WITCHES: The Salt Witch

 

Made on Artbreeder

In the Nebraska plains, there was a tribe that was quartered and resided near where the Saline flows into the Platte. There was one chief that had met a witch. The chief was a fierce man and was a man of blood and muscle who his people gloried. However, his dear wife was his only companion and the only one to keep him in check. He loved her deeply and was heartbroken when she died. The once active chief was now becoming a recluse never leaving his home. His mourning was lasting too long for his people and they began to talk of replacing him. They needed someone who would do their duties. 

One morning the Chief left his home wearing his wardress. Without speaking a word to anyone he strode across the plain to the west. No one hears from him for a month. He was brandishing a belt of either fresh pelts or scalps. He also came with a lump of salt and a story of how it was found. 

He told them that after traveling far over the prairie he had gone to sleep on the ground. He was awoken by wailing nearby. (some retellings he's in a canoe) In the New Moon's light, he would go and look for the cause of the sound. He would find a hideous old woman with a tomahawk about to strike a kneeling, crying, younger woman. This was a surprising sight as he was 40 miles from the village. The old woman would hold the younger one by the throat and the younger would fail to break free. He would soon run over to the women.

 The old woman was then holding the younger's hair and was raising the tomahawk to strike her by the time the chief came. The chief would then see the face of the younger woman and would be filled with rage. The younger woman looked just like his dead wife. He would then protect the younger woman by burying his own tomahawk into the old woman's head. The earth would open and both women would disappear. In their place, a pillar of salt stood where the witch was. 

For years afterward, tribes would maintain that the column was under the custody of the Salt Witch. When they went and gathered salt they would pound the ground with clubs. They believed if they did this it would keep the Salt Witch from doing Evil. 

I could not find a specific tribe this was based on. There were two different tribes referenced The Otoe and the Omaha tribes. I also could not find what year or let alone century that this had happened also. 

SOURCES:

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Complete by Charles M. Skinner
Legends of America

American Folklore

Ancient Pages

Monsters: Black Annis

In the countryside of Leicestershire, England there is a cannibalistic witch living in a dark cave in the Dane Hills. She's known as Black Annis' Bower by the locals. She is very tall and horrible, with blue skin, long sharp teeth, claw-like fingers, and glowing eyes. The entrance of the cave is an old oak tree which she often hides at night and waits for her next meal. 

She only leaves the cave to find tasty children with the tastiest being those who misbehave. If no children could be found then she would feed on livestock like sheep and lambs. It was most common to see her pull the children with her long arms through windows (no glass at the time). The children would be warned of her visit as her howl could be heard from miles away. Sometimes you can even hear her teeth grinding.

She would suck her preys dry of blood, and then the skins are hung on the oak tree to dry. 

Her cave was filled with dirt into the late 1800s, possibly burying Black Annis in her home. It's unknown as it's believed that she was an immortal being able to adapt to the modern world. It's said that she adopted the name Cat Anna at the end of the 1800s and was said to be living in cellars under Leicester Castle where a supposed subterranean passage connect to Dane Hills. 

It's unknown where Black Annis would reside now. Her territory is entirely lost now as the hillside is now a large housing estate. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Monsters Wiki

Curses: The Chained Oak

Near to the village of Alton, England, there is an old oak tree wrapped in chains on a footpath to the left of the Chained Oak B&B. The tree is known as The Old Oak and according to legend, it holds a deadly legend for a family.

One autumn day in the 1800s the Earl of Shrewsbury was on his way to the Alton Towers in a horse and coach. Suddenly there was an old woman who showed up in front of them. The coach would stop to find out why the woman was there. The woman would then ask them for a coin. The Earl would ignore and cruelly dismiss the poor woman. She would then tell the Earl that she had cursed him and each time a branch fell off of the old oak tree one of his family members would die. The Earl refused to listen to her silly curse and continued on his way.

That same night a violent storm would happen. It would cause a single branch from the cursed tree to fall. A member of the Earl's family would die mysteriously that night. The Earl now believing in the curse would order servants to chain every branch together to prevent branches from falling and the premature death of a family member.


There are some variants from retelling the tale. Sometimes it's an old man, sometimes the branch falls on the Earl's son with the old woman watching, and in some tellings, the Earl takes the branch and does experiments on it to find a way to end premature deaths. But did it happen?

The legend may have been around since 1821 which would make it the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot. But other sources say that the legend has been around since the 1840s which would make it the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot. 

Now if it was John Talbot this legend does not match what he was known as. He was remembered as "Good Earl John", he had a very good reputation of being charitable. He supported and helped communities build in the Midlands. He was known to have supported schools and churches, and even helped build new Catholic chapels in the Midlands. He was also known to help build almshouses for the poor and elderly in Alton. 

He did have 4 deaths of family members after the 1840s, but none of them was sudden or mysterious. His youngest daughter Lady Gwendoline Catherine Talbot died in 1840 at 22 in Rome by Scarlet Fever and 3 of her children died shortly after from measles.  Making it unlikely that the man was him if some of the legends were true.

On April 9, 2007, one of the main branches from the tree fell off and no one from the Talbot family mysteriously died. 

The tree may have been chained in an attempt to preserve it. The 15th and 16th Earls extended Alton Towers and planted many new trees. The old trees like the chained oak were greatly prized and since it was in a highly visible place it was chained to keep it from collapsing under its own weight.

SOURCES: 

Wikipedia

BBC

Alton Towers

Atlas Obscura

Oddity Central

Ramblers Retreat

Witches: Muma Pădurii

 

In Romanian folklore, there is a Muma Pădurii that protects the forest. Her name means mother of the forest. She is described as a mischievous and ugly old woman who lives in a hut, cabin, or old tree in the middle of the forest. She brews potions that help injured animals and helped dying parts of the forest. She does not like trespassers and will drive them mad. She is mostly seen as a neutral being.

There are tales of her attacking and kidnapping children. There was one story similar to Hansel and Gretel. In the story, she is in the process of boiling a little girl but was stopped by the girl's brother by being pushed into an oven.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Villains Wiki