A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel".[1] Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as The Morrígan or Badb, who are seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent.[2][3]
The term appears in Middle English, and was a shortening of hægtesse, an Old English term for 'witch'; similarly the Dutch heks and German Hexe are also shortenings, of the Middle Dutch haghetisse and Old High German hagzusa, respectively.[4] All of these words are derived from the Proto-Germanic **hagatusjon-[4] which is of unknown origin; the first element may be related to the word hedge.[4][5]
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]
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.[6][7][clarification needed]
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".[8] It is still frequently discussed as if it were a paranormal state.[9]
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.[10][11][12] 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[13] (a name connected to Grendel),[13][14] Jenny Greenteeth from Yorkshire, and Nelly Longarms from several English counties.[15]