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altereth not' (Dan. 6:8). Hence a law of the Medes and Persians is one that cannot be altered. It was as a punishment for ignoring Darius' command that Daniel was cast into the lion's den.

I know what my aim is, and what my motives are; and at this moment I pass a law, unalterable, as that of the Medes and Persians, that both are right.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE Jane Eyre, 1847

Jeremy Taylor Jeremy Taylor (1613-67) was an Anglican clergyman and theologian. On the royalist side during the civil war as chaplain to Charles I, he stayed true to his faith despite three periods of imprisonment.

Well, if I were so placed, I should preach Church dogma, pure and simple. I would have nothing to do with these reconciliations. I would stand firm as Jeremy Taylor; and in consequence should have an immense and enthusiastic congregation.

GEORGE GISSING Born in Exile, 1892

Tin Man The Tin Woodman is one of Dorothy's companions on her journey to find Oz in L. Frank Baum's children's story The Wizard of Oz (1900). When Dorothy and the Scarecrow first meet the Tin Woodman, he is frozen in position, having been caught in the rain while chopping wood. He is freed by Dorothy, who locates his oil can and oils his joints. The Tin Woodman is now more popularly known as the Tin Man, as he was rechristened in the film starring Judy Garland as Dorothy (1939). The following quotation plays on the idea of the Tin Man's inflexibility before he is returned to mobility.

Lucy had a gift for making me feel like the Tin Man rusting in the forest. Was I becoming the rigid, serious adult I would have disliked when I was her age? PATRICIA CORNWELL Cruel and Unusual, 1993

Large Size

Most of the entries in this theme are used to describe people of huge stature. Some of them can also be used to signify something that is gigantic in scale. • See also Power, Small Size, Strength.

Anak In the Bible, Anak was a man of great stature who founded a race of giants known as the Anakim. They were so huge they frightened the spies of Moses: 'And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight' (Num. 13: 33).

By some naturalists who have vaguely heard rumors of the mysterious creature, here spoken of [giant squid], it is included among the class of cuttle-fish, to which, indeed, in certain external respects it would seem to belong, but only as the Anak of the tribe.

HERMAN MELVILLE Moby Dick, 1851

Brobdingnagian Brobdingnag is the land inhabited by giants in Book II of

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Silas was impressed with the melancholy truth of this last remark; but his force of mind failed before the only two penal methods open to him, not only because it was painful to him to hurt Eppie, but because he trembled at a moment's contention with her, lest she should love him the less for it. Let even an affectionate Goliath get himself tied to a small tender thing, dreading to hurt it by pulling, and dreading still more to snap the cord, and which of the two, pray, will be master?

GEORCE ELIOT Silas Marner, 1861

encounters on his first journey. When mentioned in connection with Lilli-

He found it ridiculously easy; the slight Javanese bodies he was dealing with were dwarfed by his own. A clumsy, foolish Gulliver, he looked around for fresh attackers.

CHRISTOPER J . KOCH The Year of Living Dangerously, 1978

Elly had risen to greet him, but still he towered above her. He must, I calculated, be at least 6' 4". Elly .. . put out a hand towards me. 'J.T. this is Maria, a very old friend from England.'

I came up to his shoulder. It was not a usual experience for me. I caught a glimpse of myself miniaturised in his glasses. What next? A handshake seemed too formal, anything else too forward. I nodded. He almost did the same.

Formalities over, he bent down and scooped up our bags, Gulliver picking up Lilliputian boulders.

SARAH DUNANT Snow Storms in a Hot Climate, 1988

The smaller university presses such as Edinburgh and Manchester are but Lilliputians to Oxford's Gulliver.

The Daily Telegraph, 1995

Jotun In Scandinavian mythology, the Jotuns were a race of frost giants who fought against the gods for possession of the world. While the gods lived in Asgard, the home of the Jotuns was Jotunheim.

The Amphitheatre was a huge circular enclosure, with a notch at opposite extremities of its diameter north and south. From its sloping internal form it might have been called the spittoon of the Jotuns.

THOMAS HARDY The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886

Leviathan A number of passages in the Bible (e.g. Job 4 1 , Ps. 74: 14) allude to God's victory over a sea monster called Leviathan, identified by Biblical scholars as a whale or crocodile. Hobbes's title, Leviathan, refers to sovereign power in his treatise on political philosophy, published in 1651. The word can be used to describe anything immense or powerful, but especially a whale.

Listening . . . from the upper rooms of the empty house only gigantic chaos streaked with lightning could have been heard tumbling and tossing, as the winds

VIRGINIA WOOLF To the Lighthouse, 1927

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Abraham Abraham, was a biblical leader, considered to be the father of the Hebrews. All Jews claim descent from him.

Wendell went on carefully, considerately, 'Let me propose this. Has she ever smoked pot?' 'Not with me around. I'm an old-fashioned father figure. Two parts Abraham to one part Fagin.'

