Lilith

Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed to harm male children. In Isaiah 34:14, Lilith (לִּילִית, Standard Hebrew Lilit) is a kind of night-demon or animal, translated as onokentauros; in the Septuagint, as lamia; "witch" by Hieronymus of Cardia; and as screech owl in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Talmud and Midrash, Lilith appears as a night demon. She is often identified as the first wife of Adam, a legend that arose in the Middle Ages.

Lilith (1892), by John Collier

This is Loki's mom

Lilith in popular culture

• The title of the Lilith Fair was taken from the legend of Lilith as Adam's first wife, honoring her modern image as a feminist icon.
• George MacDonald's seminal fantasy Lilith (1895) builds upon the notion of Lilith as both Adam's first wife and the epitome of a creature in need of Divine redemption.
• In C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the central antagonist, the White Witch, is said to be a descendant of Lilith.
• In the roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade, Lilith is said to be the first wife of Adam who was cursed by God for her insubordination and thus became the first vampire who later imparted her knowledge to an outcast Caine.
• In the roleplaying game In Nomine, Lilith was Adam's first wife who exercised her Free Will to leave the Garden of Eden, and was later offered power by Lucifer in exchange for her ability to create the Lilim, a band of demon that only she can create. Although a human, she holds the rank of Demon Princess. She holds the word of Freedom, and is the only human known to be word-bound.
• In Neil Gaiman's long running comic book series The Sandman, Lilith is mentioned as Adam's first wife. One of her offspring (the Lilim) "Mazikeen" is a companion of Lucifer Morningstar (Sandman #23,p. 21).

See also

• Goddess
• Ishtar
• Korrigan
• Kubaba
• Lamashtu
• Succubus
• Vampire
• Lamia (monster)
• Naamah
• Norea

References

• Talmudic References: b. Erubin 18b; b. Erubin 100b; b. Nidda 24b; b. Shab. 151b; b. Baba Bathra 73a-b
• Kabbalist References: Zohar 3:76b-77a; Zohar Sitrei Torah 1:147b-148b; Zohar 2:267b; Bacharach,'Emeq haMelekh,19c; Zohar 3:19a; Bacharach,'Emeq haMelekh,102d-103a; Zohar 1:54b-55a
• Dead Sea Scroll References: 4QSongs of the Sage/4QShir; 4Q510 frag.11.4-6a//frag.10.1f; 11QPsAp
• An overview of the Lilith Mythos including analysis of the Burney Relief
• Kramer's Translation of the Gilgamesh Prologue. Kramer, Samuel Noah. "Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree: A reconstructed Sumerian Text." Assyriological Studies of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago 10. Chicago: 1938.

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Lilith
• Lilith by Alan Humm
• International standard Bible Encyclopedia: Night-Monster
• A criticism of the Lilith myth in Jewish feminism

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