Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/709

* NORNS. 609 NORRISTOWN. Skuld — i.e. past, present, anil future. They sit by the UrJarwoll under the worhltree Ygjidrasil, and there determine the fate both of pods and men. Every day they draw water from the sprhif;. and with it and the clay that lies around the wells sprinkle the ash-tree Vggdrasil, that its branches may not rot and wither away. Besides these three great norns, there are also many inferior ones, both good and bad; for, ~ays the prose Edda. when a man is born there is a norn to determine his fate; and the same authority tells us that the unequal destinies of men in the world are attributable to the different dispositions of the norns. These lesser norns corresponded to the genii of classic mythology. Women -who possessed the power of prediction or magic also bore this name. NORONA, no-ro'nya, Ga.spar IfARL^ nE Nava Alvarez, Conde de (1760-1815). A Spanish poet niul soldier, born at Castellon de la Plana. He ~( rved with distinction at the siege of Gibraltar and afterwards was made lieutenant-general. He liad meanwhile been Ambassador to Russia. At the time of the French invasion he was Governor of Cadiz. His works include: Madnnin Gonzales, a tragedy; El hombre marcial and El cortejo rnrcdndor. comedies; Poesias (1799) ; and Omini- iiila (1810), an epic poem of 15,000 verses, pro- nounced very dull reading. A selection of his works is found in Bibliotcca de autores espa- iiolcs. vol. Ixiii. (Madrid. 1871). NOR'RIDGEWOCK (properly Nailrantsicak, where the river falls again). A tribe of Algon- (piian stock (q.v. ), the leading member of the Alinaki (q.v.) confederacy. Their principal vil- lage, which bore the tribal name, was on the left bank of the Kennebec River, just below the rapids at Indian Old Point, near the present Nor- ridgewock, iiaine. Their territory embraced the H'hole Kennebec River region nearly to the coast, whence they were frequently called Kennebec In- dians. The French established a mission at Nor- ridgewock in 1688, and in 1095 the .Jesuit Rasle took u]) his residence there, where he remained for the rest of his life, and succeeded in attach- ing the trilje so warmly to the French cause that they came to be regarded as the most dan- gerous enemies of the English colonists. In 1724 an expedition was sent against the settle- ment, which resulted in the destruction of the village and the dispersion of the tribe, Rasle liiniself being shot. A part of the fugitive Nor- ridgewock afterwards returned and rebuilt their village, but on a second attack by the English in 1749 they retired to Canada, mo.st of them joining the other New England refugees at Saint Francis. NOR'RIS, Edwin (1705-1872). An English Orientalist, born in Taunton, Somerset. He was one of the first to decipher the Assyrian cunei- form inscriptions, was intimately associated with Rawlinson at various times, and published three parts of an Assiirinn Dirtionari/ (1868-72). His other works include studies of African dialects, an Ellindfirnphical Librriri/. of which, under his cditorshi]), there appeared two volumes, and The Anrient Cornish Drama (1859), with an essay on Cornish gi'ammar. NORRIS, Frank (1870-1902). An American novelist, born in Chicago, 111. He studied art in Paris from 1887 to 1889. and pursued literary courses at the University of California and at Harvard. Ybcrvillc, a storj- of Spanish life in old California, appeared in 1891. He was corre- spondent in South Africa for the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of the .Jameson Raid, in 1896 and 1897 edited the San Francisco Wave, and in 1898 was a war correspondent in Cuba. ilcTeague (1899), a realistic story, was his first novel to attract attention. Moran of the Lady Eetfi/ (1000) is a story of adventure off the California coast. I'he Octopus, the first novel of a trilogy embodying an "epic of the wheat,' was published in 1901. It concerns the growing of the wheat and arraigns the oppressive methods of railroad monopoly a.s existing in California. The Pit (1903) deals with the battles over the exchange of the wheat. The last part, Tkc Wolf, as planned, was to depict the struggle for the wheat in a famine-stricken community in Europe. At the time of his death he held a position as literarv adviser in a publishing house in New York City. NORRIS, Henry (J-1536). An English cour- tier, son of Sir Edward Norris of Norreys. As a young man he became a favorite with Henry VIII., and was an opponent of Wolscy, to whose fall he contributed. Norris's attempts to ad- vance Anne Boleyn were entirely successful, but his intimacy with her gave his enemies at court a means of attack. He was accused of an intrigue with her, quite unjustly it would seem, and was executed in 1536. His son became Baron Norris of Rycote. NORRIS, William Edward (1847—). An English novelist, born in London. After going through Eton he went to the Continent to study languages, with the intenticm of entering the diplomatic service, but, changing his plans, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1874, though he has never practiced. His short stories, contributed to the Cornhitl Magazine, attracted the especial notice of the editor, Leslie Stephen, by whom he was encouraged to attempt the longer novel. Heaps of Money ( 1877 ) was followed by Mademoiselle de Mersac, a serial in Cornhill for 1879, and Matrimony (1880), a novel showing fine discrimination in character- drawing. Among his other novels are: A'o JVfW Thing (1882); Thirlby Ball (1883); Adrian Vidal (1884); A Bachelor's Blunder (1885); My Friend Jim (1886); Major and Minor (1887) : The Rogue {ISSS) ; Miss l^hafto (1889) ; Mrs. Fenton (1889); Marcia (1890); Mr. Chaine's Sons (1891); 77 is flraec (1892); A Deplorable Affair (1893) ; The Dancer in Yellow (1800) ; Clarissa Furiosa (1897) ; The Widoicer (1808) ; Giles Ingilby(S9) ; An Octave ( 1900) ; Lord Leoneird the Luckless (1903). NOR'RISTOWN. A borough and the county- seat of Jlontgomery County, Pa., 18 miles west by north of Philadelphia: on the Schuylkill River, the Schuylkill Canal, and the Pennsyl- vania and the Philadelphia and Reading rail- roads (Alap: Pennsylvania, F 3). It is beauti- fully situated among hills and on the Schuylkill and" two tributaries, and is popular as a place of residence. Among the institutions here are the coimty prison, the Norristown Hospital for the Insane (State), Charity Hospital, the Agnes Stinson Home for Aged Ladies, p'ricnds' Home, Saint Joseph's Protectory (Roman Catholic) for girls, llcCann Library (public), and jMontgom- ery County Historical Society. Other prominent