Famous Witches in Literary History

image credit: Maria Innocentia Hummel

The Wicked Witch of the West acquired world fame with her movie appearance. She is the main villain in The Wizard of Oz, the first book from the Oz series by Frank Baum. Her appearance in the book, illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, is quite different than her looks in the movie. He portrayed her with one eye, with a pirate patch. Other illustrators who portrayed her later sometimes followed his perception and sometimes did not.

The movie, however, made a huge difference. The Wicked Witch of the West was presented with a green face. This green not only became her signature sign but also one of the Halloween colors. Frank Baum later wrote dozens of Oz-related books. Still, there was no room for Wicked Witch of the West. She died in the first book and is rarely mentioned later.

This is probably the most well-known witch on the planet. She lives in the woods in a gingerbread house, waiting for children to eat them. She is a cannibal, and this makes her extremely unpopular. Her looks don't help, either. Most illustrators portray her as an old woman with a crooked nose and back. Brothers Grimm wrote she can't see well, so she relies on her senses of smell and touch. Also, she is not very smart. Luckily, Gretel knows how to use these characteristics to save her and her brother.

credit: Carl Offterdinger's Hansel and Gretel

Witches are not necessarily ugly. We actually often forget that Snow White's stepmother is a witch. Still, she has a magic mirror, a poisonous apple, and so on. Her beauty is her advantage and her weakness. Her vanity leads to her attempts to kill Snow White and eventually an invitation to her stepdaughter's wedding.

She is forced to dance in hot iron shoes until she dies. Careful reading gives us a hint - witches can be destroyed with the help of iron and heat.

For some reason, witches like to kill children, and their hate continues even if they are not children anymore. A stepmother from a bit less-known Grimms' fairy tale Little Brother and Little Sister wants to kill her stepkids. They escape into the woods, but she puts a spell on the brooks, and they will turn into wild animals if they drink water from them. Sister is able to resist and takes care of her brother, who can't.

A few years later, she meets a king, marries him, and gets a child. Her brother, who is still turned into a deer, lives with them. But the evil stepmother finds out about their happiness, kills the young queen, and turns her own daughter into her double to replace the queen's place in the court and bed.

credit: Little Brother and Little Sister by Franz Stassen

Luckily, this story ends with a dead witch and saved kids (the dead queen returns to life, and her brother regains human form).

The story of Rapunzel by the Grimm Brothers is another example of the wicked witch. She is interesting because of her relationship with herbs (she has a large garden with fatal salad) and isolation. When she gets a baby girl, she puts her into a tower without doors, and the girl can only be reached by climbing up her long hair.

The witch from Rapunzel is very possessive. When she realizes Rapunzel is seeing a prince, she arranges the accident. Rapunzel loses her hair, and the intruder stays without his sight. The witch in Grimms' Rapunzel is never punished. Still, there is a happy ending.

While we can't deny the mighty powers of the title character from Andersn's masterpiece, the Snow Queen is not a witch. Yet, Gerda has to deal with one - an old lady with a garden full of flowers who makes Gerda forget Kai and stay with her forever.

As we can see, possessiveness is not reserved for one witch only.

credit: Snow Queen by Edmund Dulac

But just like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, the witch from Snow Queen has a flaw - she is forgetful. Gerda remembers her old life and the reason for leaving the safety of her home. The story ends well, and the witch survives in this case, as well.

As we have already noticed, the witches are not always one-dimensional. Ursula from Andersen's Little Mermaid is definitely on the bad side, but she can offer help to the main character. She can turn her into a human. Her price is high, yet she is fair enough to warn the mermaid in love of the consequences of her decisions.

Even more - Ursula is willing to save the poor mermaid when she is already sentenced to death. Her price is high, again, but we can't say she is all bad!

Baba Yaga is an intriguing character from Slavic folklore. Yes, she is scary. Yes, she has nasty habits. Yes, she occasionally kills people and collects human skulls. And, of course, she lives in a hut on chicken legs. On the other side, Baba Yaga can help the heroes and heroines of the stories if only they are courageous enough.

We can say Baba Yaga represents a test of maturity.

Circe is a witch from the Odyssey. She is beautiful and falls in love with the title character of this famous Greek epic. She likes to drug people and turn them into animals. She wants to keep Odyssey with her forever of until she gets tired of him (another possessive lady), whichever comes first. But he is protected with a magical herb, and they eventually make an agreement.

credit: Odyssey by John Flaxman

He stays with her for a year, and she lets him and his crew (conveniently turned from pigs back to humans) on the ship. She also tells him how to pass a dangerous passage between Scylla and Charybdis with the least causalities. By the way, Circe also had an episode with poisonous water sometime before she met Odyssey.

10. La Befana

Befana is a folklore character in Italy. In essence, she is an equivalent to Santa Claus. She visits people on Epiphany Eve and gives children presents. She climbs down the chimneys like Santa. While Santa receives cookies and milk, Befana receives different offerings, depending on the customs of the specific area. Still, she is a bit contradictory. Why?

Because she punishes naughty children, typically leaving them coal, garlic, and similar unpleasant 'gifts'.

Here we are. The End.