Jenny Greenteeth
In northern England, children were told that a green-toothed river hag lurked under the weed-covered water of ponds, waiting to pull them in.
What was reported
In Lancashire, Cheshire and neighbouring counties, generations of children were warned about Jenny Greenteeth, a hag with green skin, long hair and sharp green teeth who hid beneath the surface of ponds and rivers, especially where the water was covered with green duckweed.
If a child leaned too close to the water's edge, she would reach up and drag them under.
Explanations offered
Folklorists see her as a 'nursery bogey', a frightening figure invented to keep children away from dangerous water. Duckweed-covered ponds look like solid ground, so the warning had a real purpose. In some areas the duckweed itself was called Jenny Greenteeth.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Lancashire, England
- Witnesses
- Northern English tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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