Blackadder: Thankyou, old crone. Here is a purse of money. Which I’m not going to give to you.
“Fart” fits in my case.
My mother is a crone. My mother-in-law is a hag.
In must of the fiction literature terminology I’ve seen “crone” = old wise woman or old mystical woman where the character is human and morally neutral to helpful. “Hag” generally connotes a human to human-demonic hybrid witch like entity that ranges from morally neutral to (usually) malevolent in some fashion. Hags are usually less human and more hardcore evil than crones.
Should be ‘young’.
E: Tell me Young crone, is this Putney?
C: That it be, that it be.
E: “Yes it is”. Not “that it be”. You don’t have to talk in that stupid
voice to me. I’m not a tourist. I seek information about a
Wisewoman.
C: Ah, the Wisewoman… the Wisewoman.
E: Yes, the Wisewoman.
C: Two things, my lord, must thee know of the Wisewoman. First, she is
… a woman, and second, she is …
E: … wise?
C: You do know her then?
E: No, just a wild stab in the dark which is incidentally what you’ll
be getting if you don’t start being a bit more helpful. Do you know
where she lives?
C: Of course.
E: Where?
C: Here. Do you have an appointment?
E: No.
C: Well, you can go in anyway.
E: Thank you Young crone. Here is a purse of moneys… which I’m not
going to give to you.
Crone can still be an insult, though, if it is directed at someone who is young or obviously trying to appear young. That might have caused some of the confusion between the two terms.
One is a device for lifting heavy objects, and the other is a pig.
Mustn’t omit the relevant backcronym:
Creative
Researcher
Of
New
Experiences
Could one address a crone of unknown name as Madame Crone, or is madame not appropriate for that age group?
Is there any relationship, etymological or influence-related, between “Crone” and Cronus (not Chronos), the minor classical deity?
The appropriate honorific would be “Grandmother” or a variation on such.
“Revered” or “Honored” are also good. You can’t go wrong with a little flattery, which can help assure that your cow doesn’t go dry.
Who is Cronus if not Chronos/Kronos/Kronus? I only know Cronus as another variant spelling of the youngest Titan, Zeus’ father and castrator of Uranus.
Crone vs. Hag
The catfight no-one wants to see.
There’s Chronos the personification of Time and Cronus (and its spelling variants) the Titan:
Crones have a deficiency of teeth. Hags have all their teeth - and they’re sharp!
Not according to Isaac Asimov, in his essay on The Wicked Witch.
Though the two are often conflated.
Well, yes. There is a logical connection between applying a little bull and your cow not going dry! 