Yâa Mŭu Hrìng

A woman with the 'gift of the gab' and a 'Golden tongue', whose verbal fencing is as sharp as any blade.

The Name

ย่าหมูหริ่ง (Yâa Mŭu Hrìng /jaː˥˩ muː hriːŋ/), spelled Yaa Moo Hring in English in the novella Lotus, Mud, Blade.
Yâa means grand-mother or respected elder. Mŭu Hrìng means Hog Badger, the Thai badger, recognisable at its prominent snout and trilling when angry.

The Person

A woman with the gift of the gab, literally a poet-born, as Indra breathed on her. She is a golden tongue (Fire of Indra). This manifests in key scenes where she seems to have a golden aura.

Character Notes

By turns a columnist, a pastiche writer, a seductress, a captivating and enchanting woman, Yaa Moo Hring is a “woman of words” who transforms everything into words. Her journey from using wit as a weapon to a sacrificial shield is the heart of her story.

Grotesque by physical disgrace, she is sublime in her sense of transcendence, bravery, and sacrifice. She unites physical courage with a deep, hidden shyness.

Spoiler: Origins & Further Adventures

This shapeshifting badger spirit manifested for the first time in human form as Moo Hring. The novella *Lotus, Mud, Blade* is only part of the story. Badger's history traces back to the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Vimaya) in the late 15th century, but she will also re-appear as Anaguma Badger [Anaguma] in the novel The Kabuki Book during the Edo period of Feudal Japan, and even beyond.