“Hansel and Gretel” by the Brothers Grimm and the movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters both have witch characters that are influenced by many historical ideas from Germany around the early modern period; however, the movie features witch characters that seem to fit the historical stereotype of a witch more than the recorded oral story does. Both of these representations involve ideas that come from more modern ideals of what a witch was. This paper will argue that “Hansel and Gretel” by the Brothers Grimm and the movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters both feature characteristics of witches that are supported by historical ideas of witches and how these features changed, or did not change, over time and how the movie, despite being made more recently, relates more directly to the historical ideas of witches than the older story did. To support my argument, I will examine how the witch hunts in the Early Modern Period through Germany impacted what people thought witches were and how this evolved to be how witches are viewed in modern times and how the witch hunts are portrayed in the movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. In both historical ideas and in modern representations, like in “Hansel and Gretel” and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the witches are majority female and this will prove how the historical ideas of witches did not completely change over time, as well as how the appearances of the witches in each representation are similar or different to stereotypes of historic ideas of witches. Finally, the actions and behaviours of witches are embellished by modern times in the movie, but also share many aspects believed to be true of historic witches, while the story contains only one trait of the historical witch figure.

This essay will examine two different mediums representing the same story in different ways. The first being a written story, recorded by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century, called “Hansel and Gretel.” In this story, two children are abandoned by their father and stepmother in the woods because they cannot afford to feed them, eventually the two children find a cabin in the woods that is made of sweets and candy. The children quickly find out that the cabin is home to a cannibalistic witch that lures children in to kidnap, fatten them up, and eat them.[1] Gretel is able to trick the witch into climbing into the oven and they kill the witch, allowing for both Hansel and Gretel to be free.[2] The movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters acts as a continuation from the classic story, and focuses on what happens to Hansel and Gretel after they escape. In this particular adaptation, the orphaned siblings have used their experience killing the witch that kidnapped them to make a career. They become bounty hunters who track witches and get hired by village people to kill witches. The focus of this movie is for Hansel and Gretel to prevent the witches from holding their Sabbath under the blood moon where they will sacrifice children to make all the witches immune to fire, their weakness.[3] Through their journey to stop the witches, they learn more about their family, including that their mother was a white witch; this fact initially confuses them, but they quickly find out that, the heart of a white witch is the last thing the Muriel and the other witches need for their sacrifice, and the only one that they can get to quick enough is Gretel’s.[4] Teaming up with allies they made along the way, including a white witch named Mina, the siblings take down Muriel and her followers before they can complete their ritual.[5]

The Brothers Grimm wrote “Hansel and Gretel” and many of their other folktales as a representation of a German national identity. Through the 19th century, around the time that the Brothers Grimm were recording their stories, Germany was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and they wished “to see the multitude of German states united as one country.”[6] The national identity issues going on at the time likely would have affected the impact of their tales. The brothers “began collecting folk tales from peasant story-tellers and from middle-class friends and families and their servants, as well as from European literary traditions,” “Hansel and Gretel” came from a friend, Dortchen Wild’s, family and their nanny.[7] The movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters “is a continuation to the German folklore fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’” so the storyline follows that of the Brothers Grimm, but the representation itself is influenced by some more modern aspects.[8] In 2013, the movie was classified as an action horror film, so certain parts may have been exaggerated to please the modern audiences, but mostly the concept of the witches held true to what fits the stereotypical historical witch.[9] The tale of “Hansel and Gretel” and other works of the Brothers Grimm were sometimes suspected to have influenced the aftermath of WWII when German folk and fairy tales were connected to German atrocities, with the Nazi’s demanding that every German household should own a copy of the Grimm collection.[10] The Nazis and the Brothers Grimm were both supporters of nationalism and at the time of the Brothers recording their tales, Germany was not yet a country, so the idea of a united nation was likely a huge impact in people’s views at the time, whereas in modern times, with Germany now being united, people may overlook the impact that event would have had on the origin of tales like “Hansel and Gretel” and the way that it was viewed.

