hag

The term appears in Middle English, and was a shortening of {{lang|ang|hægtesse}}, an Old English term for 'witch'; similarly the Dutch {{lang|nl|heks}} and German {{lang|de|Hexe}} are also shortenings, of the Middle Dutch {{lang|dum|haghetisse}} and Old High German {{lang|goh|hagzusa}}, respectively. All of these words are derived from the {{proto|germanic|*hagatusjon-}} which is of unknown origin; the first element may be related to the word hedge.{{Cite web | url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hag |title = Hag | Origin and meaning of hag by Online Etymology Dictionary}}[http://www.bartleby.com/61/84/H0008400.html hag¹] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050428151019/http://bartleby.com/61/84/H0008400.html |date=28 April 2005 }} The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000)

As a stock character in fairy or folk tale, the hag shares characteristics with the crone, and the two words are sometimes used as if interchangeable.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Using the word hag to translate terms found in non-English (or non-modern English) is contentious, since use of the word is sometimes associated with misogyny.{{Cite news | last = Rich | first = Adrienne | title = That Women Be Themselves; Women | newspaper = The New York Times | pages = BR.3 | date = 4 February 1979 }}{{Cite news | title = Feminist storyteller reprises 'These Are My Sisters' | newspaper = Star Tribune | date = 7 July 1996 }}{{clarify|date=February 2016}}

A "Night Hag" or "the Old Hag", was a nightmare spirit in English and anglophone North American folklore. This variety of hag is essentially identical to the Old English mæra—a being with roots in ancient Germanic superstition, and closely related to the Scandinavian mara. According to folklore, the Old Hag sat on a sleeper's chest and sent nightmares to him or her. When the subject awoke, he or she would be unable to breathe or even move for a short period of time. In the Swedish film Marianne (2011), the main character suffers from such nightmares. This state is now called sleep paralysis, but in the old belief, the subject was considered "hagridden".Ernsting, Michele (2004) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20041126201638/http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/cultureandhistory/041119vh Hags and nightmares: sleep paralysis and the midnight terrors]" Radio Netherlands It is still frequently discussed as if it were a paranormal state.[http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa112000a.htm The "Old Hag" Syndrome] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050919153308/http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa112000a.htm |date=19 September 2005 }} from About: Paranormal Phenomena

Many stories about hags seem to have been used to frighten children into being good. In Northern England, for example, Peg Powler was a river hag who lived in the River Tees and had skin the colour of green pond scum.Ghosts, Helpful and Harmful by Elliott O'DonnellIntroduction to Folklore by Marian Roalfe CoxThe History and Antiquities of the Parish of Darlington, in the Bishoprick by William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe, 1854 Parents who wanted to keep their children away from the river's edge told them that if they got too close to the water, she would pull them in with her long arms, drown them, and sometimes eat them. This type of nixie or neck has other regional names, such as GrindylowThe Nineteenth century and after, Volume 68, Leonard Scott Pub. Co., 1910. Page. 556 (a name connected to Grendel),A Grammar of the Dialect of Oldham by Karl Georg Schilling, 1906. Page. 17. Jenny Greenteeth from Yorkshire, and Nelly Longarms from several English counties.Froud, Brian and Lee, Alan. (1978) Faeries. New York, Peacock Press {{ISBN|0-553-01159-6}}

Many tales about hags do not describe them well enough to distinguish between an old woman who knows magic, or a witch or supernatural being.K. M. Briggs, The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature, p 66-7 University of Chicago Press, London, 1967

In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga was a hag who lived in the woods in a house on chicken's legs. She would often ride through the forest on a mortar, sweeping away her tracks with a broom.Russian Folk-Tales W. R. S. Ralston, Forgotten Books, {{ISBN|1-4400-7972-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4400-7972-6}}. p.170 Though she is usually a single being, in some folktales three Baba Yagas are depicted as helping the hero in his quest, either by giving advice or by giving gifts.W. R. S. Ralston. Songs of the Russian People [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/srp/srp07.htm Section III—Storyland Beings].

