"Nightmare" evokes the [[modern]] word for a [[female]] horse but the terms are wholly unrelated. The word derives from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] "mare", a [[mythological]] [[demon]] who torments [[human being]]s with [[frightening]] [[dreams]]. | "Nightmare" evokes the [[modern]] word for a [[female]] horse but the terms are wholly unrelated. The word derives from the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] "mare", a [[mythological]] [[demon]] who torments [[human being]]s with [[frightening]] [[dreams]]. |