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Patten defines wind as “freedom, inspiration, divine power” and whirlwinds as “irresistible force,” “the might of God,” and the “special powers of warriors.” Winged women embrace many of these qualities, often having terrible and awe-inspiring power. Some prime examples include harpies, furies, sirens (who were originally depicted as winged threats), and Valkyrie. Even death has a history of being depicted as a woman. Patten writes that some images of death are that of “a women clad in black, fierce, inveterate, deaf and blind, sword in hand she slays stabs and cuts” or a “bat winged fury of a woman with streaming hair and claws, flying through air swinging a scythe.”

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Harpies are similarly construed as horrifying and deadly women, emerging to wreak terror on mortals. They are almost always historically depicted as vicious, harsh creatures. However, Harpies pop up, both as figures of good and evil, in more modern tales such as William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, and even the 2000s hit TV show Charmed. Patten’s base definitions of harpies include: “Head and breasts of a woman; body and limbs of a vulture. Very fierce and loathsome, living in atmosphere of filth and stench,” “torment, voracious appetite,” “impersonations of whirlwinds and storms,” “wonderful rapidity of flight, greater than that of any known bird and were considered to be the personification of sudden events.”

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The symbolic connections between harpies and the wind are easily seen. Through searching our collections, the fierceness and “wonderful rapidity” of the winged women became a recurring theme. Many were associated with death and darkness, figuring as both harbingers of death (harpies and banshees) and actual bringers of death (Valkyrie and sirens). Although there are some winged women portrayed as good, kind, and wise (such as guardian angels and several goddesses), all possess an awesome power that men have categorically seen as a threat.

We have collected a few wonderfully deadly and threatening women below. As you peruse them, consider: Why were stories of winged women brought into being, and how were they designed? What similarities do you see among them? What biases against them? Do these winged women have the “irresistible force” and “special powers of warriors” of the whirlwind? Are these connections alluding to a strength or weakness in women, and according to whom? How do you think these depictions of winged women were interpreted? How, if all all, could they be interpreted differently today? Are they meant to inspire or terrorize the viewer?

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