DeDanaan

Midgard : In Scandinavian or Norse mythology, Midgard was Earth, the Middle Abode, located between the ice world, Niflheim, to the north and the land of fire, Muspelheim, to the south. According to legend, sparks from Muspelheim fell on the frozen rivers of Niflheim, causing some of the ice to melt. From the water rose a giant named Ymir, the first being of Creation. Other giants sprang from the drops of Ymir’s sweat. After this the gods were created, and finally human beings. The gods killed Ymir, and from his body fashioned Earth and the heavens. Asgard, the home of the gods, was connected to Midgard by the rainbow bridge, Bifrost.

The main source of information about Scandinavian mythology was an Icelandic scholar named Snorri Sturulson (c. 1179-1241), who wrote down the myths in what has come to be called the Prose Edda. There are a number of translations available on the internet, as well as at Amazon.com.

Middle Earth : Middle Earth is the legendary place created by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit and in the trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Middle Earth is inhabited by hobbits, elves, orcs, wizards, dwarves, and people. In the southeastern section lies Mordor, the desolate place to which Frodo journeys in order to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Adjacent to Mordor is Gondor, where most of the great cities are found.

On the northeastern banks of the Great River, which runs from north to south bisecting the land, lies the forest of Mirkwood, where the evil Sauron built up his power. Still further east the dwarves reside, beneath Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. The Misty Mountains, over which the travelers cross, rise to the west of the Great River. Further west is Eriador, where many of the hobbits reside and where the first volume of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Rings, begins.

MacCool, Finn (MacCumhaill) : Finn MacCool (Fingal) is a traditional Irish folk hero who actually may have lived in the 3rd century but who figures heavily in Irish mythology. A leader of a band of warriors, Finn is often portrayed as a giant with great strength and wisdom. According to folk tradition, Finn assembled a rock formation known as the Giants’ Causeway along the coast of Northern Ireland to enable other giants to travel between Scotland and Ireland. He and his son, Oisin, appear in the Fenian Cycle of ancient Irish tales, the most famous of which is “The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne.” Grainne, who loves Oisin, is pressured to marry the father instead, but escapes by eloping with Diarmuid, Finn’s nephew. Finn pursues them, Diarmuid is slain by a giant boar, and ultimately, Grainne becomes Finn’s wife.

In the 1760’s, the Scottish poet James Macpherson (1736-1796) claimed dubiously to have discovered and translated tales written by Finn’s son, Oisin, whom he called Ossian. Two of his popular books are Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books (1762) and Temore (1763), an epic that he claimed was translated from the Gaelic of Ossian. Both Finn and his son frequently appear in Irish myth and literature, most notably in the poetry of William Butler Yeats.

Muintir na hÉireann : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “MWIN-teer nuh HAY*R-uhn”
1. The people of Ireland, or the Irish people.

Múin : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “MOO-in”
1. Teach; instruct

Mór : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “mohr”
1. Great; much; many
2. Big; large
3. Friendliness
4. Great, proud person

Milliways : Milliways is, of course, better known as the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Max Quordlepleen is your host for an evening of fine food, fine wine, and a floor show featuring the universe as we know it boiling away into the cosmic void. The Restaurant has some of the most staggeringly extravagant decor ever seen, a variety of the strangest guests from throughout history, and serves a particularly fine Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Despite the staggering expense of eating there, it remains popular with everyone from disciples of the Great Prophet, Zarquon, to dead Rock stars. Reservations are accepted retrospectively. We recommend the steak.

Milis : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “MIL-ish”
1. Sweet
2. Honeyed; flattering

Mice, The : The Mice are not, as is commonly assumed on Earth, small white squeaking animals who spend a lot of time being experimented on. In fact, they are the protrusions into our dimension of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings. These beings are, in fact, responsible for the creation of the Earth. Two mice (Frankie and Benjy) escaped from Earth before the premature termination of its program. They had belonged to an Earthling known as Trillian. They were rather keen to remove Arthur Dent’s brain to reveal the ultimate question, which they had devoted a lot of time and money to finding. The whole business with the cheese and the squeaking is actually just a front.