Donner
Encyclopedia
Donner is a variation of Donar, the German
name of the god Thor
– particularly as a character in the first opera, Das Rheingold
of Richard Wagner
's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen
. In modern German, it means thunder
.
It can also refer to:
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
name of the god Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
– particularly as a character in the first opera, Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
. In modern German, it means thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
.
It can also refer to:
Places
- Donner (crater)Donner (crater)Donner is a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located just to the northeast of the Mare Australe, behind the southeastern limb of the Moon...
, a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon - "Donner Pass exhibit" at Antique Gas and Steam Engine MuseumAntique Gas and Steam Engine MuseumThe Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum is a living-history museum founded in 1969 located on of county-owned land on the outskirts of Vista, California. The Museum is a non-profit 501c organization. It is located at 2040 N Santa Fe Ave. in Vista...
in Vista, CA - Donner Camp and Donner PassDonner PassDonner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
, where the Donner PartyDonner PartyThe Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
was trapped by weather during the winter of 1846-1847- Donner Memorial State ParkDonner Memorial State ParkDonner Memorial State Park is a US state park located near Truckee, California. The park is named after the ill-fated Donner Party, and contains the Emigrant Trail Museum and the Pioneer Monument dedicated to them. The Donner Camp site at Alder Creek, where the Donner families were trapped by...
, near the eastern shore of Donner LakeDonner LakeDonner Lake is a freshwater lake in northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, sandwiched between Interstate 80 to the north and...
, commemorates the disaster
- Donner Memorial State Park
- Donner, CaliforniaDonner, CaliforniaDonner is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California. Donner is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad, east-southeast of Donner Pass. It lies at an elevation of 7021 feet ....
, an unincorporated community near Donner Pass - Donner Ski RanchDonner Ski RanchDonner Ski Ranch is a budget-oriented, family owned ski area located on Donner Summit in the Tahoe National Forest of Nevada County, California. It is owned by Janet and Marshall Tuttle, who purchased it after it went into bankruptcy. The area it is on has been used for skiing since 1937. It has...
on Donner Summit, California - Donner und Blitzen RiverDonner und Blitzen RiverThe Donner und Blitzen River is a river on the eastern Oregon high desert which drains a relatively arid basin, the southern portion of Harney Basin, from roughly 20 to 80 miles south-southeast of Burns including Malheur National Wildlife Refuge...
river in Oregon, United States - Donner-Reed Pioneer Museum
- Mount DonnerMount DonnerMount Donner is a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of Gold Bridge and north of Mount Kent-Urquhart....
mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada - The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts#Treasures from a Trunk: California Pioneers’ Quilts and Textiles
- William Hulme's Grammar School, school in in northern England, with Donner Block wing
- Donner Laboratory, at University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, a biomedical atomic energy research center, funded by William H. Donner - McKinneys-Donner Lake State Highway, refers to California State Route 89California State Route 89State Route 89 is a California State Highway that travels in the north–south direction, and is the major thoroughfare for many mountain communities. It starts from U.S. Route 395 near Topaz Lake, winding its way up to the Monitor Pass, down to the Carson River, and up again over the Luther...
Music
- "Je veux donner ma voixJe Veux Donner Ma Voix"Je veux donner ma voix" was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, performed in French by Nayah.The song was performed tenth on the night, following Denmark's Michael Teschl & Trine Jepsen with "This Time I Mean It and preceding the Netherlands' Marlayne with "One Good Reason"...
" French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 - "Donner pour donner" 1980 music video by Elton JohnElton John videographySince before the start of MTV, Elton John has been making promotional music videos, beginning early in his career with "Your Song". Music videos in the 1970s were not quite common and Elton made only a few during that decade...
- "Je n'ai plus rien à te donner" song on Les Amours du dimancheLes Amours du dimancheLes Amours du dimanche is a 1989 album recorded by French artist Marc Lavoine. It was his third studio album and contains the singles "C'est la vie" , "Ami", "Chère amie" "Rue Fontaine" and "Je n'ai plus rien à te donner" which obtained popularity in France...
(1989) album by French pop singer Marc LavoineMarc LavoineMarc Lucien Lavoine is a French singer and actor. In 1985, his hit single "Elle a les yeux revolver" allowed him to reach the top of the French chart and marked the beginning of his successful singing career.... - "Se donner la main" track on French pop singer LorieLorieLaure Pester, professionally known as Lorie, is a French singer. Her fame can be attributed to producer, songwriter and composer Johnny Williams and her father–manager Dominique Pester...
