'the common opinion was that these women were either the Weird Sisters, that is. 'three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures of elder world' who hail the men with glowing prophecies and then vanish 'immediately out of their sight'. Holinshed described the future King Macbeth of Scotland and his companion Banquo encountering One of Shakespeare's principal sources is the Holinshed (1587) account of King Duncan. However, modern English spelling was only starting to become fixed by Shakespeare's time and also the word weird (from Old English wyrd, fate) had connotations beyond the modern common connotation of 'eerie'. The modern appellation 'weird sisters' derives from Holinshed's original Chronicles. In later scenes in the First Folio, the witches are described as 'weyward', but never 'weird'. The weyward Sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the Sea and Land. The name 'weird sisters' is found in most modern editions of Macbeth. Macbeth's Hillock, near Brodie Castle, is traditionally identified as the 'blasted heath' where Macbeth and Banquo first met the 'weird sisters'.

Some have exaggerated or sensationalised the hags, or have adapted them to different cultures, as in Orson Welles's rendition of the weird sisters as voodoo priestesses. The witches, and their 'filthy' trappings and supernatural activities, set an ominous tone for the play.Īrtists in the eighteenth century, including Henry Fuseli and William Rimmer, depicted the witches variously, as have many directors since. Upon killing the king and gaining the throne of Scotland, Macbeth hears them ambiguously predict his eventual downfall.

Shakespeare's witches are prophets who hail Macbeth early in the play, and predict his ascent to kingship. Other possible sources, aside from Shakespeare, include British folklore, contemporary treatises on witchcraft as King James VI of Scotland's Daemonologie, the Witch of Endor from the Bible, the Norns of Norse mythology, and ancient classical myths of the Fates: the Greek Moirai and the Roman Parcae. Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland. The witches eventually lead Macbeth to his demise, and they hold a striking resemblance to the three Fates of classical mythology. The Three Witches, also known as the Weird Sisters or Wayward Sisters, are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (c. Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches' conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I.

Wyrd sisters book