Have you ever wondered who are the most famous fictional witches in mythology?
As we all know witches are mostly famous for their actions. Granted, they were not always serving the right side but they were always fighting for a cause. Those witches, whose names have been passed on in tales, are entrenched in our childhood memories. They were helping heroes fight in Ancient Greece, stole children around the world or spun the fate of mere humans on spinning machines. But most of all, they helped women fight the taboos they faced in various epochs.
Witches are usually womanly figures and some are quite beautiful, contrary to the recent belief that all witches should be old with their faces covered in pimples and warts. And they are powerful. So, beware if you decide to annoy one.
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Witches from mythology were passed down in literature under one form or another: it is said that the three witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth were borrowed from the myth of the Graiai or The Three Gray Sisters (they who had gray hair, shared one eye and one tooth), for example. Baba Yaga, the witch from Russian folktales, is another example of mythological witches passed into literature and is even the nickname of John Wick in the eponymous movie. But if you’re looking for a child’s name, it might be better to look into works of fiction than mythology. Baba Yaga might be hard to bear for a child. Considering fiction, Sabrina is a good name. It comes from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. More recently, there is Hermione from the world-famous series of Harry Potter books. And there are plenty of names of witches in history to choose from: Anne Boylen, Marie Laveau, Catherine Monvoisin… No need to go into mythology to find a beautiful witch name for your baby.
Don’t forget to check our article about the 13 Most Famous Witches in History to have a more complete view about the long story of witches and how they evolve with society.
Finally, if you’re looking for a witch name for yourself, the Internet offers plenty of websites that will help you craft the perfect name for yourself. To put this article together, we mused on many websites like this TalesBeyondBelief or this Greeka dealing with legendary facts. We read (or read again with pleasure) mythological tales like Homer’s Odyssey and folktales (Russia, Europe, the US…) from all over the world. And then, yours truly decided which were the most famous fictional witches in mythology who should absolutely make it to this list.
11. The Bell Witch
Pioneer’s lives on the frontier meant they faced all kinds of trouble. The one faced by the Bell family in the town of Adams, Tennessee, is from the stuff of legends. From 1817 to 1821, they had to contend with a poltergeist who could speak, change forms and move objects at will.
This legend has since then been passed into books, movies and there is even a dedicated museum and the Bell witch cave that people can visit.
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10. Freyja
She is a goddess, but because yours truly is writing this article, Freyja had to be included in our top.
Freyja, in Norse mythology, was in charge of love, fertility, battle and death. She would ride in the sky and on battle grounds either on a boar with gold bristles or in a chariot drawn by two big cats, named Bygul and Trigur. She also practised “seidr” (a form of Nordic witchcraft) and is said to be the one who brought it to the other gods in Norse mythology.
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9. Lilith
Lilith is a divisive figure, to say the least. She was a demon, sex goddess or a dark deity, according to whom you’re talking to.
In some folkloric texts (particularly Jewish folklore), she is said to be Adam’s first wife (before Eve). She flew out of the Garden of Eden after refusing to make herself subservient to Adam. It is difficult to pinpoint her exact origin as many tales fly around her and what she truly is, but the sure thing is, she was an amazingly strong woman and maybe the first one to stand up for womankind.
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8. Jezebel
Up next in our list of most famous fictional witches in mythology is Jezebel that is one of those characters who first existed in real life, as a Phoenician princess, no less. Or at least in the scriptures as it is, as her story is found in The Old Testament.
She is depicted as the mean girl of The Bible who managed to deter her husband, King Ahab of Israel, from worshipping Yahve and instead worship the nature god Baal. She also ordered the murder of Yahve prophets, and at a time when the major monotheist religions and older religions were fighting, Jezebel was in the middle of the battle. Her story is not a pretty one and to this day, she is associated with sorcerers and bad deeds.
7. Hecate
We are continuing our list of most famous fictional witches in mythology with Hecate that is a goddess from Greek mythology. She originally was the goddess of childbirth and wilderness and her powers as a powerful witch were added later.
She is usually represented with three faces as she, according to some, personifies different attributes of life and death. She was considered a powerful goddess at the time of Ancient Greece, but her reputation fainted over the centuries.
6. The Graeae
They first appeared in Greek Mythology and have since be seen in many tales. The Graeae are three witches who share between themselves one eye, one tooth and one wig.
They lent the eye, the tooth and the wig to the one who wish to appear to the humans. It is said Jason tricked them into helping him by stealing their eye, tooth and wig. The three sisters are either described as fair-skinned and beautiful or as old hags. The latter, for example, is how they appear in the famous Macbeth of Shakespeare as they predict a bloody future to the eponymous hero.
5. Morgan Le Fay
Morgan is one of the most famous fictional witches in mythology – from King Arthur’s tales.
Half-sister of King Arthur, a powerful sorceress, she hated her half-brother to the point of trying to kill him. According to stories, she became a powerful sorceress in order to achieve her goal to kill King Arthur but she is also a dual character. She was also seen as the healer of Avalon and enjoys culture in the large sense. By the end of King Arthur’s life, she reconciled with him and brought him to Avalon to heal him after his last battle.
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4. Baba Yaga
Famous fictional witches know no borders. They appear in many tales all over the world and usually, their stories are pretty similar to the ones we know from our own childhood.
Baba Yaga ranks 4th in our lost of most famous fictional witches in mythology. She is somewhat of an exception worth mentioning. She is known for herself as a powerful and somewhat dark witch who came from the cold Russian nights and I yet have to find her equivalent around the world. She is one of those ambivalent witches who will help the heroin attain her goal but make her go through hurdles first to judge whether she is worthy of help or not.
3. Medea
Medea is an enchantress, a royal daughter in Greek Mythology who married Jason. Jason of the famous quest for the Golden Fleece, whom Medea helped go through all his tasks by giving advice and potions.
After Jason won the Golden Fleece he fled with Medea, the next one in our list of most famous fictional witches in mythology. But he then abandoned her to marry another princess, Glauce. Medea took revenge by sending Glauce a tunique dipped in poison. She also killed the children she had with Jason and fled in a golden chariot sent by her grandfather, the god Helios. From then on, the rest is history…
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2. Circe
We are continuing our list of most famous fictional witches in mythology with Circe that is best known for the role she played in Odysseus’ travels, when the exhausted traveler stopped on the island where she resided.
Although she invited to an impressive feast, she laced the food with potions she made herself and transformed Ulysses’ companions into pigs. Her knowledge of herbs and potions was endless and she could turn men into pigs or kill with poisons at will.
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1. The Three Fates
The Three Fates, also known as the Moirai or Praeces are different from the Graeae. The Fates determined human destinies.
Even God can’t interfere with their work as the Three Fates decide when a baby is born, what will his/her destiny be and when it is time to cut the thread of life of the humans and some god alike that they oversee. Clotho is the one spinning while Lachesis measured the thread to determine the lifespan and Atropos, the last sister, was the one with the shears, who determined when lives ended.
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There are many more famous fictional witches who could have made it to this list but we wanted to focus our attention to those powerful women who became legends – the most famous fictional witches in mythology.