The adaptation of the story of Hansel and Gretel into film largely focuses on the witch hunts, as demonstrated by the title, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, and also mentions the trials of witches, while the original story does not have a witch hunt or a trial. Hansel and Gretel, the witch hunters in the movie are for-hire bounty hunters that track witches and kill them. When they first arrive, they witness a trial of a woman, Mina, who is about to be executed for witchcraft. With the belief that she is innocent, they tell the Sheriff to set her free, although they later learn that she is a witch, a white witch, which they learn doesn’t have the same characteristics as the witches they have hunted.[11] Hansel and Gretel’s witch hunts are much like the historical hunts in that people, usually of the church, would travel all over the country to hunt witches to put on trial. The witch trials rise in popularity “developed first in close connection to late medieval persecution of heretics.”[12] Heinrich Kramer’s demonological work, although considered less important now, was important to understand the history of the early witch trials, as he initiated and facilitated witch trials himself, mentioning some in the Malleus maleficarum.[13] An example of a suspected witch gathering in Western Germany in 1600 was deemed the “Hoxberg Society.”[14] With the location of the “Hoxberg Society’s”  meeting spot on the border of many lands with different rule, “witch-hunting in the German states had important political aspects that could at times be rather complicated.”[15] The 1532 imperial criminal code, known as the Carolina, was thought to have treated magic leniently, and did not mention demonic pacts or sabbaths, instead focusing on magic in general, with only harmful magic being a capital offense, the punishment being burnt at the stake, or executed in other fashions the fate that was to be of Mena at the beginning of the movie Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.[16] The portrayal in the movie which seemed to encourage witch hunts, which contradicts the Carolina in real life which was meant to prevent hunts; however, the standards were not adhered to, so Germany instead became the center of witch persecution.[17] The witches that Hansel and Gretel hunt are all accused of serious crimes, whether it was cannibalism, sabbaths involving sacrifices, including children, or for using dark magic to impair or harm others. What is not mentioned in the movie is the fact that the witch hunts in Germany were “a part of an apocalyptic battle against evil and for the purity of the church,” while Hansel and Gretel’s actions were meant to protect the areas from evil, it was not necessarily for the church.[18] The witch hunts in the movie were conceptually similar to those in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries, but they were more violent and aggressive, focusing more on the killing than the trials followed by punishments.

It is a common belief that women are more commonly attracted to the devil and witchcraft, this is also represented in “Hansel and Gretel” and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, there are many different speculations about this. The witch that kidnaps children in the story “Hansel and Gretel” is described as old, supporting herself on crutches, with red eyes and a keen scent of smell, the children were instantly frightened by her.[19] The main witch, Muriel, in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is a grand witch and appears to have a normal appearance, but she can manipulate it at will. In her manipulated appearance she is tall, pretty, and wears clothes that match that of other people within the town, allowing her to blend in, she is also very cunning and is the mastermind behind the ritual the witches are planning.[20] Heinrich Kramer, in the Malleus maleficarum, says that women are more likely to become witches as they are credulous, and it is easier for the devil to corrupt their faith, and that women are more impressionable, “and more ready to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit,” he also says that women have slippery tongues and cannot conceal from other women and they vindicate themselves by witchcraft.[21] Kramer’s ideas may be incredulous, but they are one way to describe the greater number of female witches. Rowlands states that the reason “old women were particularly vulnerable to accusations of witches is…an axiom of early modern German witchcraft research.[22] The ‘classic witch’ is described as an ‘old, single, poor woman,’ by Wolfgang Behringer, this version of the classic witch figure is evident in “Hansel and Gretel.”[23] The appearance of Muriel is the opposite of this stereotypical old witch, while we can assume that she is quite old and ­possibly immortal, because of the fact she knew Gretel’s mother when the siblings were still young, but looks the same, Muriel appears to be younger, and historically, witches could be younger, but they were under-represented compared to the older witches.[24] However, while it was believed that most witches were old “there are many difficulties in ascertaining or even plausibly guessing how old alleged witches were when tried” which makes it possible that Muriel, and the other younger witches in the movie, are historically accurate.[25] A reason that old women were likely to be accused of witchcraft is because they were more likely to suffer from mental disorders that others identified as witch-like.[26] Kramer also states that there is a natural reason that women are more likely to be involved in witchcraft. This reason is that women are “more carnal than men” with many carnal abominations, as the first woman was “formed from a bent rib…a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to man” and the imperfection makes her more deceptive and naturally “ha[ving] little faith in the word of God.”[27] Claudia Opitz-Belakhal also discusses women as witches in her article, and she mentioned that the reason women were more prominently accused is that they were “‘strong’ women with knowledge of magic who struggled in times of crisis for their physical and social well-being.”[28] The women that were accused, gave “impetus to the thesis of the domestication of women in early modern society” because they no longer belonged to the patriarchal society.[29] In the aspect of gender when compared historically, the story “Hansel and Gretel” is more accurate than Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters because it features an older witch, but when looking at the actions and characteristics of the witches, the movie has more accurate aspects.

