Prättäkitti the Witch

In the Loimaa region, there are tales of a witch-woman named Prättäkitti. The most common version of the story places her as the mistress of Teppo farm in Manninen village, Ypäjä, but several other localities and villages have their own versions of “Rättäkitti.”

Depending on the version, Prättäkitti is described as a wise soothsayer, a fearsome sorceress, or a mischievous trickster. She is said to have transformed a thief into a wolf, cursed the Vesikoski manor, and predicted the fire of Loimaa church in 1888.

The church council sentenced Prättäkitti to death, but when she was thrown into the river with a millstone tied around her neck, she sailed across the river on the stone as if it were a boat. She was only finally killed with the help of other witches, but strange events continued even during her funeral.

Prättäkitti is thought to have lived in the 17th or 18th centuries, or maybe at the very beginning of the 19th century. Some of the stories are connected to Loimaa’s real history and geography, while others are international folklore, which have been linked to various people and places over time. There are no primary sources that would attest to her historicity, but the oral tradition is widespread.

The name Prättäkitti is not a real personal name, nor does it have an obvious meaning in any language. In the countryside of the Southwest Finland, ill-behaved children have been sometimes called Rättäkittis, but this might have been in reference to the witch legend.

The upper painting depicts Prättäkitti at a meeting of the Loimaa church council. The painting was created by local folklore expert Eero Tuomola, who recorded hundreds of local jokes, anecdotes, true tales, and ghost stories.

The lower painting was made by a schoolgirl for a competition in the local newspaper. It shows how the perception of Prättäkitti has evolved from a supernaturally gifted farmwoman into a figure resembling the witch archetype seen in American popular culture.