ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. It tells the story of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, and of the revenge of his wife Kriemhild, which leads to the death of all the heroes of the Bugundians and of Kriemhild as well. The saga of Siegfried was also used in the opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" of Richard Wagner. Nibelung in this context means "dwarf". The Nibelungenlied is based on earlier works. It was part of oral tradition, meaning it usually was not written down. During the Middle Ages people started to write down stories more and more. Overall there are about 35 German sources and one Dutch source for the story. There was an original manuscript but it has been lost. The three oldest manuscripts have been labelled "A", "B", and "C".  "B" seems to be closest to the original; however, the real relation between the three manuscripts is unknown. The Nibelungenlied probably had a broad oral tradition, as there were many different versions. It is difficult to judge how these oral versions influenced the written ones. Manuscripts A and B end with "daz ist der Nibelunge not" (that is the fall of the "Nibelungs"); for this reasons, they are known as the "Not versions". Manuscript C ends with "daz ist der Nibelunge liet" (). It is known as the "Lied-version". In total, the C text has been edited with regard to the public of the time. It is less dramatic. This probably made it more popular. Aesthetically, the B text would have been the greatest artistic achievement for a contemporary public. Who wrote it? The author who wrote down the original that is now lost is unknown. However, there are a few candidates: Serious researchers tend to ignore the last three options, because there is not enough evidence to support them. The well-known introduction. This was probably not in the original though, but added later. The original probably began by introducing Kriemhild: Other websites. English translations:
A dwarf is a humanlike creature from Norse and Germanic mythologies. They have been used in many fairy tales, fantasy, fiction and role-playing games. Pop culture depicts the Dwarves as being short, however original mythology does not, and they were described interchangeably with elves in some stories.  In some stories, dwarfs are mean, living under bridges, and having a bad reputation for stealing treasure. One example is the Norwegian Troll. It is an ugly and foolish creature who tells lies. It causes problems everywhere it goes. That is how the Internet troll got its name. In Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Edward Hyde is described as "a dwarf." On the other hand, J. R. R. Tolkien's hobbits and the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz are likeable, honest, good and smart.
The Vanir are one of the two tribes of deities in Norse mythology, the other being the Æsir. Native to Vanaheimr, the Vanir are peace-loving gods, associated with nature and fertility, while the Æsir were chaotic and warlike. Members of the Vanir include: A number of them live in Asgard alongside the Æsir as a token of goodwill following the war between the two tribes, which resulted in them uniting into a single pantheon. The goddess Freyja receives half of those slain in battle as a share of power between the two clans.
Mole is the SI unit used to measure how many molecules or atoms there are. One mole is around 600 sextillion molecules. Scientists use this number because 1 gram of hydrogen is around 1 mole of atoms. The exact value of one mole is . This number comes from experiments with carbon because it's easy to work with.  is also called Avogadro's number, which was named after the person who invented it. Anything can be measured in moles, but it is not practical for most tasks because the value is so massive. For example, one mole of grapefruits would be as big as the earth.  Because different molecules and atoms do not have the same mass, one mole of one thing does not weigh the same as one mole of something else. Atoms and molecule mass is measured in amu. One amu is equal to one gram per mole. This means that if an atom has a mass of one amu, one mole of this atom weighs one gram. Mathematics with the mole. Moles = mass (g) / Relative mass (grams per mole) Example: How many moles are there in 20 grams of hydrogen? A value of 1 can be used for hydrogen's relative mass, although the correct value is slightly larger. So: moles = mass/relative mass = 20/1 = 20 moles. Moles = concentration (mol/dm3) x volume (dm3) Example: How many moles are there in 100cm3 of 0.1M H2SO4? 1 dm3 is the same as 1000 cm3, so the value in cubic centimetres needs to be divided by 1000. 100/1000 x 0.1 = 0.01 moles. A methane molecule is made from one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Carbon has a mass of 12.011 u and hydrogen has a mass of 1.008 u. This means that the mass of one methane molecule is 12.011 u + (4 × 1.008u), or 16.043 u. This means that one mole of methane has a mass of
Plesiosaurus was a large marine reptile from the Early to Late Jurassic period. It is one of the most famous plesiosaurs of all time.  The first specimen discovered by Mary Anning in 1820-21 was missing its skull. She found it on the Jurassic coast of Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. In 1823 she found another one, this time complete with its skull. The name "Plesiosaurus" was given by the Rev. William Conybeare. "Plesiosaurus" was a predator, living mostly on fish and belemnites. It would swim through schools of fish and use its long neck and sharp teeth to snap them up. "Plesiosaurus" was a fairly typical member of its order, and measured around 3 to 5 metres (10 to 16 ft) in total length. The snout was short, but the jaws were able to open very wide, and had a series of conical teeth in sockets. The neck was quite long, and the short tail was used for steering. Like all plesiosaurs, it used its large paddles to swim. Only two species are known, and the genus existed for about 25 million years from the beginning of the Jurassic period. Scientists have wondered whether ancient reptiles like pleisiosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. Scientists from the University of Plymouth studied many animals of different sizes from insects to whales that dive and hold their breath. They found that larger animals can hold their breath longer than smaller animals because they can store more oxygen. They also found this difference was much bigger for warm-blooded animals than for cold-blooded animals. They said this could be why whales became so large. They think since plesiosaurs were also large, like whales, they were more likely to be warm-blooded than cold-blooded. Scientists also looked at the phosphate molecules inside plesiosaurs' teeth and saw the oxygen isotopes that suggested they had been warm-blooded.
