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Gabriel
(g hard), in Jewish mythology, is the angel of death to
the favoured people of God, the prince of fire and thunder, and the
only angel that can speak Syriac and Chaldee. The Mahometans call him
the chief of the four favoured angels, and the spirit of truth. In
mediæval romance he is the second of the seven spirits that stand
before the throne of God, and, as God's messenger, carries to heaven
the prayers of men. (Jerusalem Delivered, book i.) The word
means “power of God.” Milton makes him chief of the angelic guards
placed over Paradise.
Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,
Chief of the angelic guards.
Paradise Lost, iv. 549-550.
Longfellow, in his Golden Legend, makes him the angel of the
moon, and says he brings to man the gift of hope.
I am the angel of the moon ...
Nearest the earth, it is my ray
That best illumines the midnight way.
I bring the gift of hope.
The Miracle Play, iii.
It was Gabriel who (we are told in the Koran) took Mahomet to heaven
on Al-borak (q.v.), and revealed to him his “prophetic lore.”
In the Old Testament Gabriel is said to have explained to Daniel
certain visions; and in the New Testament it was Gabriel who announced
to Zacharias the future birth of John the Baptist, and that afterwards
appeared to Mary, the mother of Jesus. (Luke i. 26, etc.)
Gabriel's horse.
Haïzum.
Gabriel's hounds,
called also Gabble Ratchet. Wild geese. The noise of the
bean-goose (anser segtum) in flight is like that of a pack of
hounds in full cry. The legend is that they are the souls of unbaptised
children wandering through the air till the Day of Judgment.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Gabriel from Infoplease:
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