MEROPE, daughter of King of Chios, beloved by Orion

Mesmerism, likened to curative oracle of Aesculapius at Epidaurus

METABUS, father of Camilla

Metamorphoses, Ovid’s poetical legends of mythical transformations, a large source of our knowledge of classic mythology

METANIRA, a mother, kind to Ceres seeking Proserpine

Metempsychosis, transmigration of souls—­rebirth of dying men and women in forms of animals or human beings

Metis, Prudence, a spouse of Jupiter

Mezentius, a brave but cruel soldier, opposing Aeneas in Italy

MIDAS

Midgard, the middle world of the Norsemen

Midgard serpent, a sea monster, child of Loki

Milky way, starred path across the sky, believed to be road to palace of the gods

Milo, a great athlete

MLON, father of Orlando

Milton, John, great English poet, whose History of England is here largely used

Mime, one of the chief dwarfs of ancient German mythology

Minerva (Athene), daughter of Jupiter, patroness of health, learning, and wisdom

Minos, King of Crete

Mino TAUR, monster killed by Theseus

Mistletoe, fatal to Baldur

Mnemosyne, one of the Muses

Modesty, statue to

Modred, nephew of King Arthur

Moly, plant, powerful against sorcery

Momus, a deity whose delight was to jeer bitterly at gods and men

Monad, the “unit” of Pythagoras

Monsters, unnatural beings, evilly disposed to men

Montalban, Rinaldo’s castle

Month, the, attendant upon the Sun

Moon, goddess of, see Diana

Moraunt, knight, an Irish champion

Morgana, enchantress, the Lady of the Lake in “Orlando Furioso,” same as Morgane Le Fay in tales of Arthur

Morgane le Fay, Queen of Norway, King Arthur’s sister, an enchantress

Morgan Tud, Arthur’s chief physician

Morpheus, son of Sleep and god of dreams

Morte D’ARTHUr, romance, by Sir Thomas Mallory

Mulciber, Latin name of Vulcan

Mull, Island of

MUNIN, one of Odin’s two ravens

MUSAEUS, sacred poet, son of Orpheus

Muses, The, nine goddesses presiding over poetry, etc—­Calliope, epic poetry, Clio, history, Erato, love poetry, Euterpe, lyric poetry; Melpomene, tragedy, Polyhymnia, oratory and sacred song Terpsichore, choral song and dance, Thalia, comedy and idyls, Urania, astronomy

MUSPELHEIM, the fire world of the Norsemen