We’re getting closer to Elderwitch being released so I thought I’d share with you a little more about my inspirations. In particular, in this post, I’m going to tell you a little about my love of witches and how I ended up with my elderwitch.
So, just to clarify, before I go on, in this blog post, I am writing about fictional witches who are often portrayed as evil or bad, and I am writing about my experiences of reading about them as I was growing up. This is not to be confused with women in real life who identify as witches and believe in or practise witchcraft. You have my total respect.
My mum once told me how, as a very young child, I used to love stories involving witches. And I remember this. I loved and still do love fairy tales and the ones with witches, the more evil the better. I think my favourite overall was the witch in Hansel and Gretel. I really don’t think there could be a scarier witch in any children’s book. Think about it, a witch who tempts children into her home by covering it in cakes and sweets, and then fattens up the boy child to eat him and tries to throw the little girl into a boiling hot oven – that is some kind of bad. In the original version, it is the mother who really wants rid of the children, not the step-mother – this was changed at some point in history to make the story less shocking. But what is worse, though, a mother abandoning her children in the forest because she doesn’t want to feed them anymore or a witch who wants to eat them? Maybe they are two sides of the same coin? (Don’t think for one moment, I've forgotten about the weak father who is also totally complicit in this story, I’m just not talking about the guys at this moment!)
The other story I loved as a child was Sleeping Beauty. I only learnt of the 14th century version, on which later stories seemed to have been based, as an adult, but that version is dark, too dark for me, and also doesn’t involve a witch or a wicked fairy! The power that Sleeping Beauty’s angry fairy had to put such a curse on a baby that would hang over her for sixteen years scared me as a child as did the witch who cut off Rapunzel’s hair and lay in wait for her prince. What redeemed these stories for me, though, is that they all had happy endings. This is what makes them palpable for children who like these types of tales, evil has been defeated and everyone lives happily ever after. (On a side note, see if you can spot the little motifs of a spinning wheel and thorns in Elderwitch. Unfortunately, though, there is no house of sweets!)
Maybe, then, it was inevitable that, for my first attempt at a full blown novel, a witch, or indeed a world of witches, would sit at its centre but how did that evolve? When my children were very young, I was also having to manage the care of my aunt who was living with dementia. I’d have to drive regularly from London to Spalding in Lincolnshire and, if any of you know by any chance, that journey, towards the end there is a very long and flat road that cuts through the Fens, past Crowland and onto my aunt’s – a road I had been travelling all my life. I’d always found it a really monotonous drive and would listen to a lot of talk radio to keep my mind alert. One time I ended up listening to a programme about the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. I love history, particularly ancient history, so my ears pricked up. There were lots of myths surrounding these standing stones but one got me really excited: the stones were originally an ancient conquering king and his soldiers who had been cursed by the elder mother and turned into stone. I loved the idea of the elder mother and became obsessed with researching her and other myths and legends until Morphira le Breton, aka the elderwitch, was born. Of course, she didn’t arrive as a finished package, she changed and grew over the years as did her story. But, right from the beginning, there was always her, Morphira, Emeline (originally called Elizabeth) and a younger brother called Richard.
Witches serve a function in all these old stories. Such female characters who do not ‘behave’ or conform are often rooted in misogyny and are archetypally evil. Such thoughts around this topic warrant a separate blog post, which I will write at some point, because the way in which such literary prejudice reflects back on societal constructs of women I think is really important to discuss. For now, though, I am just focusing on my badass witches. Evil and good, however, are complex enigmas which, of course, lead back to the age old question ‘can someone ever be truly bad?’ I’m not an expert, but I think probably yes but the key thing is to understand what makes someone evil in the first place, even a fictional character. Every witch has a back story – just look at Elphaba, you can’t get more complex than her. And think of Medea in Greek literature who committed the ultimate crime of murdering her children. I’m not making any excuses for her, but she did not start off as pure evil. Do you remember Jadis, the White Witch, from the Narnia series of books, played beautifully in a film adaptation by Tilda Swinton? I think she is a little different. She comes from a generation of bad and is pretty evil from the offset, and I don’t think C.S. Lewis had any inclination to try and make her nuanced or just a tiny bit good! Interestingly, her super power is to turn her enemies into stone, like the Elder Mother of the Rollright Stones. Lewis lived and taught in Oxford and I’m pretty sure he would have been aware of the stones and their history. So, there you go – Morphira and her evolution from the Elder Mother and Jadis have a tenuous link!
Despite this blog post being about bad witches, it is also important to remember some of the good witches of literature, of which there are plenty. Glinda, the good witch from the Wizard of Oz is an obvious example, although her ‘goodness’ is more morally questionable in Wicked. Also, think of Serafina Pekkala from His Dark Materials protecting Lyra and patrolling the skies with her clan of witches and their bird daemons. If you’re looking for a more contemporary portrayal, how about Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries? – probably one of the most powerful characters in the series, yet kind and fiercely loyal to her friends. In Elderwitch too, there are plenty of good witches who you will come to meet over the Treewitch series. I don’t think I am giving anything away if I say to you that the hazelwitch Col ap Collen has to be my favourite.
Our main witch, for now though, is the deliciously wicked Morphira le Breton and she has a back story too. But I’m certainly not going to tell you about it here, that would be silly of me!
Who is your favourite bad witch? I’d love to know.
Bye for now
Lucie x