Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/583

* FENNEL. 53J FENTON. growth, much cultivated in the south of Europe. The enlarged bases of its leafstalks, after being bleached I i K< levy, are boiled and served with drawn butter like cauliflower. The fruit (seed) is longer and paler than that of common fennel, has » more agreeable odor and llaor, is I he favorite aromatic condiment of the Italians, and fennel {Fceniculum officinale). is used in medicine. Oil of fennel, an aromatic, stimulant, and carminative essential oil, is also made from it. Cape fennel ( Faeniculum capensi or Varum capense), found in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, has a thick, aromatic esculent root. The Panmuhoree of India (Fcenicuki/m Panmorium I is a species of fennel much culti- vated in its native country for its sweet, warm, and aromatic fruit, which is much used as a car- minative, and in curries. The 'giant fennel' of the south of Europe is a plant of a different genus (Ferula), and abounds in a foetid juice. It is, indeed, closely allied to asafoetida. The species mentioned above, except Foeniculum ca- pense, have recently been combined under the name Foeniculum vulgare. FENNEL-FLOWER. See Niceixa. FEN'NELL, James (1766-1810). An English actor and writer, who came to America in 1793. He was born in London, and was educated at Eton and Cambridge, but his extravagant habits ended his university career, and he undertook to support himself upon the stage. His first ap- pearance was in Edinburgh, in 1787, as Othello, which remained a favorite role. His success as an actor, at Covent Garden, London, and else- where, was marred, however, by his financial difficulties. At Richmond be produced his comedy Lindor and Clara (published in 1791). The same year he visited Paris and published later Proceedings at Paris During the Last Sum- mer (London. 1792). About (his time he mar- ried, and the following year an invitation to play in Philadelphia brought him to the United State-. He acted for some time in the principal Ameri- can cities, but his unstable impulses led him into various occupations, including teaching in i ha rlestown, i he establishment of a ill bn ii in New London, Conn., and the effort to found a school in Philadelphia. His last - were largely a struggle with poverty. His 8nal pearance on the stage as King Leai in Phila- delphia, the yeai before he died, was a pitiful failure. Consult in- Apology foi thi Lift Jaiiii s r< in,, II i Philadelphia, L81 I). FEN'RIB. In Norse mythology, the offspring of Loki (the evil genius) and Angurboda (an- guish-boding), a giai i Jotunheim. Loki bad a legitimate wife, Sigyn; but by Angurboda he became the father of three monsters: (1) the wolf Fenrir: (2) the Midgard Serpent; (3) the Goddess oi Death, whose name i Bel. Fenrir was bred among the gods, but only Tyi had the courage to give him food. Whin thi gods saw bow much he increased daily, and remembered that the predictions were that he was destined to be their destruction, they endeavored to chain him. But he easily broke the first two chains. Then they made a third. It was composed of the sound of a cat's footsteps, a man's heard, the roots of a mountain, a fish's breath, and a bird's spittle. Fenrir suspected some trick in this, and he said: "If ye bind me so fast that I cannot free myself again, 1 am well convinced that I shall wait long to be released by you. I am, therefore, not at all desirous to let the cord be fastened upon me. But rather than that ye shall accuse me of want of courage, let one of you place his hand in my mouth as a pledge that there be no guile in the case." The gods hesitated, but finally Tyr put his hand in the wolf's mouth, and the wolf in his vain struggles to break the chain bit off the hand. Fenrir could not break the magic chain, and became a captive to the gods until Ragnarok — the end of time — comes. Fenrir will then break loose, his upper jaw will touch heaven, his nether jaw the earth: fire will blaze from his eves and nostrils. In the tremendous tumult which precedes the general dissolution. the wolf will swallow Odin (father of gods), and so cause his death. But at the moment will come Vidar, the silent god, who wears a wonderful -1 made from shoe-parings since time began. With that shoe he will hold down Fenrir's lower jaw. and with his hands tear off the upper jaw, and thus will the monster wolf be slain. See Scandinavian and Teutonic Mythology. i FEN'TON. A town of Staffordshire, England, almost adjoining Stoke-upon-Trent on the south- east, on the North Staffordshire Railway (Map: England. I) 4 ) . It lias manufactures of porce lain and machinery. Population, in 1891, 16,998; in 1901, 22,742. FENTON. In Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, a suitor for the hand and fortune of Anne Page, who elopes with him. FENTON, Ei.i.tah M683-1730). An English poet, born at Shelton, Staffordshire. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, and became secre- tary to the Earl of Orrery in Flanders. Subse- quently he was head-master of the grammar school at Sevenoaks (Kent), instructor in litera- ture to Craggs, the Secretary of State, and tutor to a certain young Trumbull of Easthampstead (Berkshire). With Broome he assisted Pope in the latter's translation of the Odyssey, executing the first, fourth, nineteenth, and twentieth books