The Crone: An Alternative to the Hag

Originally in response to the question:

In D&D is there a creature that is the good or neutral equivalent to a hag?

I don’t know of any such creatures canonically in 5th edition which are good or neutral versions of the hag.

Swanmays

The closest equivalent I can think of from previous editions are Swanmay. The Swanmay are a secretive sisterhood of shapechangers (swan specific) with ranger-like abilities. I knew of them originally from the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual, but they also show up as a playable race in the Complete Book of Humanoids. Swanmays are not exactly the same concept as hags, but kind of have a magic women of the wilderness type thing going on.

I strongly suspect that Gygax (or some other creative person working in the D&D sphere) got the idea for Swanmays for them from Poul Anderson's novel Three Hearts and Three Lions, where one of the primary characters is a Swanmay.

But even if there's not a perfect match for hags-but-good in D&D, I’m always interested in the idea of reskinning the descriptions of existing things and changing their powers just slightly to represent new things. In this spirit here’s a new entry:

The Crone

Crones occur when a mortal woman forms a particular sort of affinity with the Triple Goddess archetype, gaining certain powers but being bound to certain restrictions.

Each Crone gains powers similar to those of a Hag, but while they are physically tough in a fight, their spell-like abilities tend to favor enchantment, divination, healing, nature, and less violent means of immobilizing intruders.

Crones tend to live in somewhat isolated areas, but often within a day’s walk of some small community. They seem to have an dual attachment to both the natural and human worlds.

Many rumors about Crones abound, some may even be true:

• Each crone is as different from the other as a deer is from a tree or a pond. Each seems to shape, or be shaped by, the land she dwells in.

• At the changing of the seasons, all the Crones in a land gather in conclave to weave the next season’s fortunes into being.

• Crones can be salty, mercurial, or violent to those who intrude upon their domains. Interlopers have been put under geas or turned into beasts or trees for their impertinence. While men are more apt to experience their immediate ire than women, anyone showing particular arrogance or threatening a Crone’s charges is likely to incur their wrath.

• Each Crone has a weakness for some adored thing. It might be something simple such as babies or young children, food or clothing that is rarely found anymore, particular songs, specific pet animals, men with a certain facial shape. In the presence of their weakness, a Crone loses none of her powers but is more apt to interpret things in a positive light.

• Even the most hostile and misanthropic crones are bound by metaphysical laws to perform certain acts if called upon. These may include:

• To succor women or children from abusers or other calamity.

• To assist women through pregnancy or other life transitions.

• To perform certain seasonal or holiday rituals for a nearby community.

• To divine what price must be paid, or what action or quest must be performed to assist a community through a drought, invasion, haunting, or other crisis.

Related Depictions

There are a number of depictions (or discussions) I'm aware of regarding cruel or merely cantankerous magical old women living outside society, some of whom might fit either the hag or crone archetypes (or straddle the line.  The few that come immediately to mind are:

• Xan (from The Girl Who Drank The Moon) - This is the character who probably most directly inspired the Crone description above.

• Baba Yaga - A witch and/or ogress of Slavic folklore.
• The first part of Monday Begins on Saturday features a version of Baba Yaga somewhat tamed by the vagaries of Soviet thaumaturgical bureaucracy.  Her residence, the Log Hut on Chicken Legs (LOHUCHIL), now partially converted into a museum and boarding house, by requirement of appropriate authorities and committee decisions.

• Yama-uba - A mountain witch of Japanese folklore.

• Black Annis - Of English folklore. Actually gets a specific depiction in some D&D products.
• There's a song of the same name (covered here by Solas), originally written by Antje Duvekot.  Uses the imagery of Black Annis, but apparently inspired by an abusive family situation.

• Zeniba & Yubaba (from Spirited Away) - Seem somewhat inspired by Baba Yaga (albeit a slightly less terrifying depiction).

• Smallhead and the King's Sons - An unnamed hag is one of the primary antagonists in this Celtic folktale.

• Mother Gerd (from Three Hearts and Three Lions) - One of the first characters the protagonist comes across upon leaving WWII Europe and entering the more magical alternate reality.  She is an obsequiously helpful yet duplicitous witch of questionable allegiance.  Maybe not as powerful as the typical hag depiction, but certainly in the vein of unsettling old magic women living in the woods.

• Why Are Old Women Often The Face Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Folklore? - Article/discussion on the topic.  Title is self esplanatory.