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A hag is a old woman, or a kind of fairy, Witchcraft, or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel".Briggs, Katharine. (1976) An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, "Hags", p.216. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as The Morrígan or italics=unset, who are seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent.Lysaght, Patricia. (1986) The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger. Roberts Rinehart Publishers. . p.54Clark, Rosalind. (1991) The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan (Irish Literary Studies, Book 34) Savage, Maryland, Barnes and Noble (reprint) pp.5, 8, 17, 25 The word hag can also be Synonym for a witch.
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.
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.
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'Donnell Introduction to Folklore by Marian Roalfe Cox The 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 Grindylow The 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
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, , . 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 Section III—Storyland Beings.
In Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, the cailleach is a hag goddess concerned with creation, harvest, the weather, and sovereignty. In partnership with the goddess Brigid, she is a seasonal goddess, seen as ruling the winter months while Brígid 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.
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 Moirai (particularly Atropos) are often depicted as hags.
In The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children, Charles Kingsley characterized Scylla as "Scylla the sea hag".
In Western 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.
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Categories: European Legendary Creatures, Fairies, Pejorative Terms For Women, Folklore Characters, European Folklore Characters, Fairy Tale Stock Characters, Gender-related Stereotypes, Slang Terms For Women, Female Legendary Creatures, Fictional Fairies, Fictional Characters Who Use Magic, Ugliness, Goddesses, Misogyny, Sexism, Crones And Hags
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