Ichor

In Greek mythology, ichor (pronounced /ˈaɪkər/ or [ˈɪkər]; Greek ἰχώρ) is the ethereal fluid that is the Greek gods' blood, sometimes said to have been present in ambrosia or nectar. When a god was injured and bled, the ichor made his or her blood poisonous to mortals.

In pathology, "ichor" is an antiquated term for a watery discharge from a wound or ulcer with an unpleasant or fetid (offensive) smell. The Greek Christian writer Clement of Alexandria used its Greek ancestor ἰχωρ in this sense in his criticism of what the classical Greek gods had instead of blood.

H. P. Lovecraft often used "ichor" in his descriptions of other-worldly creatures, most prominently in his nightmarish detail of the remains of Wilbur Whateley, in "The Dunwich Horror".

The term "ichor" is often misused in fantasy contexts by authors trying to find a different word for "blood" or "ooze", to the point that it has become cliché. Author Ursula LeGuin, in "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", calls the term "the infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate."

Ichor has also been used in science fiction as an alien substitute for blood, as in Garth Nix's book Shade's Children. Additionally, in the Dragonriders of Pern novel series, Anne McCaffrey refers to the blood of the alien (but genetically enhanced by humans) Pernese dragons as ichor.

In the Command and Conquer series of RTS games, ichor is the term used by an alien species to refer to a toxic mineral humans call Tiberium. Though Tiberium is extremely harmful to all Carbon-based life, it is a extremely valuable mineral, and regenerates/heals the aliens and thus completes the Greek analogy.

See also

Mana
Ectoplasm (paranormal)

Translation

The word "Ichor" occurs as such in the following languages: English, German, French, Polish.

Translation(s) in other languages: Greek: Ιχώρ, Spanish: Icor, Italian: Icore.