Qi, Prana, Vril
Vril: A Mysterious Energy Force
… leading to Hitler on a T-Rex.
While we’re on the topic of mysteries, one thing I wonder about is how made-up words manage to find their ways into the dictionary. Vril is one such word, coined by 19th century English writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1871 novel, The Coming Race.
I’ve mentioned Lytton before, in my writeup of “belling.” Perhaps that’s a coincidence, or perhaps the OED editors really loved scouring Lytton’s works for their work (or perhaps Lytton was simply remarkable with his vocabulary). It makes sense either way, as Lytton was a popular and renowned author of the day (famous still for observations like “the pen is mightier than the sword,” for example).
A century and a half later, Lytton’s book The Coming Race, in particular, remains quite popular, as it’s considered one of the earlier science fiction novels. For that reason, the word vril is no-doubt recognized by many today. (I’d never encountered it, though; hence the write-up here.)
