Beneath the Aegis of Viking Myths, Page 13

A few of my favorite(admittedly obscure) words in here. Escritoire, rariora, gaucherie, cordillera, grazioso, masquerade, and reliquary. Again, I have many, many favorite words.Maybe I'll compile a list. It's hard to not use so many obscure ones, even though simpler words have charming airs as well. I think "awakening" is a bold and audacious word. Definite cool word, yes.


Fainéant: sluggard, do-nothing, ne’er-do-well
Mercurial: fickle, erratic, ingenious, changeable, eloquent
Avenue: wide street or thoroughfare, roadway lined with tress
Esper: a being of advanced mentality or with psychic abilities
Sibyl: prophetess, fortune-teller
Escritoire: writing desk, desk designed for studies
Celerity: speed, alacrity, briskness
Athenaeum: institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning, phrontistery
Ivory: pure white color, material derived from elephant tusks
Copse: thicket of small trees or shrubs, a coppice, small wood, a tree
Gaucherie: awkwardness, inexperience, embarrassments
Sidle: walk in a furtive or timid manner, especially obliquely or roundabout
Pluvial: characterized or relating to rainfall
Mimsy: flimsy and miserable, someone who excels at what they do
Lissom: supple, easily bent, lithe, flexible
Elapse: to pass or go by, to happen
Whilom: formerly, former, erstwhile
Swoon: fainting spell, collapse from ecstasy
Reliquary: receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics
Analemma: sundial, figure-8 indicating sun’s declination
Elliptical: of, relating to, or having the shape of an ellipse, with a word or words omitted

Rariora: pl. unusual collector’s items, outstanding items, prize pieces

Grazioso: a direction in music, graceful, smooth, or elegant in style

Ebon: black, made of ebony

Maudlin: overly sentimental, saccharine, mawkish, self-pitying

Specious: superficially plausible, but actually wrong, misleading in appearance

Cordillera: group of mountain ranges forming a mountain system of great linear extent

Acoustic: of or relating to sound, the sense of hearing, or the science of sound 

Masquerade: festive gathering characterized by participants wearing masks

Suffuse: gradually spread through or over, with light, color, music, or liquid

Elucidate: explain further, clarify, to elaborate upon

Silence: state or quality of soundlessness, lack of sound

Paramour: lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship, lover, illicit lover

Curlicue: fancy curl or twist, flourish of writing 

Shiver: a tremble, to tremble, shudder, or shake

Lascivious: lewd, lustful, prurient

Dulcimer: stringed instrument having three or four strings and a fretted fingerboard 

Slither: to glide or slide like a reptile

Milieu: surroundings or environment, especially of a social or cultural nature

Luscious: delicious, sexy, cloying, alluring

Seven: seventh integer in a series

Chariot: two or four-wheeled, horse-drawn war or procession vehicle

Promethean: boldly creative, defiantly original, deviating genius

Ashlar: a squared block of building stone and dressed for outward placement

Tableaux: pl. deliberate picture, arrangement , vivid, graphic description