why are nightmares called nightmares?

Answer 1

Nightmare. A sensation in sleep as of something heavy were sitting on one's breast; formerly supposed to be caused by a monster who actually did this; it was not unfrequently called the night-hag, or the riding of the mite!. The second syllable is the A.S. mare (old Norse mara), an incubus, and appears again in the French equivalent cauchemar, "the fiend that tramples." The word is now more often employed to describe a frightening dream, a night terror.

Answer 2

Nightmare was the original term for the state later known as waking dream (cf Mary Shelley and Frankenstein's Genesis), and more currently as sleep paralysis, associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The original definition was codified by Dr Johnson in his A Dictionary of the English Language and was thus understood, among others by Erasmus Darwin and Henry Fuseli, to include a "morbid oppression in the night, resembling the pressure of weight upon the breast."

Such nightmares were widely considered to be the work of demons and more specifically incubi, which were thought to sit on the chests of sleepers. In Old English, the being in question was called a mare or mære (from a proto-Germanic *marōn, related to Old High German and Old Norse mara), whence comes the mare part in nightmare.

Answer 3

Nightmare replace into the unique term for the state later common as waking dream (cf. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein's Genesis), and extra at present as sleep paralysis, linked with speedy eye circulation (REM) sleep. the unique definition replace into codified via Dr Johnson in his A Dictionary of the English Language and alter into for this reason understood, between others via Erasmus Darwin and Henry Fuseli,[4] to incorporate a "morbid oppression for the period of sleep, corresponding to the tension of weight upon the breast." Such nightmares have been broadly seen to be the artwork of demons and extra quite incubi, that have been concept to take a seat on the chests of sleepers. In previous English the call for those beings replace into mare or mære (from a proto-Germanic *mar?n, concerning to previous severe German and previous Norse mara), whence comes the mare section in nightmare. So do no longer project approximately horses coming to chew you at nighttime ;)

Answer 4

The mare part of the word means goblin.

Answer 5

ummm it happens at night and uhhhhhhh idont no the mare part