’s celebrated satirical romance known as Gulliver’s Travels. He is represented as being first a surgeon in London, and then a captain of several ships. After having followed the sea for some years he makes in succession four extraordinary voyages.
Gummidge (gum´ij), Mrs.—In Dickens’ novel of David Copperfield, described herself as a “lone, lorn, creetur, and everythink that reminds me of creeturs that ain’t lone and lorn goes contrairy with me.”
Gurton, Gammer.—The heroine of an old English comedy, long supposed to be the earliest in the language.
Guy Mannering.—The second of Scott’s historical novels, published in 1815, just seven months after Waverley. The interest of the tale is well sustained; but the love scenes, female characters, and Guy Mannering himself are quite worthless. Not so the character of Dandy Dinmont, the shrewd and witty counselor Pleydell, the desperate, sea-beaten villainy of Hatteraick, the uncouth devotion of that gentlest of all pedants, poor Dominie Sampson, and the savage, crazed superstition of the gypsy-dweller in Derncleugh.
Guyon (gī´on).—The impersonation of Temperance or Self-government in Spenser’s Faërie Queene. He destroyed the witch Acrasia, and her bower, called the “Bower of Bliss.” His companion was Prudence. Sir Guyon represents the quality of temperance in the largest sense; meaning the virtuous self-government which holds in check not only the inferior sensual appetites but also the impulses of passion and revenge.
Guy, Sir, Earl of Warwick.—The hero of a famous English legend, which celebrates the wonderful achievements by which he obtained the hand of his ladylove, the fair Felice, as well as the adventures he subsequently met with in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He is reputed to have lived in the reign of the Saxon King Athelstan. The romance of Sir Guy, mentioned by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, cannot be traced further back than the earlier part of the fourteenth century. His existence at any period is very doubtful.
H
Hadad.—One of the six wise men led by the guiding star to Jesus.
Hagen.—The murderer of Siegfried, in the German epic, the Nibelungenlied. He is a pale-faced dwarf, who knows everything and whose sole desire is mischief. After the death of Siegfried he seized the “Nibelung hoard,” and buried it in the Rhine, intending to appropriate it. Kriemhild invited him to the court and had him slain.