Page facing 96 illustration in More English Fairy Tales

The Old Witch is an English

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

collected by

Joseph Jacobs Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacob ...

in his 1894 book, ''More English Fairy Tales''. It is also included within ''

A Book of Witches Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

'' by

Ruth Manning-Sanders Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

and ''A Book of British Fairy Tales'' by

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

. It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include ''

Frau Holle "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (als ...

'', ''

Shita-kiri Suzume , translated literally into "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", is a traditional Japanese fable telling of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an injured sparrow. The story explores the effects of greed, friendship and jealousy on the characters. Andrew L ...

'', ''

Diamonds and Toads Diamonds and Toads or Toads and Diamonds is a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, and titled by him "Les Fées" or "The Fairies". Andrew Lang included it in ''The Blue Fairy Book''. It was illustrated by Laura Valentine in ''Aunt Louisa's nur ...

'', ''

Mother Hulda "Frau Holle" ( ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle (als ...

'', '' Father Frost'', ''

The Three Little Men in the Wood "The Three Little Men in the Wood" or "The Three Little Gnomes in the Forest" (german: Die drei Männlein im Walde) is a German fairy tale collected in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 13). Andrew Lang included it in '' Th ...

'', ''

The Enchanted Wreath The Enchanted Wreath is a Scandinavian fairy tale, collected in Benjamin Thorpe in his ''Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions''. Andrew Lang adapted a variant of it for ''The Orange Fairy B ...

'', ''

The Three Heads in the Well The Three Heads in the Well is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in ''English Fairy Tales''. It is Aarne–Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include ''Shita-kiri Suzume'', ''Diamonds and Toads'', '' Mo ...

'', and ''

The Two Caskets The Two Caskets is a Scandinavian fairy tale included by Benjamin Thorpe in his ''Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions''. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Orange Fairy Book''. It is Aarne- ...

''. Literary variants include ''

The Three Fairies "The Three Fairies" is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the ''Pentamerone''. It is Aarne–Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls, and appears to stem from an oral source.Jack Zipes, ''The G ...

'' and ''

Aurore and Aimée ''Aurore and Aimée'' is a French literary fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Like her better known tale ''Beauty and the Beast'', it is among the first fairy tales deliberately written for children.Jack Zipes, ''The Great Fa ...

''.Jack Zipes, ''The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm'', p 543,

Synopsis

Once there was a couple who had two daughters, but their father had no work. The daughters wanted to seek their fortune, and one said she would go into service. Her mother said she could, if she could find a place. The daughter searched but, unable to find anything, eventually came upon an

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been us ...

full of

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

. The bread begged the girl to take it out and she obeyed. The girl continued and eventually came to a

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

that begged her to milk it which she did. An apple tree that begged her to shake down its

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s which she did. Continuing her search, the girl came upon an old

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

's house and the old witch set her to clean the house, but forbade her to ever look up the chimney. One day, she did just that and bags of money fell down. The girl immediately gathered them up and fled. Realizing what the girl had done, the old witch chased her. Each time the old witch came close to grabbing her, the apple tree and the cow hid her. When the girl came to the oven, it hid her behind it and tricked the old witch into entering, trapping her for a long time. The girl used her obtained bag of money to marry a wealthy man. Her sister decided to try the same thing, but instead she refused to help the oven, the cow, and the apple tree. When she stole the gold, the apple tree refused to hide her and the old witch caught her, beat her, and took back the bag of money.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Witch English fairy tales Female characters in fairy tales Fictional witches Witchcraft in fairy tales ATU 460-499 Joseph Jacobs

Synopsis

See also

References