LL-L "Folklore" 2001.12.05 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 05.DEC.2001 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Folklore"

> From: Lone Elisabeth Olesen <baxichedda at yahoo.com>
> Subject: LL-L "Folklore" 2001.12.04
>
> Provided this being has something to do with bad
> dreams and nightly visits, there is another witch-like
> creature to be mentioned, and that is the night-Mare
> herself. In Danish a bad dream is a "mareridt" = the
> ride of the Mare. The Mare is an evil creature who
> torments people and animals (physically) in their
> sleep.

These personifications of the nightmare appear in English
literature as the "Succubus" (female) and "Incubus" (male),
demons which consort with people in their sleep. Chaucer
writes about an Incubus and, if I recall correctly, brings
up the idea current in his time that an encounter between
an Incubus and a woman always results in pregnancy.

You may actually have some personal experience of this sort of
thing - I know that from time to time I wake up in the night
with a feeling of suffocation and find myself struggling to break
free from the grip of some supernatural creature. The physiological
cause of this is that the muscles are rendered immobile in sleep in
order to prevent a sleeper from acting out their dreams - without
this we'd all be incessant somnambulists! - however, if a sleeper
is awoken suddenly by a fright received in a disturbing dream, they
may be awake for a few seconds with their physiology in a sleep-frozen
state, giving the impression of being ridden, crushed or gripped by
some unseen creature.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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