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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.〔Briggs, Katharine (1976) ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures'', "Hags", p.216. ISBN 0-394-73467-X 〕 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 beneficent nor malevolent.〔Lysaght, Patricia (1986) ''The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger''. Roberts Rinehart Publishers. ISBN 1-57098-138-8. p.54〕〔Clark, Rosalind (1991) ''The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan'' (Irish Literary Studies, Book 34) Savage, Maryland, Barnes and Noble (reprint) pp.5, 8, 17, 25〕 ==Etymology== 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.〔 All these words derive from the Proto-Germanic '' *hagatusjon-''〔 which is of unknown origin, however the first element may be related to the word "hedge".〔http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hag〕〔(hag1 ) ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition'' (2000)〕 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.〔Based on a Google Book search of the exact phrase ("hag or crone" ) and ("crone or hag" ). Retrieved 29 March 2009.〕 Using the word "hag" to translate terms found in non-English (or non-modern English) is contentious, since use of the word is often associated with a misogynistic attitude. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hag」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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