is a Japanese manga and anime series and franchise about the character Doraemon. It was written and illustrated by Fujiko Fujio. It was started in a children’s magazine in 1969. Doraemon is the name of a robot cat without ears that came from the future to help a boy named Nobita Nobi. Doraemon is about the life of Nobita Nobi. In a typical story Doramon uses a gadget to solve a problem for Nobita, but Nobita goes too far and ends up being punished and learning a lesson. Doraemon was turned into an anime television show in 1973. It still is being shown on television. As of 1996, about 100 million comic books have been sold. A Japanese-to-English version of the original called "Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future" was published from 2002. A local translation is published in each Asian country such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam. It is in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, but it is not as popular as it is in Asia. Doraemon is endorsed by 7-11 in Thailand as a mascot. Characters. Recurring. Several other characters compose the world of Doraemon, and have played all kinds of roles.
Alfred the Great (Old English Ælfræd; c. 849 — 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. He was the first king from the British Isles to call himself the 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' and so he is sometimes said to be the first English king. Alfred started the Royal Navy in the 9th century. Early childhood. Alfred was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburga. She was the daughter of Osburga, Athelwulf's butler. Alfred was born in 849 in the royal village of Wantage then in Berkshire. In the world he grew up in there was constant talk and fear of Viking raiders. For fourteen years they had been raiding but a year after Alfred's birth they stayed all winter. The Viking menace was now settled on the island of Thanet in Kent. When he was about four, Alfred's mother, Osburga, died. At age twelve, Alfred had difficulty finding a qualified teacher to help him learn to read and write. He finally overcame the problem and learned to read and write by using the writings of the church. At some point in his childhood Alfred was made a (a high rank in Anglo-Saxon England styled on the Roman office of consul). The ceremony involved him receiving a red cloak, a jeweled belt and a sword. This ceremony meant he was not destined to join the church, as the younger sons typically were. His life as an adult would be as a nobleman and possibly, if he survived his four older brothers, as king, someday. Before he was seven years old, he had traveled to Rome twice. In 853, Alfred was sent with an escort and met Pope Leo IV. In 855 King Æthelwulf traveled to Rome taking his young son Alfred with him. They stayed in Rome a year and returned through France. There, king Æthelwulf and his son Alfred stayed at the court of Charles the Bald. Æthelwulf became engaged to Charles's eldest daughter, Judith, then about aged twelve. That same
The Oort cloud, Oort's cloud, or Öpik–Oort cloud, is a cloud of comets and other objects. Astronomers believe it is way beyond the orbits of Pluto and the Kuiper belt. The Oort cloud is believed to be the source of long-period comets in the Solar System. The Oort cloud may lie about 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. This means the cloud is nearly a quarter of the way to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun.  The Kuiper belt and scattered disc, the other two reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects, are less than one-thousandth of the Oort cloud's distance. The outer limit of the Oort cloud defines the boundary of the Solar System and the region of the Sun's gravitational dominance. The Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort published the Oort cloud idea in 1950. The Oort cloud was named after him, as were the Oort comet, and Oort constants. Structure. The Oort cloud takes up a lot of space and is thought to have trillions of comets about tens of millions of kilometers apart.  The Oort cloud is made up of an inner Oort cloud and an outer Oort cloud. The outer cloud is weakly bound to the Sun; long-term comets are thought to come from there. The Inner cloud is also called the Hills cloud and maybe the maker of comets. The objects in the Oort cloud are believed to consist of much ice. Since the object 1996 PW was found to be a rocky body in an orbit typical of long-period comets, it is believed that rocky objects might be in the Oort cloud.  Origins. The Oort cloud is thought to be the remains of a protoplanetary disk that surrounded the Sun long ago.
Dynasty means rulers who belong to the same royal family for generations. The term is also used to describe the era during which that family ruled. Famous dynasties were:  "See Early kings of the Lombards."