's Près de toiPrès de ToiPrès de Toi is French pop singer Lorie's triple-platinum debut album. It was released on September 30, 2001. On April 29, 2002, a special limited edition of the album was released with new packaging and extra tracks...
album - Emanuel Donner member of Austrian alternative pop band Ginga
Transport
- USS Donner (LSD-20)USS Donner (LSD-20)USS Donner was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, named for the Sierra Nevada's Donner Pass, where the Donner Party became snowbound in the winter of 1846–47....
United States naval ship - The Michigan Triangle#George R. Donner captain of a vessel that disappeared on Lake Michigan
Awards and titles
- Donner PrizeDonner PrizeThe Donner Prize is an award given annually by the Donner Canadian Foundation for books considered excellent in regard to the writing of Canadian public policy. The prize was established in 1998. The grand prize is $35,000; short-listed finalists receive $5,000 each...
, an award given for books considered excellent in regard to the writing of Canadian public policy - Donner Professor – academic title held by those who have held one of the five chairs (in science) funded by the William H. DonnerWilliam DonnerWilliam H. Donner was an American businessman, born in Columbus, Indiana.-Business career:Early in adulthood, Donner managed the family-owned grain mill, and in his twenties, he invested in Indiana natural gas and real estate...
Foundation
Flora and fauna
- Eriogonum umbellatum Torrey var. torreyanum (Donner Pass buckwheat), a variety of Eriogonum umbellatumEriogonum umbellatumEriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats...
- Luzula subcongestaLuzula subcongestaLuzula subcongesta is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common name Donner woodrush. It is native to the high mountains of California, from the Klamath Mountains, where its distribution extends into Oregon, to the Sierra Nevada, where it may occur just inside Nevada as well...
common name Donner woodrush
Art
- 19th-century painter Albert BierstadtAlbert BierstadtAlbert Bierstadt was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion...
painted the Donner Pass in his Donner Lake from the Summit
Stage and screen
- Frankie Donner character on American soap opera Days of our Lives
- Howard FishmanHoward fishmanHoward Fishman is a singer, guitarist, bandleader and composer from New York, NY. His music is inspired by a deep passion for New Orleans jazz, pop, gospel and country music, but is filtered through a contemporary aesthetic...
theater work "We Are Destroyed", exploring the ill-fated Donner Party expedition - Megan DonnerMegan DonnerLt. Megan Donner is a fictional character that appeared in the first eleven episodes of the CBS crime drama CSI: Miami. She was portrayed by Kim Delaney. Megan was the former day shift supervisor of the Miami Dade police crime lab. Her husband, Sean, was killed in the line of duty...
character in CSI Miami television series - Superman II: The Richard Donner CutSuperman II: The Richard Donner CutSuperman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 re-edit of the 1980 superhero film, Superman II, by Richard Donner, who shot a large part of the original movie before being replaced as director by Richard Lester. It stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando...
, a version of a superhero film - Donner, character in Tom StoppardTom StoppardSir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's Artist Descending a StaircaseArtist Descending a StaircaseArtist Descending a Staircase is Tom Stoppard's 1972 radio play that centers around a murder mystery involving an artist who dies from falling down a set of stairs . The play is a humorous exploration of the meaning and purpose of art...
play - General Gerhard Donner character in Venus WarsVenus Warsis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It was serialized in the Gakken magazine Nora Comics from 1987 to 1990...
1989 science fiction anime film dir. by Yoshikazu YasuhikoYoshikazu Yasuhikois a Japanese animator and manga artist in the anime industry.Yasuhiko dropped out of Hirosaki University and was hired by Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions in 1970 as an animator. He later went freelance and worked on various animation productions for film and television. In 1981 he won the Seiun... - Larry Donner character in Throw Momma from the TrainThrow Momma from the TrainThrow Momma from the Train is a 1987 American black comedy film. It was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, which also plays a role in the film...
film - Maddux Donner (played by Ron LivingstonRon LivingstonRonald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
) character in Defying Gravity (TV series)Defying Gravity (TV series)Defying Gravity is a multi-nationally produced space travel television science fiction drama series, first aired on August 2, 2009 on ABC and CTV and canceled in the autumn of 2009...
