Sarah Clegg

“Again, Burchard’s list of penances is a showcase for these folkloric female figures: Have you prepared the table in your house and set on the table your food and drink, with three knives, that if those three sisters whom past generations and old-time foolishness called the Fates should come, they may take refreshment there?2 According to Burchard, the belief held that once the Fates had eaten from your table, they would help ‘either now or in the future’. The practice he’s referencing seems to relate to a common early medieval tradition of leaving out food for a group of women who travelled by night, and who would bring prosperity in return. Often led by a figure called Satia or Abundia (names meaning ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Abundance’ in Latin – a set that ‘Holda’ fits right into), or generically referred to as ‘The Good Ladies’, they went to homes at night, consuming the offerings that had been left out for them and bringing good luck in return. It’s worth noting as well that their ‘consumption’ is magical – anything they eat returns untouched in the morning, much like the devoured children and organs consumed by the night-travelling strigas.”
― Sarah Clegg, The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures