Keep Shakespeare Weïrd: Fates, Weirdness, And Weyward Women! The 1603 coronation of James I united England and Scotland under one ruler. James was fascinated by witches; he presided over many 16th-century witch trials and published a 1597 treatise about witch-hunting (Daemonologie). James was reportedly descended from the Scottish thane Banquo, though this story was apparently fabricated by an earlier historian.
MacBeth Witches
One might assume Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, which likely premiered in 1606, to appeal to James. What better way to entertain the new guy than a Scottish tragedy crammed with witches, praising the king’s supposed ancestor? But here’s the thing: while Macbeth’s witches are identified as such in stage directions, no character onstage describes them as witches (see our director’s excellent note about this). Instead, they are called the weïrd sisters*. It wasn’t until the 1800s that “weïrd” acquired the meaning it holds today—uncanny, strange, different.
But here’s another thing: “weïrd” was a later editorial substitution. Macbeth was first published in the 1623 First Folio, but nowhere in the Folio’s Macbeth does “weïrd” appear; the sisters are “weyward” and “weyard.” Another etymological thread: the word weïrd originally comes from the Old English “wyrd” meaning fate, destiny, or fortune.
Across many cultures, fate is represented by otherworldly women whose crafting influences humanity, a metaphor highlighting the fundamental role of spinning and weaving in preindustrial society. In Greek mythology, the Fates (Moirai) were three goddesses of destiny, and spinners of human fortune. Clotho spun the material. Lachesis (the Allotter) measured the thread’s length, determining one’s lifespan. Atropos (the Unalterable) cut the thread, ending a mortal’s life.
The Roman Parcae were goddesses who spun, measured, and cut life’s threads. Scandinavian mythology features Norns, also female spinners. In Diné (Navajo) culture, Spider Woman is the weaver of the universe. Spinning and weaving craft something out of apparent nothingness, much like any creative act (playwriting, poetry and even pregnancy).
But back to those weïrd sisters. To be weyward (as the Folio has it) means to “turn away” or to go against the grain. It’s a fine line between a destined path and a divergent path. Are we fated or free? To be weïrd, wyrd or wayward? —Amanda Giguer
Since 1958, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival has delighted audiences with professional theatre on the CU Boulder campus. All productions will occur in the comfortable indoor Roe Green Theatre this season located at the University Theatre Building, 261 University of Colorado in Boulder, Performances run through August 11. Tickets range from $28 to $86 per person. Register today at cupresents.org.