Hags: 'eloquent, clever and devastating' The Times

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Hags tolerated little disrespect in regards to mortals because all possessed at least one crippling weakness: arrogance. Hags treated almost all other beings, particularly humans and demihumans, as inferiors, believing themselves to be the most cunning of all beings. [1] [5] This natural sense of superiority was, in some cases, unwarranted, [10] and while they were extremely clever, their confidence could lead them to accidentally reveal something during conversation that the more cautious wouldn't let slip. [5] Despite their supernatural natures, it seemed that hags, as well as needing sleep, [10] required sustenance to live. The ravenous hags could devour entire humans in only ten minutes, preferring their flesh to others and consuming that of demihumans or creatures like orcs when needed. [5] Environment [ ] I've been working my way slowly through Fen and not wanting it to end - Daisy marries realism to the uncanny so well that the strangest turnings ring as truth. The echoes between stories give the collection a wonderfully satisfying cohesion, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot wait to see what she does next." (Sara Taylor, author of The Shore) So, wisely sidestepping outrage porn, she chooses the higher ground: it's framed in terms of existing feminist rhetoric. "Misogyny" comes up a lot as a worse-sounding synonym for sexism, even though actual misogyny is pretty rare in society. Though hags were known to inhabit both the Feywild and the Prime Material Plane, many were known to settle where the divide between the two was thin, allowing them to interact with beings from both realms. Even ignoring the Feywild, areas where magic energy was strong and the lines between worlds was tenuous were favorable to hags. For example, the ambient magical energy of a burial ground or a ring of fallen standing stones could still hold echoes of ancient, death-related power that a hag would wish to capitalize on. [2] All the standard sub-species of hags, in addition to night hags and silats, could also be found in the Domains of Dread. [23] Reproduction [ ]

Given their nature as an all-female race, hags had to find other ways to reproduce beyond the conventional methods. There were many tales of the bizarre means through which hags came into the world; some stories reported that they spawned from animals, like cows with venomous milk or snake eggs kissed by virgins, while other processes were more artificial, like being incubated in the coffins of the unhallowed or being poured out from cauldrons of boiling blood. [8] One of the most widely told tales of hag reproduction had to be that of the changeling. [7] [10] Changeling [ ] Reading the stories brought the sense of being trapped in a room, slowly, but very surely, filling up with water. You think: this can't be happening. Meanwhile, hold your breath against the certainty it surely is. " Cynan JonesSometimes the thing we think we're the most sure about actually turns out to be our biggest mistake. This is especially possible in an age where, as Smith points out, we tend to see our bodies as customisable meat suits that are meant to reflect our true selves, and “few people think their true self looks like a middle-aged woman”. Around twenty years ago, I remember observing with horror my mother’s elbows; they were dry and wrinkly, like those of most adults, and in contrast to my own perfectly smooth child-limbs. My elbows will never be like that, I thought. My logic, I think, went something like this: I would hate for my elbows to look like that, so how could they, when I would hate it so much? Similarly, we can tell ourselves that we couldn’t bear to be seen as ugly, stupid and irrelevant, and so we surely won’t be. By extension, then, if older women are seen that way, then it must be that they can bear it, perhaps because it is an accurate assessment.

This was slow but creepy. I did not particularly like the story but I did like how it connected to Ashleigh's past. This was not bad. Over many centuries, most hags discovered certain supernatural phenomena most aptly described as "weird magic". This magic took on a multitude of forms, ranging from unique rituals to magic items, all of which were strange and unusual in the sense that they didn't follow the normal rules for magic. It was impossible to know what kind of weird magic a specific hag might have at their disposal, and even the lowest of them were known to have access to some minor supernatural power. Examples included rites to transform others, temporarily resurrect the dead, rewrite memories, steal emotions, crystallize blood, or invoke razor wind. [2] Green hag : The most duplicitous and hateful hags, green hags used illusions and temptation to lead others to destruction and tragedy. The forest femme fatales sought to poison that which was pure and drag down the civilized world into barbarism. [10] [1]F. Wesley Schneider (July 2006). “The Ecology of the Annis”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #345 ( Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 64–68. I write this review cautiously because (cards on the table), my views differ from those of the author on a few topics. My dad once said he didn’t think he should be able to vote in appeal the 8th because he was a man (he did vote the right way) and I feel similarly about reviewing this book in some ways as I don’t think it was written for me. Folktales provide commentary on some of our timeless needs, desires and fears. Hag is ample proof of the fact that, in the right hands, the themes of time-honoured stories can still resonate with readers (and listeners) today.