Black Annis
Encyclopedia
Black Annis, also known as Black Agnes, is a bogeyman
figure in English folklore
. She is imagined as a blue-faced crone
or witch with iron claws and a taste for human (especially child) flesh. She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire
, living in a cave in the Dane Hills
, with an oak
tree at its entrance.
She supposedly goes out onto the glens at night looking for unsuspecting children and lamb
s to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree, before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig into the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis's Bower. The legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would catch them if they did not behave.
The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as Lethbridge did, that the origin can be found in Celtic mythology
, based on Danu
(or Anu), or it may derive from Germanic mythology (see Hel
). Donald A. McKenzie in his 1917 book Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the mother-goddess of ancient Europe, which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. and he identified Black Annis as being similar to the Indic
Kali
, Gaelic
Muilearteach and Cailleach Bheare, the Greek
Demeter
, the Mesopotamian Labartu, the Egyptian Isis
-Hathor
and Neith
.
It has been suggested that the legend may derive from a popular memory of sacrifice to an ancient goddess.
It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings.
Annis was also represented in cat form and the legend led to a local ritual in early spring, when a dead cat would be dragged before a pack of hounds in front of her bower, to celebrate the end of winter.
Ronald Hutton
however disagrees with such theories, in his book The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, suggests that the Black Annis of Leicestershire legend was based on a real person, Agnes Scott, a late medieval anchoress
(or by some accounts a Dominican
nun who cared for a local leper colony), born in Little Antrum, who lived a life of prayer in the cave in the Dane Hills, and was buried in the church yard in Swithland
. Hutton suggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis, either to frighten local children, or due to the anti-anchorite sentiment that arose from the Protestant Reformation
. In Victorian times, the story of Agnes Scott, or Annis, became confused with the similarly named goddess Anu. T.C. Lethbridge made this connection and went on to claim that Annis was the personification of the Great Goddess in crone form, leading to interest from Wicca
n groups. Her legend resembles the Black Lady of Bradley Woods
.
, Black Annis had a random chance of terrorizing the people of a given territory, lowering their loyalty to the territory's ruler.
In his run on Doom Patrol
, Scottish
comics writer Grant Morrison
made a monstrous figure with the same name one of the superpowered
"alters" of his character Crazy Jane
, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. This version of Black Annis is a blue-skinned, red-eyed, psychopath with sharp iron claws growing out of her knuckles.
Black Annis made a brief appearance in the short story "London Falling
", which was published in the comic book 2000AD. The character also appeared briefly in the Dark Horse Comics
series Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
. The battle between her and Hellboy is recounted in a single panel in the fourth issue.
"Black Annis" is also the name of a song by Antje Duvekot
. A different song of the same name, by Spiral Dance
, is about Black Annis being misunderstood as an evil witch.
In the Dungeons & Dragons
role playing game the annis hag
is a powerful monstrous humanoid.
Black Annis is mentioned briefly in Michael Scott
's novel The Alchemyst and its sequel, The Magician. She is said to be a vile and dark creature, and even thinking about her can cause madness.
Black Annis is mentioned as one of the Wych-kin in Chris Wooding's The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, and is initially suggested to be Stitch-Face's mother.
Variations on the name are often used for witch or magic-related characters, such as DC Comics
' Black Alice or the Discworld
universe
's Black Aliss.
Bogeyman
A bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
figure in English folklore
English folklore
English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
. She is imagined as a blue-faced crone
Hag
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. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or...
or witch with iron claws and a taste for human (especially child) flesh. She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, living in a cave in the Dane Hills
Dane Hills
Dane Hills is a large area on the western side of the English city of Leicester,consisting of the smaller areas of Newfoundpool, Western Park, and New Parks, which is bounded by Glenfield to the west. A cave in this area was known as Black Annis's Bower, the cave being reputed to be the lair of a...
, with an oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
tree at its entrance.
She supposedly goes out onto the glens at night looking for unsuspecting children and lamb
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
s to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree, before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig into the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis's Bower. The legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would catch them if they did not behave.
Origins
It is thought that the earliest written reference to Black Annis was from the eighteenth century, from which a title deed referred to a parcel of land as "Black Anny's Bower Close".The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as Lethbridge did, that the origin can be found in Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
, based on Danu
Danu (Irish goddess)
In Irish mythology, Danu is the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann . Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land.-Name:...
(or Anu), or it may derive from Germanic mythology (see Hel
Hel
Hel may refer to:* Hel , a location in Norse mythology* Hel , ruler of Hel, the location* Hel , a Swedish Viking rock band* Hel, Poland, a town on the Polish Baltic coast* Hel Peninsula, the peninsula on which the town is situated...