The actions that people thought historic witches participated in were believed to be influenced by the devils, and they were often dark, or evil acts that occurred at night or in secret. Kramer states that witches “profess their sacrilege through an open pact of fidelity to devils according to the several practices to which witches are addicted” meaning that the witches are loyal to the devils because of their addiction to evil acts.[30] There were said to be three kinds of witches, according to Kramer: “those who injure but cannot cure; those who cure, but through some strange pact with the devil, cannot injure; and those who both injure and cure.”[31] The old witch in “Hansel and Gretel” is a witch that injures and cannot, or at least chooses not to cure, and Muriel would be a witch that can likely cure and injure because of her skills in spell casting and potion making, but chooses to only injure. Other activities that historical witches were said to have participated in are eating human children, like the witch in “Hansel and Gretel,” causing sterility in men and animals, offering children to devils, or killing children.[32] They also transported themselves through the air, like the witches in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.[33] Witches also participated in many other activities involving witchcraft, but those do not apply to these sources. The only witch-like act in “Hansel and Gretel” is the witch laying “in wait for children, and [she] had only build the little house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child fell into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it” and this was her intention with the siblings.[34] In Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Muriel organizes a Sabbath under the Blood Moon, which many of the witches fly to, in order to sacrifice twelve children so that all the witches in attendance will become immune to fire, and therefore basically immortal.[35] The actions in the story and movie both conform with what Kramer describes as actions of the witch, which are influenced by the devils. The similarity between historical witch ideas outlined by Kramer and the two modern representations display how the idea of what a witch did, did not change drastically over time.

The popularity of modern representations of witches led to some dramatization, but this paper proves that the concepts in “Hansel and Gretel” and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters remained relatively similar to what was assumed to have occurred in the early modern period. The tale of the two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, originated in Germany and was first recorded by the Brothers Grimm, during a time of a growing desire for a German national identity and this story formed a basis for many different adaptations, including Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Historically, witches were hunted and convicted in trials, which was very popular in Germany at the time. In the film, the entire career of Hansel and Gretel relies on hunting witches, to kill rather than take to trial. The stereotypical witch was a woman, usually older, who committed acts in secret, that could be evil. In the tale of Hansel and Gretel, the witch was old, evil, manipulative and cannibalistic. In Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the witch, Muriel, was young, cunning, and arranged a ritual, involving the sacrifice of children. The portrayal of the witches in different adaptations of “Hansel and Gretel” were influenced by the time of which it was made, but managed to mostly hold true to the historic witch stereotypes.

 

[1] Jacob and Wilhem Grimm. “Hansel and Gretel,” in The Brothers Grimm 101 Fairy Tales. (San Diego: Canterbury Classics/ Baker & Taylor Publishing Group, 2012), 66.

