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Walking Dartmoor's Folklore Pages

The Witch Of Vixen Tor

 

This particular legend tells of how Vixen Tor came to look like the head of an old woman when you're stood up close to it.

This is the story of Vixana, an evil witch who lived in a cave at the bottom of Vixen Tor. She hated people and loved to make them suffer if she got the chance.

Every morning Vixana would climb the Tor, where she would look around for weary travellers, who were unaware that she was there. When the traveller came along the track, at the bottom of Vixen Tor, which was situated right next to a bog, Vixana would magic up a thick fog to envelope the traveller and make him lose his way and stumble into the bog. The poor traveller would struggle and scream but to no avail, the bog would drag him down. When Vixana heard the screams and yells, she would make the fog disappear so that she could watch the travellers last struggles and gloat over her latest victim, cackling loudly as they took their last breath.

On another part of Dartmoor there lived a man who had done a great service for the pixies, in return for this service, he had been granted two special gifts, one of which was the gift of clear sight, the other was a ring which when placed on his finger made him invisible. When this young man heard about all the travellers that had gone missing, he decided to investigate, so he set off along the track towards Vixen Tor. Now, Vixana the witch had been waiting for weeks for some traveller to walk by, nobody had walked along the path for ages, so that she could fulfil her evil needs. Suddenly she saw the young man off in the distance heading towards her along the path, she got really excited as she waited with anticipation for him to get nearer. As he approached the bog, she summoned up the mist which completely covered the young man, however because of his gift of clear sight the man was able to keep to the path and did not loose his footing at all. Vixana was waiting and listening intently, waiting to hear his cries when he fell in the bog but she heard nothing, then she saw him emerging from the fog unharmed, she was furious and screamed out loud in anger. The young man heard her scream and looked up and saw her, he realised that he was in extreme danger and quickly took the ring from his pocket and placed it on his finger, making himself invisible.

Now Vixana was furious, she wanted to cast another evil spell but she had no one that she could see to cast her spell upon. She leaned over the edge of the Tor, straining to see where the young man had gone. Meanwhile the invisible young man made his way around to the other side of the Tor and climbed up. He caught the old witch unaware and pushed her over the edge, where she fell screaming to her death on to the rocks below.

Everyone was so delighted that the witch Vixana was gone that they made the young man a local hero and whenever anyone was lost on Dartmoor the young man would always offer to help look for them.