Literature
- "Don't You Cry for Me", 1940 novel by John WeldJohn WeldJohn Weld was a newspaper reporter and writer....
based on the Donner party - "The Mormons and the Donner Party" article in BYU Studies by Eugene E. CampbellEugene E. CampbellEugene Edward "Gene" Campbell was an American professor of history at Brigham Young University .-Biography:...
- Donner the Reindeer (originally called Donder), alternative name of one of the reindeerReindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
named in the poem "A Visit from St. NicholasA Visit from St. Nicholas"A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry...
" - James D. HoustonJames D. HoustonJames Dudley Houston was an American novelist. He wrote nine novels in total.Houston was born in San Francisco, where his parents had migrated from Quanah, Texas, a small town near Oklahoma...
American novelist, author of "Snow Mountain Passage" (2001) inspired by a familial link to the Donner Party - Richard RhodesRichard RhodesRichard Lee Rhodes is an American journalist, historian, and author of both fiction and non-fiction , including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb , and most recently, The Twilight of the Bombs...
novel The Ungodly: A Novel of the Donner Party - Donner, a superheroine from multiple Milestone MediaMilestone MediaMilestone Media is a company best known for creating Milestone Comics and securing an unheard of publishing and distribution deal with DC Comics and the Static Shock cartoon series. It was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers Milestone Media is a company best known...
comic books - Eric Donner is one of the six signature Scions that are presented and followed in all three core books of Scion (role-playing game)Scion (role-playing game)Scion is a series of role-playing games published by White Wolf, Inc. The first core rule book, Scion: Hero. was released on April 13, 2007. The second volume, Scion: Demigod, was released on September 12, 2007, and the third, Scion: God, was released on January 23, 2008. The Scion Companion...
. - Martin Donner, character in Poul AndersonPoul AndersonPoul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
science fiction novella Un-ManUn-ManUn-Man is a science fiction novella by Poul Anderson that was first published in the January 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It was included in the 1962 collection Un-Man and Other Novellas, and the 1981 collection The Psychotechnic League... - Min Donner character in Stephen R. DonaldsonStephen R. DonaldsonStephen Reeder Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist, most famous for his Thomas Covenant series...
's science fiction novel A Dark and Hungry God ArisesA Dark and Hungry God ArisesA Dark and Hungry God Arises is the third book of The Gap Cycle by Stephen R... - Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George R. StewartGeorge R. StewartGeorge Rippey Stewart was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley...
- Palace Wagon Family: A True Story of the Donner Party by Margaret SuttonMargaret SuttonMargaret Sutton was most famous as the author of the Judy Bolton Series of mystery books, 38 volumes published between 1932 and 1967...
- Short story "Ode to the Donner Party" by David ShieldsDavid ShieldsDavid Shields is an American author of non-fiction, fiction, and works that resist generic classification. His latest book is Reality Hunger: A Manifesto...
- Sir Magnus Donners, character in A Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. One of the longest works of fiction in literature, it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim...
cycle of novels by Anthony PowellAnthony PowellAnthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975.... - The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition, 1846 young adult historical novel by Rodman PhilbrickRodman PhilbrickRodman Philbrick is an author of novels for adults and children. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1951, and currently lives in Maine and Florida. Since 1980 he has been married to Lynn Harnett, who sometimes co-writes with him. They have no children. He has also written using the pen names...
, in My Name Is AmericaMy Name is AmericaMy Name Is America is a series of historical novels for older boys published by Scholastic Press. Each book is written in the form of a journal of a fictional young man's life during an important event or time period in American history...
series - The Mothers: An American Saga of Courage told the story of the Donner Party tragedy by Vardis FisherVardis FisherVardis Alvero Fisher was a well-respected writer best known for historical novels of the old West and the monumental 12-volume Testament of Man series of novels, depicting the history of humans from cave to civilization....
- The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party fiction book for young adults by Marian CalabroMarian CalabroMarian Calabro is an author and publisher of history books and the founder and president of CorporateHistory.net, which produces corporate histories for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to family-owned businesses and nonprofit organizations....
- Donner (Donder), one of Santa Claus's reindeer, as named in "The Night Before Christmas"
Other
Donner may also be:- Döner kebabDöner kebabDoner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
, a Turkish dish made with mutton - Donner Metals Ltd.Donner Metals Ltd.Donner Metals Ltd. is a Canadian advanced exploration company, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Its headquarters are in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
, a Canadian mining company - Palmer v Donner, an 1868 United States Supreme Court case