The Han dynasty came to power in 202 BC. They followed the laws of Confucianism and legalism. This was called 'the Han synthesis'. Under this dynasty, China made progress in arts and science. The empire also became larger and larger. China started trading with a number of other countries. They started the Silk Road. Merchants used the Silk Road to reach China. During this dynasty Buddhism was introduced in China. Today, the dominant ethnic group of China calls themselves the Han Chinese since this was the dynasty where many of the features of Chinese culture found a firm foundation, including Confucianism and Chinese characters. The first emperor of the Han dynasty is Liu Bang, known in Chinese as Emperor Gaozu of Han. The Han dynasty was considered the golden age of early China. The Han dynasty ruled China from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D. The new emperor maintained a legalist ideology just like the Qin dynasty but also had ideas of Confucianism to have a centralized system showing benevolence. After eighty years, Emperor Wu of Han launched a period of military expansion. The Han armies controlled many territories, including Silk Road in Mongolia and Xinjiang. The Silk Road helped make it a political, economic, military, and cultural center, but it was very expensive to manage and further expansion was cut off. Several factors contributed to the fall of the Han dynasty, including uprisings of desperate and hungry people, the spread of attacks by nomadic groups, and official corruption. Literature. Fairbank, John King and Merle Goldman 1992. "China: a new history". 2nd enlarged edition 2006. Cambridge: MA; London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
The Zhou dynasty replaced the Shang dynasty in 1046 BCE. The kings of this dynasty made the empire a lot bigger. For the first time in the history of China, many people began moving to far away places inside the empire. The Zhou rulers moved the capital from Henan to a place near present-day Xi'an, near the Yellow River. The Zhou Dynasty also brought the theory of the Mandate of Heaven. This theory said that the fact that rulers were in charge proved that the gods wanted them to be in charge. Almost all dynasties of Chinese rulers after the Zhou continued to believe this theory. Mature Chinese philosophy developed during the Zhou Dynasty. The greatest Chinese philosophers were Confucius (), founder of Confucianism, and Laozi, founder of Daoism. Other philosophers, theorists, and schools of thought from the Zhou Dynasty were Mozi (Latin: Micius), founder of "Mohism", Mencius (), a famous Confucian who expanded upon Confucius legacy, Shang Yang and Han Feizi, responsible for the development of "ancient Chinese" Legalism (the core philosophy of the Qin Dynasty), and Xunzi.
Frank Anthony "Tony" Iommi (born 19 February 1948, in Birmingham, England) is a British guitarist and songwriter. He is most famous for starting the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He is the only person who has stayed a member of the band since it began in 1968. He lost two finger tips in a work accident, and made two fake finger tips from a plastic bottle. This helped give Black Sabbath their heavy sound. In 2003, Iommi was listed at number 86 in Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" issue. Along with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Iommi is oft considered one of the greatest riff writers of all time. Iommi used several riffs in Black Sabbath's songs. He was born to an Italian immigrant family and has dual Italian British citizenship.  In 2006 Tony Iommi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A rebellion is when people refuse to obey orders and fight against authority. Those who do this are “rebels”. They may be citizens of a country who try to take over the government by force because they do not trust the current system. Some rebels in history were slaves who fought back against their masters or against slavery in general. Leaders of slave rebellions include Spartacus and Nat Turner. The Zhou dynasty in China feared rebellion. Rulers of other Chinese states that were captured live were made to with their families in the Zhou capital, Anyang. However, this way failed to stop rebellion because groups of lords were brought together that could rebel. The Zhou dynasty declined because other lords who were ruling parts of China rebelled. Rebellion is a usual method of secession.
Ruled from the start of the Frankish Kingdom in 486 to 1870. During most of its history, France was ruled by kings. Four Carolingian monarchs were also Roman Emperors and the Bonapartes were Emperors of the French. This article lists all rulers to have held the title "King of Franks", "King of France", "King of the French" or "Emperor of the French". The title "King of the Franks" was in use until the reign of Philip II. During the short time when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791–1792) and after the July Revolution in 1830, the style "King of the French" was used instead of "King of France (and Navarre)". In addition to the Kingdom of France, there were also two French Empires. The First French Empire was from 1804 to 1815. It was founded and ruled by Napoleon I. The Second French Empire was from 1852 to 1870. It was founded and ruled by his nephew Napoleon III Then 3rd 4th and 5th republic formed Merovingian Dynasty (428–751). The name of France comes from the Germanic tribe known as the Franks. The Merovingian kings began as chieftains. The oldest known was Chlodio. Clovis I was the first of these to rise to true kingship. After his death, his kingdom was split between his sons into Soissons (Neustria), Paris, Orléans (Burgundy), and Metz (Austrasia). Several Merovingian monarchs brought back together the Frankish kingdoms and took the title of "King of the Franks". But upon their deaths, according to Frankish custom, the kingdom would often be split once again between their sons. The last Merovingian kings, known as the lazy kings (rois fainéants), did not hold any real political power. The Mayor of the Palace governed instead. When Theuderic IV died in 737, Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel left the throne vacant and continued to rule until
A battle is a fight between two or more groups where each group is trying to defeat (beat) the others. Battles are most often fought during wars. A small battle fought by only a small part of the armies is called a skirmish. Series of battles are called military campaigns. The ground on which a battle is fought is called a battlefield. Battles can very important, for example the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, which was a draw in military terms, and the 1798 Battle of the Nile which the French lost, changed the history of Europe and the world.
