The next time you watch the 1939 film, and Glinda floats down in her bubble to ask, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” remember: that was Locasta’s line. That was Locasta’s kiss. And somewhere in the Gillikin Country, an old woman in a ruby-tipped hat is smiling, knowing that the road she set Dorothy upon led not just to Oz, but to a home worth fighting for.
Long live Locasta Tattypoo. The forgotten witch. The first guardian. The best of the North. locasta tattypoo
“I am not as powerful as the Wicked Witch of the East was,” she confesses, “or I would have made you some wings to fly home.” This is a rare moment of vulnerability from a sovereign. She is a good witch, but not an omnipotent one. Her power is defensive, not teleportational. She redirects Dorothy to the Emerald City not out of cruelty, but out of honest limitation. She is the good administrator who knows her own constraints. The name “Tattypoo” is one of Baum’s most delightful inventions—part nonsense, part implied history. In later Oz books (particularly Ruth Plumly Thompson’s and Baum’s own The Tin Woodman of Oz ), we learn that Locasta is not a sorceress by accident. The Tattypoo family has served the North for generations, often intermarrying with the ruling fairy dynasties of Oz. The next time you watch the 1939 film,
Unlike Glinda, who is beautiful, young-seeming, and aloof, Locasta is grandmotherly, wrinkled, and deeply engaged in the daily governance of her people. She knows the name of every Gillikin farmer. She adjudicates disputes between the talking animals of the northern forests. She once personally marched into the Nome King’s tunnels to negotiate a mining treaty. She is not a fairy-tale princess; she is a bureaucrat with a wand . Long live Locasta Tattypoo
Her most famous act in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is subtle and easily overlooked: she kisses Dorothy on the forehead. That kiss is not maternal affection. It is a powerful protective charm—a stasis ward —that renders the girl invulnerable to harm from anyone who means her ill will. “No one will dare injure you,” Locasta says, “because they will know you are under my protection.”
Locasta’s power is genuine but limited. Baum’s magic system delineates between Witches (born with innate power), Sorcerers (those who learn magic), and Wizards (pretenders with tricks). Locasta is a Sorceress —her power comes from study, ancient pacts, and a deep understanding of Oz’s elemental forces. She cannot create something from nothing (as Glinda later does with her Great Book of Records), but she can protect, guide, and charm.