Warlock: Difference between revisions
Bongwarrior (talk | contribs) |
m Undid revision 419250060 by Bongwarrior (talk) |
||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
Warlocks appear in a number of fantasy and science fiction novels, movies and games. They may be portrayed as humans who have attained magical or mystical powers, often evil, such as in the fantasy television series ''[[Charmed]]'', in which warlocks are the evil counterparts to good witches and can be either male or female. Elsewhere, the distinction between "warlock" and "witch" may be purely one of sex, such as in the television series ''[[Bewitched]]'' and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Alternatively, warlocks may be portrayed as a separate species or alien race, such as in the comic book series ''[[Nemesis the Warlock]]''. Occasionally the term is used to refer to technological wizardry rather than magic, such as in [[Christopher Stasheff]]'s ''Warlock of Gramarye'' series of novels. In the popular online game ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', a Warlock is a playable class that uses Shadow (Dark) and fire magic offensively along with summoning demons as minions and draining life from enemies; in ''World of Warcraft'', warlock is not gender specific, meaning players can play as male and female warlocks. The 3.5th edition of popular role playing game ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' introduced a Warlock character class as well in the ''[[Complete Arcane]]'', which gains its magic through a pact with a powerful and otherworldly being such as a devil, demon, or faerie, instead of the game's more traditional methods of faith, study, or innate power. |
Warlocks appear in a number of fantasy and science fiction novels, movies and games. They may be portrayed as humans who have attained magical or mystical powers, often evil, such as in the fantasy television series ''[[Charmed]]'', in which warlocks are the evil counterparts to good witches and can be either male or female. Elsewhere, the distinction between "warlock" and "witch" may be purely one of sex, such as in the television series ''[[Bewitched]]'' and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Alternatively, warlocks may be portrayed as a separate species or alien race, such as in the comic book series ''[[Nemesis the Warlock]]''. Occasionally the term is used to refer to technological wizardry rather than magic, such as in [[Christopher Stasheff]]'s ''Warlock of Gramarye'' series of novels. In the popular online game ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', a Warlock is a playable class that uses Shadow (Dark) and fire magic offensively along with summoning demons as minions and draining life from enemies; in ''World of Warcraft'', warlock is not gender specific, meaning players can play as male and female warlocks. The 3.5th edition of popular role playing game ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' introduced a Warlock character class as well in the ''[[Complete Arcane]]'', which gains its magic through a pact with a powerful and otherworldly being such as a devil, demon, or faerie, instead of the game's more traditional methods of faith, study, or innate power. |
||
==Notable Warlocks== |
|||
[[Charlie Sheen]]<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelley-harrell/celebrity-gods-and-that-b_b_830274.html] ''Celebrity Gods and That Blinding Warlock Sheen Huffington Post, March 8 2011</ref> |
|||
== See also == |
== See also == |
||
Revision as of 05:26, 17 March 2011
Warlocks are, among historic Christian traditions, said to be the male equivalent of witches. Likewise, in traditional Scottish witchcraft warlock was and is simply the term used for a male witch.[1]
Etymology
The commonly accepted etymology derives warlock from the Old English wǣrloga meaning "oathbreaker" or "deceiver."[2] A derivation from the Old Norse varð-lokkur, "caller of spirits," has also been suggested;[3][4] however, the Oxford English Dictionary considers this etymology inadmissible.[5]
The Oxford English Dictionary also provides the following meanings of the word: Warlock v1 Obs. (ex. dial.) rare, also warloke: To secure (a horse) as with a fetterlock. Warlock v2: To bar against hostile invasion.[6]
In popular culture
Warlocks appear in a number of fantasy and science fiction novels, movies and games. They may be portrayed as humans who have attained magical or mystical powers, often evil, such as in the fantasy television series Charmed, in which warlocks are the evil counterparts to good witches and can be either male or female. Elsewhere, the distinction between "warlock" and "witch" may be purely one of sex, such as in the television series Bewitched and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Alternatively, warlocks may be portrayed as a separate species or alien race, such as in the comic book series Nemesis the Warlock. Occasionally the term is used to refer to technological wizardry rather than magic, such as in Christopher Stasheff's Warlock of Gramarye series of novels. In the popular online game World of Warcraft, a Warlock is a playable class that uses Shadow (Dark) and fire magic offensively along with summoning demons as minions and draining life from enemies; in World of Warcraft, warlock is not gender specific, meaning players can play as male and female warlocks. The 3.5th edition of popular role playing game Dungeons and Dragons introduced a Warlock character class as well in the Complete Arcane, which gains its magic through a pact with a powerful and otherworldly being such as a devil, demon, or faerie, instead of the game's more traditional methods of faith, study, or innate power.
Notable Warlocks
See also
References
- ^ McNeill, F. Marian,the leader of the warlocks Casey :) The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland, Glasgow: William Maclellan,1957, vol 1; also Chambers, Robert, Domestic Annals of Scotland, Edinburgh: 1861, and Sinclair, George, Satan's Invisible World Discovered, Edinburgh, 1871
- ^ Old English wǽr-loʒa weak masculine (="traitor, enemy, devil, etc.") = Old Saxon wâr-logo weak masculine (=? "deceiver") (once, Hêliand 3817, in plural wârlogon applied to the Pharisees). The first element is probably Old English wǽr strong feminine (="covenant") = Old High German wâra (="truth"), Old Norse várar strong feminine plural ("solemn promise, vow") (cf. Vǽringi = "confederate, Varangian"); cf. Old Slavic. věra ("faith). This is a derivative from the adjective represented by Old English wǽr ("true") (once, Genesis 681; ? a. Old Saxon.) = Old Saxon, Old High German wâr ("true"): - Old Teutonic
- wǣro-: - Pre-Teutonic
- wāro- = Latin vērus. The second element (an agent-n. related to Old English léoʒan ("to lie belie, deny") occurs also in the similar comps. áþ-loʒa, tréow-loʒa (Old Saxon treulogo), wed-loʒa (Middle English wedlowe), ("an oath-breaker"), etc. - Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)
- ^ "Warlock" (TXT). Ladyoftheearth.com. Retrieved 2006-04-30.
- ^ BBC.co.uk, BBC h2g2 gives further reasons for believing warlock derives from vard-lokkur ("caller of spirits")
- ^ "ON. varðlokkur wk. fem. pl. ... incantation, suggested already in Johnson, is too rare (? occurring once), with regard to the late appearance of the -k forms, to be considered." — Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)
- ^ The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary", volume II, Oxford University Press, p.3688
- ^ [1] Celebrity Gods and That Blinding Warlock Sheen Huffington Post, March 8 2011
External links
