Zła jędza czy dobrotliwa babcia, diabla maciora czy madame - obraz czarownicy w baśniach niderlandzkich

Abstract

The article constitutes a part of the research on the description of the linguistic image of the world. It is an attempt to reconstruct linguistic and cultural picture of witch that was fixed in Dutch fairy tales. Tales and songs collected by Andrzej Dąbrówka and titled Baśnie niderlandzkie (flamandzkie, holenderskie i fryzyjskie) were chosen for the analysis. Reconstructing the image of the witch, the author appeals to the linguistic image of the world, which is construed as an interpretation of reality encompassed by the language. The interpretation itself might be also expressed as a set of judgments about the world. These judgments are strengthen in the system of a given language and fulfil their role through texts.