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Larvae
In Roman mythology, the '''larvae''' or '''lemures''' (singular ''lemur'') were the spectres or spirits of the dead; they were the malignant version of the ''lares''. Some Roman writers describe ''lemures'' as the common name for all the spirits of the dead, and divide them into two classes: the ''lares'', or the benevolent souls of the family, which haunted and guarded the ''domus'' or household, and the ''larvae'', or the restless and fearful souls of wicked men. But the more common idea was that the Lemures and Larvae were the same. They were said to wander about at night and to torment and frighten the living.
On May 9, May 11|11, and May 13|13, the ''Lemuralia'' or ''Lemuria (festival)|Lemuria'', the feast of the Lemures, occurred, when black beans were offered to the Larvae in the hopes of propitiating them; loud noises were also used to frighten them away.
Lemurs were so named by Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus for their big eyes, nocturnal habits and unearthly noises they make at night. Some species of lemur were identified by their calls before scientists had seen individuals. Linnaeus also coined the modern use of the word 'larva' to denote the caterpillar stage in the life cycle of insects.
Singular
The singular form of ''larvae'' is ''larva'' in both Latin language|Latin and English language|English. The singular of ''lemures'' is ''lemur'' in both languages;[''OED'', "Lemur"] Dungeons & Dragons and some other fantasy worlds have adopted the back formation ''lemure'' as the singular, following English singularization rules and therefore presumably pronounced as ''demure'', ''immure'', etc.
Category:Undead
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