Introduction and Short Outline of Academic Debate Concerning the Definition of a Folk Legend
Witches are a constituent part not only of Austrian folklore but of Austrian folk legend. Therefore, it is necessary to not only give the term âlegendâ some thought but discuss the boundaries and intersections of the main topics involved. Legends of witches and demonological crimes touch the general question of how historical crime reports become legendary tales and can be testimonies for a history of mentality. This question was raised by the founder of German philology (and subsequently European ethnology and folklore studies), Jacob Grimm. If we look at the definition of those texts that deal with witches and demonological crimes, German Sagen and its English translation âlegendâ, we must go back to Grimm. Grimmâs Wörterbuch defines legend as kunde von ereignissen der vergangenheit, welche einer historischen beglaubigung entbehrt 1 (âstories of the past that lack historical accreditationâ). He further speaks of naive storytelling and the transmission that has undergone changes while being passed down from generation to generation.
In German narratology, the terms Sage (translated into English by the term âlegendâ) and Legende (in German Folklore research normally used to categorise religious tales) are distinguished from each other.2 It is known that sacrilege and crime are an integral part of the stories commonly known as folk legends (German Sagen). Following Grimmâs principles, three kinds of folk legends have been identified: historical, defined as those related to an event or a personality of historical significance; mythological or demonological, or those having to do with human encounters with the supernatural world and endowment with supernatural power3 and knowledge; and etiological or explanatory, about the nature and origins of animate and inanimate things. The practice with legends showed that this threefold classification proved to be too limited because legends may be simultaneously historical, mythological and explanatory. Nevertheless, most folk-legend anthologies follow these distinctions and classify witch legends under the category demonological. Although I agree with other researchers that such categories, being restrictive and inaccurate,4 can only show rough tendencies, I would still propose the term demonological legend, especially for witch and witchcraft legends.
On some topics, the onset of legend creation began rather early: for example, the famous case of the Salzburgian Zauberer Jackl5 might even have started in his lifetime, whereas other stories show less evidence of being public during the period to which they relate. The witch figure also consolidates neighbouring concepts of similar or related figures like ghost and revenant, but also older mythological figures like Percht,6 Wild Women, giantess and SchrĂ€tel or Bilwis.7 The latter stem from the Middle Ages or even Antiquity and are surely not reflections of witch trials and their ensuing narratives. Consequently, Lutz Röhrich and, with some restrictions, Claude Lecouteux have8 argued for the tunrida or hagazussa as being more or less a demon of the woods. The typical motifs of the witch legends, riding on home appliances and flying to a mountain, appear as early as the Middle Ages. In medieval German literature, the Lower Austrian medieval author Stricker (first half of the thirteenth century) describes the Unholden as riding on a broomstick (1230), and the flight to a mountain is mentioned in the MĂŒnchner Nachtsegen of the fourteenth century.9
Within three years, two German scholars published a thesis and type index of witch legends. Alfred Wittmann in Mannheim defended a dissertation with the title Die Gestalt der Hexe in der deutschen Sage (1933), and in 1936 the folklorist and folk-song expert Johannes KĂŒnzig issued a type index: Typensystem der deutschen Volkssage with the subcategory witch legends.10 Both favour nearly the same topics: how to recognise a witch11; metamorphosis; witch ride; witch assembly and witch dance; different kinds of witches (cattle, milk, butter, and egg witches).12 A chapter about maleficium and the specific magic arts of the witch concludes the index. Wittmann begins with the witch in the witch trials, thereby incorporating the witchcraft research and discourse of his time. After the war Will-Erich Peuckertâs Handwörterbuch der Sage attempted to establish an international legend codification of similar functions like the acknowledged Aarne/Thompson Type Index and Stith Thompsonâs Motif-Index. Unfortunately, Peuckertâs handbook ended with the first volume with letter A and was never continued.13 So researchers should still turn to Stith Thompsonsâs Motif Index of Folk Literature of 1956 and all the follow-up indices, that display the entry G200-G299 witches. Ernest Baughman offered an elaboration of certain witch motifs in his Type and Motif Index of the Folktales of England and North America in 1966.14
In 1987 the historian Walter Brunner self-published the anthology Steirische Sagen von Hexen und Zauberern, which, unfortunately, did not get the attention it deserved, but I have used it here. Finally, the EnzyklopÀdie des MÀrchens, a German reference work on folktales and legends (begun by Kurt Ranke in the 1960s and continued by chief editor Rolf Brednich), contains several articles on the topics of justice, injustice, punishment, legend and witch.15
The witch figure of the folktale and the witch of the legend are rightfully distinguished from each other as two different contextual types, although they sometimes overlap. Whereas not only historical but also demonological legend is factual, folktales are considered fictional. This alleged dichotomy or opposition is often erroneous because legends are just as fictional as folktales, while the latter often mirror, if not historical occurrences, then historical lawsuits and punishments. Another point of intersection is that both concern magical practice and the devil. Although the witch seems well connected with the devil, the figure of the devil itself tends to be in the tradition of the folktale villain figures like the ogre.16 The witch of legends shows many similarities with the demonological witch of demonologists, yet also fundamental differences. The functional classification of my paper follows the well-established classification-order of the legend editions.17
In what follows, I will present a survey of Austrian witch legends by concentrating on their essential motifs and analysing their historical, pseudo-historical or mythological background.
Life and Deeds of the Witch
How to Become a Witch
Numerous accounts claim that witchcraft is a matrilineal trade passed down from mother to daughterâthe daughter of a witch is born a witch.18 This assumption is also reflected in the witch trials: judges would condemn children to death19 alongside their mothers. It was also assumed that ungodly godparents could turn a child into a witch: During the childâs baptism (which is, of course, an exorcism), the godparents had to say certain words and lines.
Witchcraft is also taught by the mother, and since each witch is bound to have trained at least one other witch by the time of her death, they turned to educating their own daughters. If the girl refuses, the mother will pursue her until she gives in. Folktales from Tyrol mention witches only passing on their gifts, chief among them stealing milk (Milchdiebstahl), to her eldest daughter.20 Witches keep wooden udders in their shrines. Whenever they desire milk, they take the udders to the stables and âmilkâ them while muttering the name of the farmer whose milk they want to steal. Milk starts to flow from the wooden udders just as it mysteriously disappears from the named farmerâs cows. A witch will only ever share her art, especially milk stealing (Passeier), with her eldest daughter.21
Should the mother not be the one to teach the child, a relative is most likely to take on the role of teacher. There is an age limit on learning this trade (the child cannot be less than seven years old), and people in countries with a Protestant majority believed that the day before the childâs confirmation was especially suited for the child to start learning the trade, whereas in Catholic countries like Austria it was the night before Holy Communion. However, most folktales concerning witches do not include a clear age reference. Children who have decided to learn the witchâs trade must undergo a formal apprenticeship with an elderly witch. In most cases the first lesson that is taught is the creation of mice without tailsâonce the apprenticeship is finished, the mice will have grown tails. Most children will not enter such an apprenticeship voluntarily; this is where adult apprentices differ from children. It is said that a witch must turn away from God and everything that is holy and godly (which, in predominantly Catholic Austria, refers to saints). The w...