Grimalkin

Just closed the last page of MST so I'm halfway through my major reread. What did I discover? Well it came to me that the most important character in the books was... The little grey cat.

If it wasn't for her intervention then Simon would have been caught and killed by Pryrates before he even found Josua. Assuming, as we must, that this is the same grey cat then we can also say that without her befriending of Guthhwulf, then he would never have survived in the tunnels alone until it was time torescue Simon from the wheel.  In her final scene this cat did something truly remarkable and decided that the time was right to unerringly lead Simon exactly where he needed to go next. To Green Angel Tower. 
This is truly a very important cat.

Rachel once called it Grimalkin which is a fine old cat name which has more than a little literary background behind it.
Shakespeare used it in the opening of Macbeth when a witch says "I come, Graymalkin" The cat was supposed to be a witch!

Now Tad gives us a proper witch in the form of Geloë, and she has the ability to turn herself into an owl on occasion. That means that it is possible for another witch might be able to turn herself into a cat instead. Different witches, different familiars. This line of thinking could reveal Simon's feline saviour to be an avatar of a higher power.

So is there a second witch in this wardrobe? Another wise woman in the wings? It's a good idea but I think we should search higher up the rungs of power than that. Malkin is a name for the queen of the May and May has its roots in Maia, the goddess of growth and increase which suggests to me that the Gray Malkin is perhaps meant to symbolise Mother Nature herself as taking a hand in the defence of Osten Ard.

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