NICEPH′ORUS. A name of Jupiter, meaning the bearer of victory.
NID′HOGG. In Scandinavian mythology the dragon who dwells in Nastrond.
NIF′LHEIM. The Scandinavian hell. It was supposed to consist of nine
vast regions of ice beneath the North Pole, where darkness reigns
eternally. See Nastrond.
NIGHT, see Nox.
NIGHTINGALE, see Philomela.
NIGHTMARE, see Incubus.
NINE, THE, see Muses.
NI′OBE was a daughter of Tantalus, and is the personification of grief.
By her husband Amphion she had seven sons and seven daughters. By the
orders of Latona the father and sons were killed by Apollo, and the
daughters (except Chloris) by Diana. Niobe, being overwhelmed with
grief, escaped further trouble by being turned into a marble statue.
NO′MIUS. A lawgiver; one of the names of Apollo. This title was also
given to Mercury for the part he took in inventing beneficent laws.
NORNS. Three Scandinavian goddesses, who wove the woof of human destiny.
NO′TUS. Another name for Auster, the south wind.
NOX was the daughter of Chaos, and sister of Erebus and Mors. She
personified night, and was the mother of Nemesis and the Fates.
NUN′DINA. The goddess who took charge of children when they were nine
days old--the day on which the Romans named their children.
NUPTIA′LIS. A title of Juno. When the goddess was invoked under this
name, the gall of the victim was taken out and thrown behind the altar,
signifying that there should be no gall (bitterness) or anger between
married people.
NU′RIEL. In Hebrew mythology the god of hailstorms.
NYCTE′LIUS. A name given to Bacchus, because his festivals were
celebrated by torchlight.
NYM′PHS. This was a general name for a class of inferior female deities
who were attendants of the gods. Some of them presided over springs,
fountains, wells, woods, and the sea. They are spoken of as land-nymphs
or Naiads, and sea-nymphs or Nereides, though the former are associated
also with fountains and rivers. The Dryades were forest-nymphs, and the
Hama-dryades were nymphs who lived amongst the oak-trees--the oak being
always specially venerated by the ancients. The mountain-nymphs were
called Oreades.
“With flower-inwoven tresses torn,
The nymphs in twilight shade
Of tangled thickets mourn.”