Create Your Own Familiar

We've been traveling around the country visiting schools and at each one the students have created their own Familiar Story.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Macbeth's Sisters' Familiars

In the spirit of March Madness, here on the blog this month we will be holding the first official Familiar Madness Tournament. 16 of the all-time great familiars from literature, film, and television will face off in a single elimination tourney to decide who is the greatest of them all.

13. Graymalkin, Paddock, and Harpier - the familiars of the Three Witches in Macbeth



The three witches contributed to Macbeth’s boldness, overconfidence, and destruction, aided along the way by their familiars. Greymalkin is the witches' attendant, a gray cat. Paddock is a toad. The familiar of the third witch is Harpier, an owl. These three devils in disguise imbue the witches with supernatural powers that enable them to lead Macbeth to his demise.



As the witches say in the play, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair." Is three company or a crowd for these evil animal companions?

Tomorrow: Meet the feline familiar of a modern day wizard detective.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 3, 2017 at 8:01 PM

    Act i, scene i:
    First Witch: I come, Graymalkin!
    Second Witch: Paddock calls.
    Third Witch: Anon.
    ALL: Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.

    Act iv, scene i:
    First Witch: Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
    Second Witch: Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.
    Third Witch: Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis time.

    If Harpier is the third witch's familiar, and Graymalkin is the brinded cat, then Paddock the second witch's familiar is a hedgehog, not a toad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 2, 2019 at 9:13 AM

    what is the names of the witches spiritual animals

    ReplyDelete

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