Katherine

Katherine and its variations is a feminine name. It is popular in Christian countries, as it was the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.

Origin and meaning

The name originated from the Greek Αἰκατερίνα or Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterina, Aikaterinē), which is of unknown etymology. The earliest known use of the Greek name is in reference to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The theory that the name comes from Hecate, the name of the Greek goddess of magic, is regarded by the editors of the Oxford Dictionary of First Names as unconvincing, however this appears as merely an opinion of the editors and their text admits the etymology is unknown.

The name subsequently came to be associated with the Greek adjective καθαρός (katharos), meaning "pure", leading to the alternative spellings Katharine and Katherine. The former spelling, with a middle a, was more common in the past and is currently more popular in the United States than in Britain. Katherine, with a middle e, was first recorded in England in 1196 after being brought back from the Crusades.

The Vampire Diaries (novel series)

The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels created by L. J. Smith. The story centers on Elena Gilbert, a young high school girl who finds her heart eventually torn between two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore.

Publishing history

The series was originally published in 1991-1992 and it revolves around Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert as the two main protagonists. The first three novels in the original series (The Awakening, The Struggle, and The Fury) all feature Stefan and Elena as the narrators of the series, while the last book in the original series, Dark Reunion, is from Bonnie McCullough's viewpoint.

After taking a long hiatus from writing, Smith published the first installment of "The Return" trilogy, Nightfall, on February 10, 2009. Shadow Souls, the second book of "The Return" trilogy, was released on March 16, 2010. The third and final book of "The Return" trilogy, Midnight, was released on March 15, 2011.

The trilogy after The Return trilogy, The Hunters, was written by a ghostwriter. In fact, Smith signed a "work for hire" contract back when she had written the original Vampire Diaries novel trilogy, which means Alloy owns the copyrights to the series. Smith had originally intended to call the books in "The Hunters" trilogy Phantom, Evensong and Eternity, but the third book was called Destiny Rising by the ghostwriter.Phantom was released on October 25, 2011,Moonsong on March 13, 2012, and Destiny Rising on October 23, 2012.

Katherine (Seton novel)

Katherine is a 1954 historical novel by American author Anya Seton. It tells the story of the historically important, 14th-century love affair in England between the eponymous Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of King Edward III.

In 2003, Katherine was ranked 95 in the BBC's Big Read survey of Britain's best-loved novels. It is commonly regarded as a prime example of historical fiction, and has been continuously in print since its publication date.

Plot summary

Katherine tells the true story of Katherine de Roet, born the daughter of a minor Flemish herald, later knight. Katherine has no obvious prospects, except that her sister is a waiting-woman to Queen Philippa, wife of King Edward III, and the fiancée of Geoffrey Chaucer, then a minor court official. By virtue of this connection, Katherine meets and marries Sir Hugh Swynford of Lincolnshire and gives birth to a daughter, Blanchette, and a son, Thomas.

Minor characters in Monarch of the Glen

The following is a list of minor fictional characters in the Scottish BBC drama TV series Monarch of the Glen.

Lancelot Fleming - Simon Slater

Lancelot Fleming comes to Glenbogle on behalf of Lascelles Bank to close the Glenbogle Estate down after their huge debts. But Laird Archie MacDonald has different ideas, he gets housekeeper Lexie McTavish to use her looks and charm to convert Fleming's feelings about Glenbogle. Although Duncan McKay attempted to kill and drown Fleming, Lexie's flirting skills made Fleming give Archie more time to repay the banks debts. He returned later on in the series, and along with Duncan he was devastated to find that Archie shared a bed with Lexie in a train on the way back to Glenbogle from London. They all made up and in the next series Fleming and his fellow bank managers came to Glenbogle and went through a test of physicality. Fleming kissed Lexie and planned to leave his job as a bank manager to pursue his dream of professional piano playing., But,as Mary, one of the competitors, revealed her identity as new division manager, Fleming was offered a promotion as her second in the division of Domestic Banking at Lascelles.

Badger (band)

Badger was a British rock band from the early 1970s.

One Live Badger

The band was co-founded by keyboardist Tony Kaye after he left Yes, with David Foster. Foster had been in The Warriors with Jon Anderson before Anderson co-founded Yes. Foster later worked with the band on Time and a Word. Kaye had worked on a solo project by Foster that was never released.

The pair found drummer Roy Dyke, formerly of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, and Dyke suggested Brian Parrish formerly of Parrish & Gurvitz which later became Frampton's Camel (after Parrish left P&G) on guitar. The new band began rehearsing in September 1972 and signed to Atlantic Records.

Badger's first release was the live album, One Live Badger, co-produced by Jon Anderson and Geoffrey Haslam, and was taken from a show opening for Yes at London's Rainbow Theatre. In the progressive rock genre, five of the songs were co-written by the whole band, with a sixth by Parrish (initially written for Parrish & Gurvitz). The cover art was done by Roger Dean, the artist responsible for many of Yes's album covers, although Kaye left Yes before their partnership with Roger Dean.

Badger (comics)

The Badger is a fictional character, a superhero in American comic books publisher by the short-lived Capital Comics company and then First Comics. He was created by writer Mike Baron in 1983 and published through the early 1990s in a titular series that ended when First Comics also ceased all publications. Since the ongoing series ended in 1991, new Badger titles have been released through Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics and IDW Publishing.

Publication history

The first four issues of Badger were published by Capital Comics (under the name The Badger), beginning in 1983. Capital ceased publishing in 1984, and in 1985 Baron took his creation to First Comics to then be illustrated by artist Bill Reinhold. First reprinted the first four issues, and then published monthly issues of Badger, including the Hexbreaker graphic novel in 1988. A spin-off 4-issue miniseries ran concurrently with the regular series in 1989, called Badger Goes Berserk, which explored Norbert's childhood and his abuse at the hands of his stepfather and stepbrother, now white supremacists who he encountered again in the mini-series. Badger sometimes guest-starred in Mike Baron's other series, the space opera Nexus, which took place in the future. Badger would imagine these episodes to be psychotic hallucinations, which he took in stride as being no more bizarre than the rest of his life. In 1991, First Comics published Badger Bedlam, a one-shot "First Publishing Deluxe-Format Special" by Baron, Butler, and Ken Branch, but then went bankrupt and the series ended with #70. Badger also featured in First's 5-issue Crossroads series.