A Kaleidoscope of Power: Supernatural Women in the Auchinleck Manuscript

The supernatural women of Middle English literature seem to inhabit opposite ends of a moral spectrum: the saints are unequivocally good; the sorceresses and enchantresses are either evil or dangerous and anti-Christian. This article, however, reads all supernatural women of the Auchinleck Manuscript (Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates MS 19.2.1) together to rethink this polarised understanding of female supernatural power. Through reading both the sacred and the secular supernatural women within the conversation dictated by the manuscript compendium, the article reveals that all female supernatural power is created with consistent representational strategies and uncovers a more nuanced and unified understanding of powerful women.