All witches or what? From Tolkien to C.S. Lewis to Philip Pullman etc.: Magical abilities in women have always conjured up both desires and fears in the human imagination. To control magic is to possess power, and fantasy writers deal differently with female characters who possess magical powers. In epic fantasy, their magical powers often play a key role in the battle of ‘good versus evil’.
Whether they call themselves “witches” or are called so by those around them: They are all subject to prejudices, and quite a few of them are familiar to us from the real-life history of witch hunts.
Meanwhile, magic is used as a stylistic device for female empowerment. As well as being able to use their magical powers for the ‘greater good’, sorceresses and witches use magic to empower themselves and others. This lecture shows (without claiming to be exhaustive) the spectrum of magical women in fantasy.
Der Beitrag Women and magic in fantasy erschien zuerst auf MAGICCON.