JOHN UPDIKE Bech: A Book, 1970

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (849-99) w a s king of Wessex, succeeding his brother in 871. He defeated the Danes and protected south-west England from Viking attacks. He negotiated a treaty with the Danes partitioning England, reformed the law, and promoted education and the arts.

It is told of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary—the Alfred the Great of his time and people—that he once heard (once only) that some (only some, my lad?) of his peasants were over-worked and under-fed.

WILLIAM MORRIS News from Nowhere and Other Writings, 1886

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was born in Ajaccio, Corsica and commissioned in the French army in 1785, where he quickly rose in seniority, being made commander of the army of Italy in 1796. He became involved in a coup d'état against the Directorate, the French political regime, and in the new regime became first consul of the three ruling consuls, later being elected first consul for life, and finally assuming the title of emperor in 1804. He conquered and ruled much of Europe until his final defeat at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon can be alluded to as someone who wields great power.

With his expertise, energy and international contacts, he could really put Rummidge on the map, and that would be kind of fun. Morris began to project a Napoleonic future for himself at Rummidge.

DAVID LODGE Changing Places, 1975

Gaétan has very thickly fringed eyes with light-grey irises; into which, because of his height, one looks down. I always find being taller than him disconcerting. He knows it and uses it for his greater success, for he imposes himself, Napoleonically, on his surroundings.

ELIZABETH IRONSIDE Death in the Garden, 1995

Another, Orlando Figes, has accused him of being a man of 'Bonapartist ambitions!

The Independent, 1997

Boudicca Boudicca or Boadicea (d. AD 62) was queen of the Iceni tribe of Britons living in East Anglia. After her husband, Prasutagus, died in AD 60, the Romans broke the treaty he had made, annexing Iceni land. Boudicca led a revolt against the Romans, succeeding in sacking Colchester (Camulodonum) and London (Londinium), and razing St Albans (Verulamium) to the ground. The Iceni were defeated by the Roman governor of Britain, Suetonius Paulinus, and two legions. An enduring popular image of Boudicca is that of her standing, in armour, driving a chariot.

'I told that last woman I'd have her if I saw anything in the papers,' he said. 'Sue her for libel! 'Which last woman?' 'That one came down from London. Boadicea type, waving banners and papers at me!

SUSAN MOODY Grand Slam, 1994

Caesar Caesar was the title given to Roman emperors from Augustus (63 BC-AD 14) to Hadrian (AD 76-138). The title is usually taken to refer to Julius

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Caesar (100-44 BC), who established the First Triumvirate in ancient Rome with Pompey and Crassus and became consul in 59. He commanded large parts of Gaul, extending Roman rule to the west, and invaded Britain in 55-54. Against Roman law, he brought his army back to Rome (49-48), successfully fought Pompey and the Senate, and was made dictator of the Roman Empire.

I remember that my head was full of a text from the Psalms about not putting one's trust in horses. I prayed that this one horse might be an exception, for he carried more than Caesar and his fortunes.

JOHN BUCHAN Prester John, 1910

He surveyed their business, unsmiling, like a stout imperious Caesar, p. D. JAMES Devices and Desires, 1989

'I thought your piece on corruption in the health service was first class,' said the figure at the bar. 'Praise from Caesar,' smiled the younger man beside him.

KEN MCCLURE Requiem, 1992

Charlemagne Charlemagne (742-814) was the king of the Franks 768-814. He defeated and Christianized the Lombards, Saxons, and Avars and created the Holy Roman Empire, which he ruled from 800 to 814. As well as encouraging commerce and agriculture, he also promoted the arts and education.

'And wherever ye go and show that button, the friends of Alan Breck will come around you.' He said this as if he had been Charlemagne and commanded armies.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Kidnapped, 1886

Cleopatra Cleopatra (69-30 BC) was the queen of Egypt 47-30 BC. She had a love affair with Julius Caesar, with whom she had a son. She followed him to Rome when he returned from Egypt in 46 BC, but left Rome after Caesar was assassinated. Cleopatra then had a love affair with Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), by whom she had three children. Rome declared war on Cleopatra and she and Mark Antony were defeated at the Battle of Actium. They both committed suicide. Cleopatra's relationship with Caesar is the subject of George Bernard Shaw's play Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) and her affair with Mark Antony is the subject of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1623).

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was a prominent leader in the opposition forces to Charles I in the English Civil War, becoming commander of the New Model Army under Thomas Fairfax. After the war he became in 1653, as lord protector, the ruler of Scotland, Ireland, and England and Wales.

A number of varied fellow-creatures, some happy, many serene, a few depressed, one here and there bright even to genius, some stupid, others wanton, others austere; some mutely Miltonic, some potentially Cromwellian.

THOMAS HARDY less of the D'UrbervMes, 1891

Where are the patriots in your following? They are all red Kaffirs crying for blood and plunder. Supposing you were Oliver Cromwell you could make nothing out of such a crew.

JOHN BUCHAN Prester John, 1910

Fagin Fagin is the leader of a gang of child thieves in Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist (1838). He is usually mentioned in the context of someone who