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-[[Image:Les oréades by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Les oréades]]'' ([[1902]]) by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]]]+[[Image:Der Abend.jpg |thumb|right|200px|''[[Der Abend]]'' ([[1820]]) by [[Caspar David Friedrich]]]]
-[[Image:Satyr by Piero di Cosimo.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Satyr mourning over a nymph]]'' (c. [[1495]]) - [[Piero di Cosimo]]]]+
{{Template}} {{Template}}
- +:''[[wood nymphs]], [[if a tree falls in a forest]]''
-# In Greek & Roman mythology, any [[minor]] [[female]] [[deity]] associated with [[water]], [[forest]]s, etc.+# A dense collection of [[tree]]s covering a relatively large area. Larger than [[woods]].
-# A [[young girl]], especially one who [[inspire]]s [[lustful]] [[feeling]]s.+# Any dense collection or amount.
- +#: '''''Forest''' of criticism.''
-In [[Greek mythology]], a '''nymph''' is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform or joining the retinue of a god, such as [[Dionysus]], [[Hermes]], or [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]], or a goddess, generally [[Artemis]]. Nymphs were the frequent target of lusty [[satyr]]s.+# A defined area of land formerly set aside in England as a royal hunting ground.
- +
-Nymphs live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, and in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities<!-- define "superior divinities. -->: the huntress [[Artemis]]; the prophetic [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]]; the reveller and god of [[wine]], [[Dionysus]]; and rustic gods such as [[Pan (god)|Pan]] and [[Hermes]].+
- +
-The symbolic marriage of a nymph and a patriarch, often the [[eponym]] of a people, is repeated endlessly in Greek origin myths; their union lent authority to the archaic king and his line.+
- +
-==Etymology==+
- +
-"The idea that rivers are gods and springs divine nymphs," [[Walter Burkert]] remarks (Burkert III.3.3) "is deeply rooted not only in poetry but in belief and ritual; the worship of these deities is limited only by the fact that they are inseparably identified with a specific locality." +
- +
-Nymphs are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of nature, most often identified with the life-giving outflow of springs. +
- +
-The [[Greek language|Greek]] word νύμφη has "bride" and "veiled" among its meanings: hence a marriageable young woman. Other readers refer the word (and also [[Latin]] ''nubere'' and [[German language|German]] ''Knospe'') to a root expressing the idea of "swelling" (according to [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]], one of the meanings of νύμφη is "rose-bud").+
- +
-==Adaptations==+
-The Greek nymphs were spirits invariably bound to places, not unlike the Latin ''[[genius loci]],'' and the difficulty of transferring their cult may be seen in the complicated myth that brought [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]] to Sicily. In the works of the Greek-educated [[Latin literature|Latin poets]], the nymphs gradually absorbed into their ranks the indigenous Italian divinities of springs and streams ([[Juturna]], [[Egeria (mythology)|Egeria]], [[Carmentis]], [[Fontus]]), while the [[Lympha]]e (originally Lumpae), Italian water-goddesses, owing to the accidental similarity of name, could be identified with the Greek Nymphae. The mythologies of classicizing Roman poets were unlikely to have affected the rites and cult of individual nymphs venerated by country people in the springs and clefts of [[Latium]]. Among the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] literate class their sphere of influence was restricted, and they appear almost exclusively as divinities of the watery element.+
- +
-==Nymphs in modern Greek folklore==+
-The ancient Greek belief in nymphs survived in many parts of the country into the early years of the twentieth century, when they were usually known as "[[nereids]]". At that time [[John Cuthbert Lawson]] wrote: "...there is probably no nook or hamlet in all Greece where the womenfolk at least do not scrupulously take precautions against the thefts and malice of the nereids, while many a man may still be found to recount in all good faith stories of their beauty, passion and caprice. Nor is it a matter of faith only; more than once I have been in villages where certain Nereids were known by sight to several persons (so at least they averred); and there was a wonderful agreement among the witnesses in the description of their appearance and dress." +
- +
-Usually female, they were dressed in white, decked with garlands of flowers, but they frequently had unnatural legs, like those of a goat, donkey or cow. They were so beautiful that the highest compliment was to compare some feature of a woman (eyes, hair, etc.) with that of a nereid. They could move swiftly and invisibly, ride through the air and slip through small holes. Although not immortal, their lives exceeded a human's tenfold, and they retained their beauty until death.+
