Most Famous Witches in Literature
Greetings fantasy fiends! This week I’ve put together a list of my favorite witch characters & books as well as a few favorites from Goodreads. I must admit many of these I read some years back. My obsession with fantasy began with C.S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and extended to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Merlin in Mary Stewart’s series that begins with The Crystal Cave. My reading list in the fantasy genre stretched out too long to discuss here but let’s just say I had an obsession with King Author Legends, Guinevere, and Morgan Le Fay for a while, as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.
Everyone still with me? Do I hear an, oh yeah? Ahh, thanks guys! Without further ado, here is my list. (Not necessarily in any particular order, although somewhat chronological)
#1 The Chronicles of Narnia – The White Witch
A heartless and cruel seductress through and through, we first meet The White Witch when she approaches Edmund in the wood offering him Turkish delights and a warm sleigh ride. She has the ability to turn creatures to stone and curses Narnia to an eternal winter which never brings Christmas.
#2 – Glinda of Oz
Savior of the munchkins and benefactor of the knowledge and power to best the evil witch of the west and return home, Glinda serves as a mother figure to Dorothy in later books.
#3 – Merlin
The Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart begins with The Crystal Cave and chronicles Merlin’s early years and sees him herald the coming of Arthur.
#4 – Morgan le Fay
You may see soon (no spoilers) that I will recategorize Morgan le Fay because some accounts of her lineage place her as a witch while others count her as a faerie. T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone paints Morgan as a witch of bent on destroying happiness while my favorite account, Le Mort D’ Arthur, writes her as a healer who ultimately ferries (see that word? So close to faerie!) Arthur to Avalon.
#5 – Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
This was not a book I could become interested in. Whether the writing style or storyline, I didn’t make it through the whole story. Some have told me they liked the musical more than the book, but I haven’t seen that version either. Elphaba, a misunderstood green-skinned girl, grows up to become the notorious Wicked Witch of the West.
This book has been on my reading list for a couple of years. Diana, a descendant of an old and distinguished line of witches, stumbles across an alchemical manuscript unleashing daemons, witches, and vampires upon the library housing the book, and she is the only creature who can stop the spell.
#7 – Practical Magic
The Owens sisters want nothing but escape from their small Massachusetts town where their female ancestors have been blamed for all tragedies in the village. And their aunts seem to encourage the gossip. One sister marries and the other runs away to escape the seeded history.
#8 – The Magicians
Quentin is obsessed with a childhood fantasy series, one set in a magical land called Fillory. He enrolls in a college in upstate New York only to learn it is an exclusive college of magic and modern sorcery. After graduation he realizes that Fillory is real. But his childhood dream soon becomes a nightmare.
#9 – Last but not least… the witches of The Harry Potter series
Harry is the star of this show but there are so many witches to belove in this series. Should we name them? Hermoine, Lily, Professor Minerva, Luna, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Molly Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour, and Mrs. Crouch, to name most. Who is your favorite? Which Harry Potter costume does Halloween find you in?
It was so fun to bring you this list! What are your favorite witches or witch reads? Email me @ tricia at triciacopeland dot com to share!
Love witch series? Fan of The Vampire Diaries and Mortal Instruments? You may love my Kingdom Journals series beginning with Kingdom of Embers.
