Note 117 — RAFF

"Dame Hulda," or "Holda," or Frau Holle: a goddess who was at first benign, then a seductress of men, later the sovereign temptress of the "Venusberg" (the Venus of Wagner's "Tannhäuser"). "She became," says the inimitable Mr. Hale, "a wanton in league with Satan. She was still beautiful in front, but had a tail behind, as the master whom she served; 'to go with Holle' was to join a witch party; and at last she was an ugly old woman, long-nosed, snag-toothed, with bristling, thickly matted hair. All children that die unbaptized go to Holda, and they shriek behind her when she rides, clothed and in a coach, in company with the Wild Huntsman and Wotan."