In Irish and Scottish mythology, the cailleach is a hag goddess concerned with creation, harvest, the weather, and sovereignty.{{cite book | first =F. Marian | last =McNeill | year =1959 | title =The Silver Boughv|volume=2: A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Candlemas to Harvest Home | pages =20–21 | publisher =William MacLellan | location =Glasgow| isbn =978-0-85335-162-7 }} In partnership with the goddess Bríd, she is a seasonal goddess, seen as ruling the winter months while Bríd rules the summer. In Scotland, a group of hags, known as The Cailleachan (The Storm Hags) are seen as personifications of the elemental powers of nature, especially in a destructive aspect. They are said to be particularly active in raising the windstorms of spring, during the period known as A Chailleach.{{cite book | first =F. Marian | last =McNeill | year =1959 | title =The Silver Bough |volume=1: Scottish Folklore and Folk-Belief | pages =119 | publisher =William MacLellan | location =Glasgow| isbn =978-0-85335-161-0 }}

Hags as sovereignty figures abound in Irish mythology. The most common pattern is that the hag represents the barren land, whom the hero of the tale must approach without fear, and come to love on her own terms. When the hero displays this courage, love, and acceptance of her hideous side, the sovereignty hag then reveals that she is also a young and beautiful goddess.

In ancient Greek religion, the Three Fates (particularly {{lang|grc-Latn|Atropos}}) are often depicted as hags.

{{further|Witch (archetype)#In art and literature}}

In mediaeval and later literature, the term hag, and its relatives in European languages, came to stand for an unattractive, older woman. Building on the mediaeval tradition of such women as portrayed in comic and burlesque literature, specifically in the Italian Renaissance, the hag represented the opposite of the lovely lady familiar from the poetry of Petrarch.{{Cite book

| last = Bettella

| first = Patrizia

| title = The ugly woman: transgressive aesthetic models in Italian poetry from the Middle Ages to the Baroque

| publisher = U of Toronto P

| year = 2005

| pages = 117–20

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-fRGUP7S0xMC&pg=PA117

| isbn = 978-0-8020-3926-2}}

In The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children, Charles Kingsley characterized Scylla as "Scylla the sea hag".{{Cite book

| last = Kingsley

| first = Charles

| title = The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales For my Children

| publisher = Ginn and Company

| year = 1917

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/heroesorgreekfai00king_2/page/148 148]

| url = https://archive.org/details/heroesorgreekfai00king_2

}}

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

• Baba Yaga
• Banshee
• Batibat
• Black Annis
• Boo hag
• Cailleach
• Crone
• Freddy Krueger
• Goblin
• Hag (Dungeons & Dragons)
• Imp
• Kikimora
• Muma Pădurii
• Queen (Snow White)
• Sea Hag
• Sheela na Gig
• The Witch (fairy tale)
• Wicca
• Wicked fairy godmother
• Witch
• Sea witch
• Witchcraft

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

• Sagan, Carl (1997) The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.
• Kettlewell, N; Lipscomb, S; Evans, E. (1993) Differences in neuropsychological correlates between normals and those experiencing "Old Hag Attacks". Perceptual and Motor Skills 1993 Jun;76 (3 Pt 1):839-45; discussion 846. {{PMID|8321596}}

• {{Commonscatinline|Hags}}
• [http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOneZoom.asp?dep=11&viewmode=1&item=1980%2E411&zoomFlag=0 Henry Fuseli's painting of a hag], from the Met collection

{{Stock characters}}

{{Fairies}}

Category:European legendary creatures

Category:Fairies

Category:Pejorative terms for women

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Category:Folklore characters

Category:European folklore characters

Category:Fairy tale stock characters

Category:Gender-related stereotypes

Category:Slang terms for women

Category:Female legendary creatures

Category:Fictional fairies

Category:Fictional characters who use magic

Category:Ugliness

de:Hexe

Category:Goddesses

Category:Misogyny

Category:Sexism

Category:Crones and hags