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Hexen

Folklore
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

German term for witches, often associated with medieval persecution, forest rituals, and the use of flying ointments and animal familiars.

Detailed Definition
Hexen in poetry embody the historical terror of witch hunts and the erasure of female healers. They appear in feminist and historical verse as symbols of resistance—where the label “witch” was weaponized to silence wisdom, and the forest became sanctuary.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Scottish ballads, “hexen” is the plural of witch: “The hexen danced where the moon was thin”; in Goethe’s Faust, the witches’ sabbat is called “Hexenabend”; in Sir Walter Scott’s “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” “the hexen” ride through the glen with hollow eyes; in Robert Burns’ “The Witches’ Night,” the hexen chant in the storm’s eye; in Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain,” the hexen are the forces that sink the ship; in Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish,” the old woman’s gaze feels like hexen’s memory.
Additional Notes
Hexen is the German word for witches, deeply tied to medieval persecution, forest rituals, and flying ointments made of belladonna and henbane. In folklore, Hexen were often midwives, healers, or outcasts accused during times of plague. In poetry, the term evokes the violence of misogyny and the erasure of female knowledge. It is a linguistic anchor for poems on witch trials, state terror, and the silencing of dissent.
Also Known As
Witch Witches (German plural)
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