- +
-They tended to frequent areas distant from humans, but could be encountered by lone travellers outside the village, where their music might be heard, and the traveller could spy on their dancing or bathing in a stream or pool, either during the noon heat or in the middle of the night. They might appear in a whirlwind. Such encounters could be dangerous, bringing dumbness, besotted infatuation, madness or stroke to the unfortunate human. When parents believed their child to be nereid-struck they would pray to Saint Artemidos, the Christian manifestation of [[Artemis]]. +
- +
-==Modern sexual connotations==+
-Due to the depiction of the mythological nymphs as females who mate with men or women at their own volition and are completely outside male control, the term is often used for women who are perceived as behaving similarly. (For example, the title of the [[Perry Mason]] detective novel "[[The Case of the Negligent Nymph]]" (1956), by [[Erle Stanley Gardner]], is derived from this meaning of the word). +
- +
-The term "Nymphomania" was created by modern [[psychology]] as referring to a "desire to engage in [[human sexual behavior]] at a level high enough to be considered clinically significant", "Nymphomaniac" being the person suffering from such a disorder. Due to widespread use of the term among lay persons (often shortened to "nympho") and stereotypes attached, professionals nowadays prefer the term "[[Hypersexuality]]" which can refer to males and females alike. +
- +
-The word "[[nymphet]]" is used to identify a sexually precocious girl. The term was made famous in the novel "[[Lolita]]" by [[Vladimir Nabokov]]. The main character, [[Humbert Humbert]], uses the term countless times and usually in reference to the title character.+
- +
-==Classification==+
- +
-As [[H.J. Rose]] states, "all these names are simply feminine adjectives, agreeing with the substantive ''nympha'', and there was no orthodox and exhaustive classification of these shadowy beings."<!-- Again, paraphrase and remove quotation marks. --> He mentions dryads and hamadryads as nymphs of trees generally, meliai as nymphs of [[ash tree]]s, and naiads as nymphs of water, but no others specifically. +
- +
-The following is not the Greek classification, but is intended simply as a guide:+
-* '''Land nymphs'''+
-** [[Alseid]]s (glens, groves)+
-** [[Auloniad]]s (pastures)+
-** [[Hesperides]] (nymphs of the west, daughters of Atlas)+
-*** [[Aegle]] ("dazzling light")+
-*** [[Arethusa]]+
-*** [[Erytheia]] (or Eratheis)+
-*** [[Hesperides|Hesperia]] (or Hispereia)+
-** [[Leimakid]]s (meadows)+
-** [[Minthe]] ([[mentha|mint]])+
-** [[Napaea]]e (mountain valleys, glens)+
-** [[Oread]]s (mountains, grottoes)+
-* '''Wood nymphs'''+
-** [[Dryad]]s (trees)+
-*** [[Hamadryad]]s ([[oak]] tree and others)+
-*** [[Epimeliad]] ([[apple]] tree)+
-*** [[Leuce (mythology)|Leuce]] ([[white poplar]] tree)+
-*** [[Meliae]] (manna-[[ash tree]])+
-* '''Water nymphs''' ("Ephydriads")+
-** [[Helead]] ([[fen]])+
-** [[Maia_(mythology)|Maia]] (partner of Zeus and mother of Hermes)+
-** [[Naiads]] (usually fresh water)+
-*** [[Crinaeae]] (fountains)+
-*** [[Eleionomae]] (marshes)+
-*** [[Hyades (mythology)|Hyades]] (rain)+
-*** [[Limnades]] or [[Limnatides]] (lakes) +
-*** [[Pegaeae]] (springs) +
-*** Potameides (rivers)+
-*** [[Corycian|Corycian Nymphs]] ([[Corycian Cave]])+
-** [[Nereids]] (daughters of [[Nereus]], the [[Mediterranean Sea]])+
-** [[Oceanid]]s (daughters of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|+
-Tethys]], any water, usually salty)+
-* '''Other nymphs'''+
-** [[Lampades]] (underworld)+
-** [[Muse|The Muses]]+
-** [[Nephelae]] (clouds)+
-** [[Pleiades (Greek mythology)|Pleiades]] (daughters of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] and constellation)+
- +
-==See also== +
-* [[Animism]]+
-* [[Apsaras]]+
-* [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]]+
-* [[Castalia]]+
-* [[Elizabeth Elstob]], "The Saxon Nymph"+
-* [[Genius loci]]+
-* [[Huacas]]+
-* [[Kami]]+
-* [[Landvaettir]]+
-* [[Lampades]]+
-* [[Melusine]]+
-* [[List of Greek mythological figures#Nymphs]]+
-* [[Ondine (mythology)]]+
-* [[Pitsa panels]]+
-* [[Psychai]]+
-* [[Rå]]+
-* [[Siren]]+
-* [[Slavic fairies]]+
-* [[Sprite (creature)]]+
-* [[Succubus]]+
-* [[Nymphs and Satyr]] (painting)+
-* [[The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd]] by [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]+
-* [[Nymphenburg Palace| Nymphenburg]] ("Nymph's Castle"), palace in [[Munich]]+
- +
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wood nymphs, if a tree falls in a forest
  1. A dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area. Larger than woods.
  2. Any dense collection or amount.
    Forest of criticism.
  3. A defined area of land formerly set aside in England as a royal hunting ground.




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