E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Norma.
A vestal priestess who has been seduced. She discovers her paramour in an attempt to seduce her friend, also a vestal priestess, and in despair contemplates the murder of her baseborn children. The libretto is a melodrama by Romani, music by Belli’ni (1831.) (Norma, an opera.)
