You asked for it! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Young Lochinvar

Published in 1808 by Scott (1771-1832), it tells the overly romantic tale of the bravest, boldest, fairest of all knights. Scott went on to write romantic novels as well, and his style is now considered a bit over the top, but his words live on and touch the heart:

"O young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none,
He rode all unarm'd, and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
He staid not for brake, and he stopp'd not for stone,
He swam the Eske river where ford there was none;
But ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
The bride had consented, the gallant came late:
For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.

So boldly he enter'd the Netherby Hall,
Among bride's-men, and kinsmen, and brothers and all:
Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,
(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,)
"O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?"

"I long woo'd your daughter, my suit you denied; --
Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide --
And now I am come, with this lost love of mine,
To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."

The bride kiss'd the goblet: the knight took it up,
He quaff'd off the wine, and he threw down the cup.
She look'd down to blush, and she look'd up to sigh,
With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.
He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar, --
"Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.

So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
That never a hall such a gailiard did grace;
While her mother did fret, and her father did fume
And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
And the bride-maidens whisper'd, "'twere better by far
To have match'd our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."

One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
When they reach'd the hall-door, and the charger stood near;
So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,
So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
"She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur;
They'll have fleet steeds that follow," quoth young Lochinvar.

There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan;
Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran:
There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.
So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,
Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?"

Well, have you?

Answer: Yahoos

The Houyhnhnms represent all the best virtues of humankind. The Yahoos are the lowest of the low: filthy, degenerate, exhibiting every reprehensible aspect. They remind Gulliver of mankind at its worst. From the book, a satirical masterpiece, Swift makes his obvious comments on the virtues and vices of the creatures of the earth through this 'journal' of the travels. Though it makes some good points, it is a puritanical view of society with a conspicuous absence of 'grey areas'.

Answer: Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Having brought on himself too close an inspection by the Soviet government, Yevtushenko went on to other subjects and work, becoming a novelist, poet, essayist, actor, dramatist, screenwriter and director. His style is rather matter-of-fact and not romantic. His poems read more like idle musings, but his popularity is high and his audiences enthusiastic. His five sons all bear the patronymic Yevgenyevitch, the middle one named Yevgeny Yevgenyevitch Yevtushenko.

Enough Ys for you? Other Ys I'll find more.

Answer: Marguerite Yourcenar

From her original name Marguerite de Crayencour, she devised a last name of Yourcenar. Some of her novels are "Memoirs of Hadrian" (1954) and "Le Coup de Grace" (1939), a novel far ahead of its time. Her most contemporary novel is "A Coin in Nine Hands" (1982) about an assassination attempt on Mussolini, written while she lived in Italy.

She also wrote prose, plays and family memoirs. Marguerite was the first woman elected to the 'Academie Francaise' (1981).

Answer: Young Ireland

This was a dissident faction within the Catholic Association headed by Irish statesman Daniel O'Connell. The original association was against using force to deal with the English government and the members who formed the Young Ireland considered that a fatal weakness for the Irish Free State. After suffering deprivation, drought, fear and degradation for so many years, they broke from the Catholic Association and had as their leaders William Smith O'Brien (1803-1864) and Thomas Meagher (1823-1867). The situation was so dire by 1848 that an open rebellion was planned. Verbal warfare brought them nothing but oppressive recognition and most rebels were arrested before they had escalated to actual violence. Their leaders were sentenced to death and deportation. The remainder of the group scattered.

Many former members later formed the Fenian Societies in the U.S. and Canada. In 1857, the Fenian Brotherhood formed in New York. The movement spread and grew, absorbing the existing Phoenix Society then in Ireland and there was an attempted 'invasion of Canada' by the group. Between 1863 and 1872 there were many national congresses held and the group solidified and strengthened. It was considered a secret society and was a forerunner of the I.R.A. and the Sinn Fein
(a Republican political party). Sinn Fein translates roughly as 'Us ourselves' or 'Our Thing'.

The name 'Fenian' was derived from a legendary (and likely mythological) hero of Ireland, Fionn Mac Cumhah.

Answer: Yama

Yama, according to legend, was the first mortal to die, and after death was made into a god. According to some followers he is the judge of the dead and has the power to punish. Others believe that he merely escorts the dead to their ancestors. He is usually green and wears blood-red clothes; he is depicted astride a buffalo and holding a club and a noose.

Yam is the Canaanite god of the sea and takes the form of a dragon.

"Yemei Ziklag" is an Israeli novel published in 1958. The author was Yizhar Smilansky.

Yarrow is a river in Scotland.

Answer: The Yellow Book

Henry Harland, an American expat, was the editor, and Aubrey Beardsley served for two years as art editor. Among its many contributors were Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and Arnold Bennett. "The Yellow Book" was a forerunner of the 'little magazines' in the early 20th century.

The three incorrect answer are the products of an addled brain.

Answer: Frank Yerby

"The Foxes of Harrow" (1946) was an historical melodrama of the south in antebellum times. "An Odor of Sanctity" (1965) was set in medieval Spain. "Goat Song" (1968) was set in ancient Greece, "Judas, My Brother" (1968) was set at the time of Jesus. Yerby also wrote novels about slavery in the southern U.S.

Sergei Aleksandrovitch was known as Eserin (1895-1925) and was a prolific writer of poems about Russian life in his time. He and others formed the new literary group known as 'Imaginism'. Sometime between 1922 and 1923, Eserin married the dancer Isadora Duncan. The future he imagined for his beloved country after the revolution contributed to his increasing dependency on alcohol and between that and his growing depression, he hanged himself after slitting his wrists and writing a suicide poem in his own blood.

Yokomitsu Riichi (1889-1947) was a Japanese novelist and short story writer.

Al Young (1939-) is an American novelist, editor, poet and screenwriter. He was named Poet Laureate of California in 2005.

Answer: Yoknapatawpha County

Faulklner created a social climate, characters, problems, and histories for the populace of this county, many based on persons he had known and family members.
Faulkner mimicked Joyce's use of stream-of-consciousness writing in "The Sound and the Fury". "As I Lay Dying" is also about the breakup of the old southern aristocratic society and many of his novels continue the theme of the unwilling absorption of old Southern values into modern times and radical change. One of his short stories (which seems rather longer then short) is a horror theme of sorts, "A Rose for Emily", and reflects the emotional metamorphosis of the protagonist.

The three incorrect choices were products of a deranged mind.

Answer: Ymir

Ymir was nourished and grew from the milk of the cow Audhumla. These were four milky streams which flowed from her body. There are differing accounts of his coming into being and of mankind's descent from him. In one version Odin and his brothers, Vil and Ve, slew Ymir and threw his body into an abyss. His blood formed the waters his teeth the rocks, his bones the mountains, his brains the clouds, his skull the heavens, his hair became the plants and his eyebrows the wall of defence against the race of giants. The simpler version is that while Ymir slept a man and woman grew from his left arm and sons from his feet, who became the frost giants.

Yvain (Owain) is a knight in old Celtic legend who was called The Knight of the Lion.

Yggdrasil was the giant ash tree that supported the universe and sprang from the body of Ymir The tree had three roots which led to three places: Asgard, Niflheim and Totunheim. Nearby the tree was the well, Urtharbrun, which nourished the tree and prevented decay. Ratatosk, the squirrel of strife, ran up and down the tree spreading unrest. Four great stags fed on Yggdrasil's foliage and its branches supported an eagle and a hawk.

"Youma" was a novel by Lafcadio Hearn published in 1890.