From William Shakespeare

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The Three Witches

• From William Shakespeares MACBETH

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Weird Sisters vs. Witches

• The sisters are called "witches" only once in the
  playbut they're called "weird" six times.
• The word "weird" comes from the Old English term
  WYRD," meaning "fate.
• This could indicate the witches are in some way
  associated with the three fates of classical
  mythology.
• Since the "fates" are supposed to control man's
  destiny, calling them "weird" just might suggest
  that Macbeth does not have any control over his
  actions, and that his choices are not really his
  to make.

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Weird

• Weird Old English wyrd (n.) "fate, destiny,"
  literally "that which comes," from Proto-Germanic
  wurthis (cf. Old Saxon wurd, Old High German
  wurt "fate," Old Norse urðr "fate, one of the
  three Norns"), from PIE wert- "to turn, wind,"
  (cf. German werden, Old English weorðan "to
  become"), from root wer- (3) "to turn, bend"
  The modern sense of weird developed from Middle
  English use of weird sisters for the three fates
  or Norns (in Germanic mythology), the goddesses
  who controlled human destiny. They were portrayed
  as odd or frightening in appearance, as in
  "Macbeth," which led to the adjectival meaning
  "odd-looking, uncanny," first recorded 1815.

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The Fates from Greek Mythology

• The Fates have the subtle but awesome power of
  deciding a man's destiny. They assign a man to
  good or evil. Their most obvious choice is
  choosing how long a man lives. There are three
  Fates
• Clotho, the spinner, who spins the thread of
  life.
• Lachesis, the measurer, who choses the lot in
  life one will have and measures off how long it
  is to be.
• Atropos, she who cannot be turned, who at death
  with her shears cuts the thread of life.

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Fates - Continued

• The Fates are old and predate the gods. It is not
  entirely clear how far their power extends. It is
  possible that they determine the fate of the gods
  as well. In any case, not even the most powerful
  is willing to trifle with them.

https//www.youtube.com/watch?vMzTYLWArvjY
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Background

• Shakespeare's principal source for the Three
  Witches is found in the account of King Duncan in
  Raphael Holinshed's history of Britain, The
  Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland
  (1587). In Holinshed, the future King Macbeth of
  Scotland and his companion Banquo encounter
  "three women in strange and wild apparel,
  resembling creatures of elder world" who hail the
  men with glowing prophecies and then vanish
  "immediately out of their sight." Holinshed
  observes that "the common opinion was that these
  women were either the Weird Sisters, that is the
  goddesses of destiny, or else some nymphs or
  fairies endued with knowledge of prophecy.

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Analysis

• The Three Witches represent darkness, chaos, and
  conflict, while their role is as agents and
  witnesses. Their presence communicates treason
  and impending doom. During Shakespeare's day,
  witches were seen as worse than rebels, "the most
  notorious traitor and rebel that can be." They
  were not only political traitors, but also
  spiritual traitors as well. Much of the confusion
  that springs from them comes from their ability
  to straddle the play's borders between reality
  and the supernatural. They are so deeply
  entrenched in both worlds that it is unclear
  whether they control fate, or whether they are
  merely its agents. They defy logic, not being
  subject to the rules of the real world.

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More Analysis

• The witches' lines in the first act "Fair is
  foul, and foul is fair Hover through the fog and
  filthy air" are often said to set the tone for
  the remainder of the play by establishing a sense
  of moral confusion. Indeed, the play is filled
  with situations in which evil is depicted as
  good, while good is rendered evil. The line
  "Double, double toil and trouble" communicates
  the witches' intent clearly they seek only to
  increase trouble for the mortals around them.