But he was, doubtless, totally unconscious that he was to be the chief personage in this most important story, or he would have acted out his real nature with all the vim and pathos which heroes always manifest in like circumstances.
Possibly from Latin vim, accusative singular of vīs (“force, power, strength; (New Latin) energy, force”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (“to chase, pursue”); compare English vis); but p...