Edward IV (28 April 1442 — 9 April 1483) was the King of England from 1461 until he was deposed in 1470, and again from 1471 when he was restored to the throne until his death in 1483. He was a main figure in the Wars of the Roses. The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars in England. They were fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian groups between 1455 and 1487.  Edward became the leader of the House of York when his father, Richard, Duke of York died at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. Edward and his forces beat the Lancastrian armies at Mortimer's Cross and Towton in early 1461. After this, he deposed King Henry VI and became King of England. In 1464, he married Elizabeth Woodville. This led to conflict with his chief advisor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known as the "Kingmaker". Warwick wanted Edward to marry a princess from another country. In 1470, Warwick and Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence led a revolt. They briefly re-installed Henry VI as king.  Edward fled to Flanders. In Flanders, he gathered support. His forces invaded England in March 1471. After winning the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, he became king again. Soon after this, Henry VI was found dead in the Tower of London. Edward ruled in relative peace for the next twelve years. He died suddenly in April 1483. He was succeeded by his son Edward V, but Edward IV's brother Richard III soon took the throne. Popularity. Edward was seen as a strong and popular king. He was also tall at . This was very tall for a man in the 15th century. The only taller monarch was the later Peter I of Russia who was tall.
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles which lived in the Mesozoic era at the same time as the dinosaurs.  Many pterosaurs were fairly small, but in the Upper Cretaceous some grew larger than any other flying animals. The pterosaur "Quetzalcoatlus" had a wing-span of up to 12 metres (~40 feet). The first fossils occur in the Upper Triassic, and the group continued until the K/T extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous (220 to 65.5 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were made from a flap of skin between their bodies and a big fourth finger (sometimes called the "wing finger"). The pterosaurs evolved into two groups. The earlier Rhamphorhynchoids (e.g. "Rhamphorhynchus") had long tails and toothed jaws; The pterodactyloids (e.g. "Pterodactylus") had short tails, and many had beaks with no teeth. The first pterosaur fossil was discovered in the Late Jurassic Solnhofen limestone in Germany in 1784. This was exactly the same place as "Archaeopteryx" was found years later. Georges Cuvier first suggested that pterosaurs were flying creatures in 1801. Since the first pterosaur fossil was found, twenty-nine species of pterosaurs have been found in those deposits alone.  A famous early UK find was an example of "Dimorphodon" by Mary Anning, in 1828 at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. The name Pterosauria was coined in 1834. Pterosaurs were genuine fliers, able to flap or soar. Their bodies were covered with fine hairs, so they were able to regulate their temperature (they were warm-blooded). They are a close sister-group to the dinosaurs, part of the Archosauria. Rhamphorhynchoids. This early group did well from the Upper Triassic to the Lower Cretaceous. When we first see them in the fossil record they have
Quetzalcoatlus was a huge pterosaur, the largest animal ever to fly. It had a 10 to 12 meters wing-span (33/40 feet), but was light in construction (~200 pounds).  "Quetzalcoatlus" had an unusually long neck, and when it stood on the ground it was as tall as a giraffe.  Its fossil record is from the Upper Cretaceous of North America, 70–65.5 million years ago. "Quetzalcoatlus" became extinct at the K/T extinction event.  Its discovery. A college student found the first "Quetzalcoatlus" fossil in Big Bend National Park in Texas. His name was Douglas Lawson, from the University of Texas in Austin. When he was in the park, he saw a bone sticking out of a rock. Since the bone looked hollow, like the bone of a bird, he thought it was part of a flying creature – and he was right. With his professor's help, he kept digging until lots of bones from an arm and wing were found. The rest of the animal's body was missing. Many others have looked for the rest of that huge pterosaur, but it has never been found. Other fossils of "Quetzalcoatlus" have been found, but none are as big as the one Lawson found. Flight. Since "Quetzalcoatlus" was so large, two researchers suggested it was too heavy to fly. This would have been astonishing, because in the whole fossil record there is no flightless pterosaur. It has been thought their mobility on the ground was too poor for them to survive without flight. However, a recent discussion of this idea concluded they probably could fly after all. Another analysis suggested their flight was quite strong. Since we have only a few bones, the question of weight cannot be settled at present. Lifestyle. The feeding habits of "Quetzalcoatlus" (which had a long beak with no teeth) are unknown. This question, and its flight, are still being discussed. The lack of a more detailed skeleton is the main problem in reaching conclusions. Two theories