References: Hags - Basic Definition

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 115223


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth"
<alshainofthenorth at y...> wrote:
> 
> (... in the HP-verse, that is.)
> 
> The HP books and the Lexicon say hags are female humanoids who have 
> been known to eat children, 
>
> ..edited...
> 
> What do people think about hags in general? Where do they live? How 
> do they relate to humans and other magical beings? Just how dangerous 
> are they? Would more progressive forces in the magical society view 
> it as politically incorrect to threaten disobedient children with 
> them?
> 
> Thoughts? Speculations?
> 
> Alshain

bboyminn:

Sorry, I can't add much but a basic definitions and some links-


HAG-
http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Hag.htm

There are different forms of hags. The hag from European folklore is
supernaturally ugly, associated with the devil and depicted sometimes
as a witch. Hags are known to use a human as a mount and will "ride"
them in their sleep, hence the term 'hag-ridden'. During sleep, a hag
will climb onto a man's stomach or chest and will "ride" him. This
will cause the man great discomfort and nightmares, and even, if the
hag continues to ride the man, death.

In Celtic mythology a hag is an ancient spirit, usually seen carrying
rocks in her apron which, when dropped, can cause mountains to form.
it is said that if two hags are heard arguing, you should retreat
indoors, for it may begin to rain boulders and trees.

There is also and Irish hag that helps out in the household with the
spinning.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

First and foremost, Hags are UGLY. Second, they like to eat children.

There are many /hags/ that are described as hags, but have names of
their own. Such as ..

Black Annis
A fearsome hag who haunted the Dane Hills in Leicestershire. She had
iron like claws and lived in a cave, which she hollowed out with her
claws. It is said that she ate children and hung their skins on the
cave wall.

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/englishfolkapp.html



For a great cross section of info on British Folklore see...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Mysterious Britian - a guide to mysterious places, legends and
folklore within the British Isles."

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/index.html

This site works best with MS Internet Explorer. The cascading menus
don't quite work right in Mozilla or Netscape.

Interesting facts-

We've all heard of the Loch Ness Monster, but there are may
Lochs/lakes that have had monster sightings, one that even has a
longer and more frequent history of sightings than Loch Ness.

Dragons are the oldest monster and are found in nearly every culture
on earth. Dragon cave paintings have been found dating back 25,000
years. BUT, and this is a big BUT, there are still modern sighting of
dragons.

Texas - Modern sightings include a huge, winged reptile that
terrorized the San Antonio valley, Texas for several months in 1976.

Tibet - . A house sized, long necked, scaly, green dragon with
formidable teeth that has eaten fishermen and livestock in Lake Wembu,
Tibet,...

China - a horned, black-scaled dragon seen by five hundred witnesses
in July 2002 in Lake Tianchie, northeast China.

Wales - In the early 19th century folklorist Mary Trevelyan
interviewed many elderly people living in the Glamorgan area of Wales.
They recounted memories from their youth (early 19th century) of a
race of winged serpents said to inhabit the forest around Penllyne
Castle....

For more details, see the book "Dragons; More than a Myth?"

I found many fun links by searching Google for 'Folklore Hag'.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)