legendarium
/lɛd͡ʒ.(ə)nˈdɛəɹ.i.əm/
legendarium means A literary collection of legends, particularly those detailing the life of a saint. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
legendarium is pronounced /lɛd͡ʒ.(ə)nˈdɛəɹ.i.əm/.
Why “legendarium” is a great word
LEGENDARIUM — [Noun] A literary corpus of related legendary tales, especially the curated writings that form the foundational lore of an invented world. From the Medieval Latin legendarium, neuter form of legendarius ("of or pertaining to reading or legends"), from Latin legendus ("to be read"). Unlike "mythology," which concerns a culture's sacred origins, or "canon," which denotes official authenticity, a legendarium is the crafted collection itself—the raw epic material. It is the layered chronicle scrawled in a philologist's notebook, the contradictory annals of lost ages, and the map whose margins are crowded with half-told tales of ruined towers—the architecture of a secondary world, built not from stone but from story, a monument to the human urge not just to tell a tale, but to build the tomb in which it will be buried.
Etymology
Neuter form of Medieval Latin legendarius, from Latin legendus.
noun
- A literary collection of legends, particularly those detailing the life of a saint.“The same society [the Swedish Old-text Society] has begun a continuation of the Old-Swedish Legendarium (in 2 volumes), edited for the society by Professor Stephens.”
- The collected high fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien relating to the fictional realm of Middle-earth and the universe in which it is set.““In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” So began the legendarium that dominated a genre, changed Western literature and the field of linguistics, created a tapestry of characters and mythology that endured four generations, built an anti-war ethos that endured a World War and a Cold War, and spawned a multibillion-dollar media franchise.”