hagmarker

Hagmarker is a term encountered in folklore-inspired fantasy and in tabletop role-playing literature to describe a sigil, mark, or object associated with a hag, or witch. In such works, a hagmarker may designate a hag's territory, bind a pact, or serve as a beacon that calls or repels a hag. The exact meaning varies by setting, but the common element is a symbolic link between the hag and a place, person, or threshold.

Although the term is largely contemporary, hagmarkers echo older motifs of witches' marks and wards, which in many folk traditions function as protective or accusatory signs. In modern fiction, hagmarkers are typically depicted as signs that can be drawn, carved, or inscribed with ritual power, and their placement often dictates narrative outcomes. Materials characteristically include chalk, charcoal, ink, bone, wood, or stone, and they may be visible or concealed, depending on whether they are meant to reveal or conceal the hag's presence.

In usage, hagmarkers appear as plot devices in fantasy novels and role-playing games, enabling territory control, pursuit, or bargaining with supernatural beings. They are not grounded in real-world practice, but serve as a flexible trope for world-building and storytelling.