Narratives and Rituals of the Nightmare Hag in Scandinavian Folk Belief

by Catharina Raudvere

Overview

This books explores varying conceptions of the Nightmare hag, mara, in Scandinavian folk belief. What began as observations of some startling narratives preserved in folklore archives where sex, violence and curses are recurring themes gradually led to questions as to how rural people envisaged good and evil, illness and health, and cause and effect. At closer reading, narratives about the mara character involve existential themes, as well as comments on gender and social hierarchy. This monograph analyses how this female creature was conceived of in oral literature and everyday ritual practice in pre-industrial Scandinavia, and what role she played in a larger pattern of belief in witchcraft and magic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030489182
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	02/28/2021
Series:	Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Catharina Raudvere is Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies in the Section for the History of Religions at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Table of Contents

Part I: Why the Nightmare Hag?.- 1. Why the Nightmare Hag? Points of departure.- PART II: Imagining the Nightmare Hag and Warding Her Off.- 2. Imagining of the Nightmare Hag.- 3. Protection Against the Nightmare Hag.- 4. The Nightmare Hag and Magic Thinking.- Part III: Narrating About the Nightmare Hag.- 5. A Model for an Analysis of the Hag Legends.- 6. Analogy Legends.- 7. Curse Legends.- 8. The Man Who Caught the Hag.- 9.The Nightmare Hag: narrative figure, personal experience and explanation of misfortune. Some concluding remarks.