In my dissertation I examine Old and Middle English lexical items that denote practitioners of magic. I examine the effect of genre in the distribution of the Old English items in the Old English corpus and the effect of Latin on the use of the Old English items. I also examine what kinds of changes the terminology experiences when moving from Old to Middle English. 

The aim of my research is to shed light on how witches and other practitioners of magic were discussed in Old and Middle English literature and examine what that tells us how the referees of the lexical items were viewed and presented in England before the witch hunts of the early modern period.