Black Annis
Also called BlackAnnis.
From English folklore, Black Annis is a blue-faced hag with iron claws. She flays her victims alive, using their skins to decorate her cave.
At a glance
- Tradition
- English folklore
- Region
- Dane Hills, Leicestershire, England (habitat)
- Trait family
- The Death-Criers
- Symbols
- Iron
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Iron bears Iron denotes meteoric power, hardness, durability, strength, and constancy, but also bondage, cruelty, war, evil, slavery, and a dark final age.
why
From English folklore, Black Annis is a blue-faced hag with iron claws.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Single eye marks monstrous hag
why
Some versions of the tale describe her as having a single eye, adding to her otherworldly and terrifying appearance.
Behaviour
- Flays victims and displays their skins
why
Black Annis doesn't merely kill her prey; she flays them alive, using their skins to decorate her cave in a grotesque display of her conquests.
- Invoked to frighten children into obedience
why
Parents would often invoke her name to frighten children into good behavior, warning them that Black Annis would come for them if they misbehaved or wandered too far from home.
Sight and sound
- Blood curdling scream
why
Legend has it that her screams can be heard for miles around, especially on dark, stormy nights.
Offensive powers
- Razor sharp talons
why
Her most distinctive features are her iron claws, sharp as razors and strong enough to tear through flesh and stone alike.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Shadow carries both readings
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Black Annis."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Black Annis."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Black Annis."
- Patricia Monaghan, The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore, p. 46.