[2] Ibid., 67.

[3] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

[4] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Richard Cavendish, “The Publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales,” History Today 62, no. 12 (December 2012).

[7] Ibid.

[8] “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” Wikipedia, last modified May 30, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_%26_Gretel:_Witch_Hunters.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Scott Harshbarger, “Grimm and Grimmer: ‘Hansel and Gretel” and Fairy Tale Nationalism,” Style 47, no. 4 (Winter 2013): 492.

[11] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

[12] Claudia Opitz-Belakhal, “Forum: Witchcraft in Early Modern Germnay: Witchcraft Studies from the Perspective of Women’s and Gender History: A Report on Recent Research,” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 92-93.

[13] Laura Stokes, “Prelude: Early Witch-Hunting in Germany and Switzerland,” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 60.

[14] Johannes Dillinger, “The Political Aspects of the German Witch Hunts,” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 62.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid., 63-64.

[17] Ibid., 64.

[18] Ibid., 67.

[19] Jacob and Wilhem Grimm. “Hansel and Gretel,” in The Brothers Grimm 101 Fairy Tales, 66

[20] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

[21] Brian P. Levack, ed., “Heinrich Kramer: Malleus Maleficarum, 1486,” in The Witchcraft Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2015), 64.

[22] Alison Rowlands, “Witchcraft and Old Women in Early Modern Germany,” Past and Present, no. 173 (November 2001): 50.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Alison Rowlands, “Witchcraft and Old Women in Early Modern Germany,” Past and Present, no. 173 (November 2001): 50.

[26] Ibid., 52.

[27] Brian P. Levack, ed., “Heinrich Kramer: Malleus Maleficarum, 1486,” in The Witchcraft Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2015), 65.

[28] Claudia Opitz-Belakhal, “Forum: Witchcraft in Early Modern Germnay: Witchcraft Studies from the Perspective of Women’s and Gender History: A Report on Recent Research,” Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 90.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Brian P. Levack, ed., “Heinrich Kramer: Malleus Maleficarum, 1486,” in The Witchcraft Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2015), 67.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid

[33] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

[34] Jacob and Wilhem Grimm. “Hansel and Gretel,” in The Brothers Grimm 101 Fairy Tales. (San Diego: Canterbury Classics/ Baker & Taylor Publishing Group, 2012), 66.

[35] Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola (2013; USA: Paramount Picures, 2013), DVD.

Cavendish, Richard. “The Publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” History Today 62, no.12 (December 2012). Dillinger, Johannes. ‘The Political Aspects of the German Witch Hunts.” Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 62-81. Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm. “Hansel and Gretel.” In The Brothers Grimm: 101 Fairy Tales, 62-68. San Diego: Canterbury Classics/ Baker & Taylor Publishing Group, 2012. Harshbarger, Scott. “Grimm and Grimmer: ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and Fairy Tale Nationalism.” Style 47, no. 4 (Winter 2013): 490-508. Levack, Brian P., ed. “Heinrich Kramer: Malleus Maleficarum, 1486.” In The Witchcraft Sourcebook, 59-71. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. Optiz-Belakhal, Claudia. “Forum: Witchcraft in Early Modern Germany: Witchcraft Studies from the Perspective of Women’s and Gender History: A Report on Recent Research.” Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 90-99. Rowlands, Alison. “Witchcraft and Old Women in Early Modern Germany.” Past & Present no. 173 (November 2001): 50-89. Stokes, Laura. “Forum: Witchcraft in Early Modern Germany: Prelude: Early Witch-Hunting in Germany and Switzerland.” Magic, Ritual &Witchcraft 4, no. 1 (Summer 2009): 54-61. Wikipedia. “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.” Last modified May 30, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel__Gretel:_Witch_Hunters. Wirkola, Tommy, dir. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. 2013; USA: Paramount Pictures, 2013. DVD.

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