Miss Havisham: The aged spinster of Charles Dickens’ beloved novel, Great Expectations. An eerily enduring depiction of the tragedy and heartbreak of jilted love, the almost skeletal Miss Havisham was betrothed to a man named Compeyson, who went on to leave her at the altar on their appointed wedding day.

Utterly disgraced, Miss Havisham stopped all the clocks in her house, leaving them on the exact minute of her betrayal. Even into her old age, she never removed her yellowing wedding dress, and left her wedding cake on the table to decompose. Her bitter nature was passed onto her ward, Estella, making her wary and cold towards men. Only after her wedding dress caught fire and she suffered severe burns did she find death and repentance for manipulating Estella’s heart.

Mjollnir: Mythological hammer belonging to the Norse god of thunder, Thor. In Swedish, its name literally means ‘crusher’, and was capable of destroying mountains or felling giants with a single strike. Functions as a boomerang and returns to the hand of the one who throws it. When worn as an amulet, it is seen as a potent symbol of protection.

Mordred: A notorious figure of Arthurian legends. Known in some cases as King Arthur’s illegitimate son, he proved himself to be traitorous by fighting Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where Mordred was slain by Arthur, but which also left the legendary king fatally wounded.

Mourning: The act of expressing grief; the dress or other tokens of mourning; the period during which one is mourning a death.

Necromancer: (Middle English via Old French nigromancie from medieval Latin nigromantia, changed from Late Latin 'necromantia', from Greek 'nekromanteia' (as necro-, -mancy), meaning 'black' and 'divination by'): a sorcerer: a practitioner of witchcraft involving the reanimation of the dead: a magician who can predict the future by communication with the dead.

Nimue/Fairy of the Lake: Also known as Viviane or Nyneve, the Fairy (or Lady) of the Lake is best known for providing King Arthur with his famed sword, Excalibur, in ancient legend.

She is also thought to have raised Lancelot after the death of his parents, and to have enchanted and imprisoned the wizard Merlin in order to make him love her.

Noir: (French); Black, dark.

Obsidian Mirror, The: Famous scrying stone of Aztec origin, brought to Europe after the invasion of Mexico and used by Elizabethan astrologer and mathematician, John Dee, as part of his research into the occult. Dr. Dee and his partner, Edward Kelly, looked into the stone and saw visions of angels who would communicate with them via a table of symbols, which would later be transcribed.