). Donald A. McKenzie in his 1917 book Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the mother-goddess of ancient Europe, which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. and he identified Black Annis as being similar to the Indic
Indic
Indic can refer to:* Indo-Aryan languages* Indic scripts* Related to the Indian Subcontinent* of or related to India ; see Indica...
Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
Muilearteach and Cailleach Bheare, the Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, the Mesopotamian Labartu, the Egyptian Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
-Hathor
Hathor
Hathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
and Neith
Neith
In Egyptian mythology, Neith was an early goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. She was the patron deity of Sais, where her cult was centered in the Western Nile Delta of Egypt and attested as early as the First Dynasty...
.
It has been suggested that the legend may derive from a popular memory of sacrifice to an ancient goddess.
It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings.
Annis was also represented in cat form and the legend led to a local ritual in early spring, when a dead cat would be dragged before a pack of hounds in front of her bower, to celebrate the end of winter.
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
however disagrees with such theories, in his book The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, suggests that the Black Annis of Leicestershire legend was based on a real person, Agnes Scott, a late medieval anchoress
Anchorite
Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
(or by some accounts a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
nun who cared for a local leper colony), born in Little Antrum, who lived a life of prayer in the cave in the Dane Hills, and was buried in the church yard in Swithland
Swithland
Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is in the old Charnwood Forest, between Cropston and Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves. Although small, it has a village hall, a parish church, and a pub. The village is known for the slate that was quarried in the...
. Hutton suggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis, either to frighten local children, or due to the anti-anchorite sentiment that arose from the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. In Victorian times, the story of Agnes Scott, or Annis, became confused with the similarly named goddess Anu. T.C. Lethbridge made this connection and went on to claim that Annis was the personification of the Great Goddess in crone form, leading to interest from Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
n groups. Her legend resembles the Black Lady of Bradley Woods
Black Lady of Bradley Woods
The Black Lady of Bradley Woods is a ghostly figure of a woman supposed to haunt the woods near the village of Bradley, Lincolnshire, England. She is described by alleged eyewitnesses as being a young and pretty woman around 5"6 inches tall, dressed in a flowing black cloak and a black hood...
.
In popular culture
In the 1992 Super Nintendo video game GemfireGemfire
Gemfire is a medieval war game for the MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, FM-Towns, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, and later Windows, developed by Koei. The object in the game is to unify a fictional island by force...
, Black Annis had a random chance of terrorizing the people of a given territory, lowering their loyalty to the territory's ruler.
In his run on Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
comics writer Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
made a monstrous figure with the same name one of the superpowered
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
"alters" of his character Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane is a fictional character created by Grant Morrison and Richard Case for their work on the Vertigo Comics version of the Doom Patrol...
, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. This version of Black Annis is a blue-skinned, red-eyed, psychopath with sharp iron claws growing out of her knuckles.
Black Annis made a brief appearance in the short story "London Falling
London Falling
London Falling is a strip in 2000 AD, created by comic book writer Simon Spurrier and Lee Garbett the artist. It explores bogeymen from English folklore and mythology wreaking havoc in a modern day setting....
", which was published in the comic book 2000AD. The character also appeared briefly in the Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
series Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
. The battle between her and Hellboy is recounted in a single panel in the fourth issue.
"Black Annis" is also the name of a song by Antje Duvekot
Antje Duvekot
Antje Duvekot is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Somerville, Massachusetts. holds three top songwriting awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Competition's Best New Folk Award, Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act and Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting...
. A different song of the same name, by Spiral Dance
Spiral Dance
Spiral dance, also called the Grapevine dance and the Weaver’s dance, is a Neopagan group dance emphasizing community and rebirth, although it is also used as an effective way to raise power in a ritual...
, is about Black Annis being misunderstood as an evil witch.
In the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role playing game the annis hag
Hag (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, hags are witchlike beings that use magic to spread havoc and destruction, and slay all whom they encounter.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
is a powerful monstrous humanoid.
Black Annis is mentioned briefly in Michael Scott
Michael Scott (Irish author)
Michael Scott is an Irish author.Michael Scott is a seasoned and prolific writer of over 100 books during his 25 plus years of writing thus far...
's novel The Alchemyst and its sequel, The Magician. She is said to be a vile and dark creature, and even thinking about her can cause madness.
Black Annis is mentioned as one of the Wych-kin in Chris Wooding's The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, and is initially suggested to be Stitch-Face's mother.
Variations on the name are often used for witch or magic-related characters, such as DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Black Alice or the Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
's Black Aliss.