Mare (folklore)

The lexical and folkloric tradition of the mare traces to Old English mære and cognates across Germanic languages (Old Norse mara; Old High German mahr/mara; Low German mahrt/mårt), derived from reconstructed Proto‑Germanic *marōn. Scholars trace the root further to Proto‑Indo‑European *mer‑ associated with crushing/pressing; late medieval and regional German sources blur distinctions among mare, alp, and related night‑beings, with some texts describing the Mare as the Alp's mother. The tradition developed as a vernacular explanation for night oppression, nightmares, and related domestic phenomena, with regional tale variants and remedies attested in places such as Pomerania, Westphalia, Rügen and other Germanic areas.

Accounts vary regionally and in tales. The mare is often presented as a female being with magical abilities and occasional shapeshifting; some local tales depict it as a girl with a defective foot (e.g., a Pomeranian daughter of a smith). Folklore also links it to equine imagery — it 'rides' horses and is associated with mare‑locks (entangled manes/hair). In narrative episodes the mara may appear semi‑corporeal (able to be trapped in a househole or caught by painting its hands and setting it on an oak in a Pomeranian tale), though precise form and sex vary by account.

Primary behavior is nocturnal affliction: the mare sits, walks, or rides on peoples' chests while they sleep, producing nightmares, a suffocating sensation, cold sweats, and a state in which victims can groan yet are otherwise speechless and hard to awaken (a feature noted in German accounts). It also rides animals (notably horses), leaving them exhausted and sweaty, and tangles human and animal hair (marelocks; regional terms marflätor, marefletter, marefloker). Some traditions and scholars link these phenomena to witch‑like soul‑flight or shapeshifting spirits whose animal forms cause similar effects.