Thoughts on Nymphets and "Lolita"

"Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as "nymphets."
-Humbert Humbert in "Lolita"

Wikipedia says about the word, nymphet, that "A nymphet is seen to be a sexually precocious, attractive girl, and the term was notably used by French author Pierre de Ronsard,[1] and popularised by Vladimir Nabokov in the novel Lolita.[2] In Lolita, protagonist Humbert Humbert uses nymphet to describe the 9-14-year-old girls to whom he is attracted. In today's popular press the term is sometimes applied to women in their late teens or early twenties."

Not much help there... let's dig deeper.

The definition given by wikipedia for nymph: "A nymph in Greek mythology is a female spirit typically associated with a particular location or landform. Other nymphs, always in the shape of young nubile maidens, were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis.[1] Nymphs were the frequent target of satyrs. They live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, also in trees and in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities: the huntress Artemis; the prophetic Apollo; the reveller and god of wine, Dionysus; and rustic gods such as Pan and Hermes.

The symbolic marriage of a nymph and a patriarch, often the eponym of a people, is repeated endlessly in Greek origin myths; their union lent authority to the archaic king and his line."

Under etymology it says, "Nymphs are personifications of the creative and fostering activities of nature, most often identified with the life-giving outflow of springs.

The Greek word νύμφη has "bride" and "veiled" among its meanings: hence a marriageable young woman. Other readers refer the word (and also Latin nubere and German Knospe) to a root expressing the idea of "swelling" (according to Hesychius, one of the meanings of νύμφη is "rose-bud")."

Thus we see how someone worshipped, young, beautiful and personifying and symbolozing so many things for Humbert Humbert can easily be given the title, "Nymphet", a powerful and heavy word to call any being.

I will continue my thoughts on this subject as I read through the book.