Posted by Mick Scannell on December 11, 1998 at 08:25:38:
In Reply to: Re: GRUE - What does it mean? posted by Mike Asher on October 21, 1998 at 22:40:34:
": Grue is, of course, French for "crane". However, the etymology I've seen most often is a shortening of "gruesome". I recently posted "Uncoining Jack"- an etymological listing of several Vance words- to JackVance.com. In it, Grue is given also as the name of a 19th Century artist and a term used in Goodman's famous logical conundrum "The Grue Paradox", where it refers to an item simultaneously green and blue."
From my role-playing days (games, not leaping from tree to tree with the rubber sword brigade!) I recall that in AD&D there were a set of creatures called 'grues', who were dire beasts fashioned from earth, air, fire, or water. It could be that this name was pulled from folklore, but seeings as the AD&D creator was a massive fan of JV, then perhaps he pinched the name.
Regards,
Mick