A handmaiden (or handmaid) is a female assistant (or slave) that waits at hand as a servant or attendant. Typically, queens and princesses of old would have a handmaiden - they also feature in fiction, particularly fantasy and science fiction (such as the The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Doctor Who), and mythology - Norse goddesses (such as Frigga) frequently had handmaidens, as did Biblical characters such as Leah, and Mary. [1] Slave redirects here. ... A servant is a person who is hired to provide regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. ... Cleopatra is one of the most well-known queens regnant A queen regnant (plural queens regnant) is a female monarch who possesses all the monarchal powers that a king would have without regard to gender. ... Princess is the feminine form of prince (from Latin princeps, meaning principal citizen). ... // Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is the genre of imaginative prose literature, including novels and short stories. ... Smaug in his lair: an illustration for the fantasy The Hobbit Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the British academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, (and a 1996 television movie). ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from μυολογείν mythologein to relate myths, from μύος mythos, meaning a narrative, and λόγος logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Frigga can refer to: An alternative name for the Norse goddess Frigg. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... Look up Leah, לֵאָה in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... According to the New Testament, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים, Maryām, from Hebrew Miriam) was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth; at the time of his conception she was betrothed (or engaged) to Joseph and was a virgin. ...

Handmaidens also feature heavily in rites associated with the Wiccan religion. A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act. ... For other uses, see Wicca (disambiguation). ...

Typically a handmaiden was a woman of common birth, who would take a new name upon their appointment. They would be expected to be subservient and submissive. A name is a label for a human, thing, place, product (as in a brand name) and even an idea or concept, normally used to distinguish one from another. ...

Handmaiden was also a common euphemism for a concubine; a man might use a handmaiden to bear his child if his wife was infertile - an example of this is the handmaiden (Bilhah) of the Biblical character Rachel, who gave birth to two of Jacob's children. The handmaids in Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale are another example. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A swampy marsh area ... Infertility is the inability to naturally conceive a child or to carry a pregnancy to full term. ... In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah (בִּלְהָה Faltering; bashful, Standard Hebrew Bilha, Tiberian Hebrew Bilhāh) is a concubine of Jacob, and bears him two sons, Dan and Naphtali. ... Look up Rachel, רחל in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ... Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian writer. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... The Handmaids Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985. ...

An alternative role of handmaiden is also believed by some to have been brought into being through a development within Egyptian religious practices. One of the early gods, Atum, was supposed to have brought the world into being through self-fornication. However, there was a later development whereby a female entity was brought into the story, who assisted the act of fornication. She was literally using her hands. History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ...

In subsequent ritual, a priestess would assist the priest in the ceremony, through the use of a carving representing Atum's penis. These female priests were important within the ritual for they assisted in the creation of the world. History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ...

Likewise, there are numerous references to prostitutes near or within the religious buildings. This is a mistaken representation of their role, for the priestesses were, as well as oft being 'handmaidens', involved in 'sex magic' rituals. It was believed that the culmination of the process of sex brought the participants closer to 'god' or closer to where they could commune with either gods or enlightenment. In this role, these handmaidens were essential in the process of bringing people closer to enlightenment.

See also

• Nurse stereotypes

// Nurse stereotypes have the ability to affect the way people relate to nurses in a harmful manner and may even discourage people from entering or practicing the profession. ...

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• Lady-in-waiting