More than one of these 7 encyclopedias carries each of the following subjects — but every one of them treats it in a sentence or two and then moves on. They are gathered here so the different accounts can sit side by side.
Asgard
Aiton's Encyclopedia: as'gard, in Scandinavian mythology, the city of gods and heroes. It was situated in the center of the universe. Asgard could be reached only by crossing the bridge, Bifrost, the rainbow. See Mythology ; Odin ; Baldur ; Valhalla 2026 Editor's Note: Asgard vaulted back into pop culture through Marvel's Thor films, which reimagine the shining city of the Norse gods and its rainbow bridge Bifrost for a global audience — one thread of a broad modern revival of Norse mythology that also runs through Wagner's operas and Tolkien's Middle-earth. (Ed: BR 2026-07-14)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the Heaven of Scandinavian mythology.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Ash Wednesday
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the first day of Lent. It is so called from a custom in the Roman church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents on that day. This ceremony is said to have been instituted by Gregory the Great. The rite, as performed at the present day, is somewhat different. The ashes are now consecrated on the altar, sprinkled with holy water, signed with the cross, and scattered over the heads of the worshipers, while the priest repeats, in Latin, the words: "Remember that thou art dust, and wilt to dust return." 2026 Editor's Note: Ash Wednesday is still marked by millions with a smudged cross of ashes on the forehead — many churches now offer 'ashes to go' at train stations. The revelry of Mardi Gras and Carnival is simply the blowout before this fast begins, and T. S. Eliot titled one of his major religious poems for the day. (Ed: BR 2026-06-09)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the first day of Lent, so called from a custom in the Western Church of sprinkling ashes that day on the heads of penitents, then admitted to penance. The period at which the fast of Ash Wednesday was instituted is uncertain.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Ashtoreth
Collier's New Encyclopedia: ASTA- ROTH or ASTARTE, a goddess worshipped by the Jews in times when idolatry prevailed; the principal female divinity of the Phœnicians, as Baal was the principal male divinity. Ashtoreth is the Astarte of the Greeks and Romans, and is identified by ancient writers with the goddess Venus (Aphrodite). She is probably the same as the Isis of the Egyptians, and clos closely connected with the Asherah of Scripture; Ashtoreth being, according to Berthau, the name of the goddess, and Asherah the name of her image or symbol. In Scripture, she is almost always joined with Baal, and is called god, Scripture having no particular word for expressing goddess. She was the goddess of the moon; her temples generally accompanied those of the sun; while bloody sacrifices or human victims were offered to Baal, bread, liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarte.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: ash'to-reth, or Astarte, as-tar'te, the chief goddess of the Canaanites, the female counterpart of Baal. She has been identified with Ishtar of the Assyro-Babylonians, and variously with Urania, Selene, and Artemis of the Greeks. She is also called Coelestis and Derceto. In late times her worship extended to Egypt. Baal and Ashtoreth held the first place in the Phoenician pantheon. As Baal was the sun god, so Ashtoreth was the moon goddess. In her temple at Tyre her symbol was a star. See Baal
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Aspen
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a tree, the populus tremula or trembling poplar. The tremulous movement of the leaves which exists in all the poplars, but culminates in the aspen, mainly arises from the length and slender character of the petiole or leafstalk, and from its being much and laterally compressed.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Poplar
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Assiniboin
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the name of a tribe of Sioux Indians. There are now about 3,000 of them, nearly equally divided between northern Montana and adjacent parts of Canada. The river bearing their name flows eastward through Manitoba into the Red River about forty miles above Lake Winnipeg. The Assiniboin is about equal to the Rhone in length and is navigable for flat bottomed steamers for a distance of 300 miles above its mouth. It is well known in the annals of the fur trade. Its extensive, fertile plains were once occupied by herds of buffalo, from which the Indians obtained their chief supply of food, tents, and clothing. See Alberta ; Saskatchewan Only, at times, a smoke-wreath With the drifting cloud-rack joins,-- The smoke of the hunting-lodges Of the wild Assiniboins. --Whittier, The Red River Voyageur.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a tribe of North American Indians, living principally in the N. W. part of the Dominion of Canada.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Athenaeum
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the temple of Athena, or Minerva, at Athens, and elsewhere. As Athena was the patroness of learning and wisdom, Athena's temple was the resort of the poets, learned men, and wits of Athens, who there exchanged views and read their books aloud. In this way the literary people of Athens formed a sort of club. A school of rhetoric, with a regular staff of professors, established in Rome by the Emperor Hadrian, was known as the Athenaeum. A score of professors offered systematic study in oratory, rhetoric, philosophy, and jurisprudence. In modern times the name has become popular for libraries, learned associations, and literary journals. 2026 Editor's Note: The name became a byword for highbrow culture: dozens of libraries, clubs and journals bear it, from the Boston Athenæum to the Athenaeum Club of London, long the haunt of bishops, scientists and writers. It signals, as it did in Athens, a gathering place of the learned. (Ed: BR 2026-07-18)
1000 Classical Characters: In general a temple or place sacred to Athena (Minerva). The name was specially given to a school founded by the emperor Hadrian at Rome about A. D. 133, for the promotion of literary and scientific studies.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and 1000 Classical Characters
Atmosphere
Collier's New Encyclopedia: literally, the air surrounding our planet, and which, as the etymology implies, is, speaking broadly, a "sphere" (not, of course, a solid, but a hollow one). With strict accuracy, it is a hollow spheroid. Its exact height is unknown. At 2.7 miles above the surface of the earth, half its density is gone, and the remainder is again halved for every further rise of 2.7 miles. Some small density would remain at 45 miles high. At 80 miles, this would have all but disappeared. But from sundry observations, made at Rio Janeiro and elsewhere, on the twilight arc, M. Liais infers that the extreme limit of the atmosphere is between 198 and 212 miles. In the lower strata of the atmosphere, the temperature falls at least ast a degree for every 352 feet of ascent; hence, even in the tropics, mountains of any considerable elevation are snow-capped. The atmosphere appears to us blue, because, absorbing the red and yellow solar rays, it reflects the blue one. There appears to be no atmosphere around the moon; but the case seems different with the sun, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Figuratively, any pervading intellectual, moral, religious, or other influence by which one is surrounded; as in the expression, "He lives in an atmosphere of suspicion."
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Air
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia