"This meticulous charting of monstrous female creatures of legend is endlessly fascinating, and shot-through with formidable wit, wisdom and fresh takes on history."
From Lilith, the demonic temptress who ensnared Adam, to lesser-known creatures like Lamia, who lured “shipwrecked sailors to her with her beautiful face and chest before eating them alive”, Sarah Clegg’s Woman's Lore takes readers on a thrilling journey through 4000 years of culture that’s cast women as sirens, serpents and succubi. Noting that “the similarities between these serpentine, child- and mother-killing succubi are no coincidence,” the author seeks to understand how and why this tradition has “spanned almost the entirety of human history”. And what a journey it is.
In these pages, we discover the Mesopotamian origins of these monstrously-cast women courtesy of Lamashtu, a baby-murdering, dog-headed demon with grotesquely clawed fingers who was the subject of incantations, rituals and amulets. Somewhat turning expectations on their head, it seems incantations to Lamashtu were one of the ways women sought to protect themselves from the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth.
Citing several equally-as-fascinating examples (we move from the ancient world through to the vamps of early cinema, and beyond), the author reveals how male-controlled societies appropriated such figures and practices, before the tide turned again and the likes of Lilith were reclaimed by women, from second-wave feminists in the 1960s and 1970s, to contemporary LBGTQ+ activists.
Concluding with the rousing assertion that such demons are “a testament to the resilience of women’s traditions and beliefs: surviving for millennia, for the most part either ignored, mocked or appropriated by men, but passed nonetheless from woman to woman down through the centuries”, this fascinating book is a triumph, much like the women’s lore it explores.
| Primary Genre | History |
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The history of a demonic tradition that was stolen from women - and then won back again.
Creatures like Lilith, the seductive first wife of Adam, and mermaids, who lured sailors to their death, are familiar figures in the genre of monstrous temptresses who use their charms to entice men to their doom.
But if we go back 4,000 years, the roots of these demons lie in horrific creatures like Lamashtu, a lion-headed Mesopotamian demon who strangled infants and murdered pregnant women, and Gello, a virgin ghost of ancient Greece who killed expectant mothers and babies out of jealousy. Far from enticing men into danger and destruction, these monsters were part of women's ritual practices surrounding childbirth and pregnancy. So how did their mythology evolve into one focused on the seduction of men?
Sarah Clegg takes us on an absorbing and witty journey from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day, encountering a multitude of serpentine succubi, a child-eating wolf-monster of ancient Greece, the Queen of Sheba and a host of vampires. Clegg shows how these demons were appropriated by male-centred societies, before they were eventually recast as symbols of women's liberation, offering new insights into attitudes towards womanhood, sexuality and women's rights.
Woman's Lore 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi features in the following genres: History, General and world history, Feminism and feminist theory, Social and cultural history, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology), Society and Social Sciences, Society and culture: general, Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge, Social groups, communities and identities, Gender studies, gender groups, Gender studies: women and girls, History and Archaeology, History: specific events and topics, Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations
Woman's Lore 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi is available in Hardback, Ebook (Epub)
Woman's Lore 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi was written by Sarah Clegg and published by Apollo, Head of Zeus
£8.79
