Disputatio:山姥

I'm not sure about the second element. Is it the same thing as 乳母? Related to 婆? --Vlad 13:58 aug 24, 2005 (UTC)

1894: Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan Leucadii Hearn

Then we looked at the Yama-Uba—the 'Mountain Nurse.' She catches little children and nurses them for a while, and then devours them. In her face she has no mouth; but she has a mouth in the top of her head, under her hair. The YamaUba did not clutch at us, because her hands were occupied with a nice little boy, whom she was just going to eat. The child had been made wonderfully pretty to heighten the effect.

With this and lack of evidence to the contrary, I suppose 乳母 and the 姥 are probably the same word. —Myces Tiberinus 14:41 aug 24, 2005 (UTC)