Ruth Walker

“	We Walker women were witches, but we couldn't use that word. We were, after all, God-fearing Christian women, and witches... witches danced with the Devil and were burned at the stake. So, to protect ourselves from that same fate, we called ourselves cunning women.	”
	— Nana Ruth to Roz^[src]

Ruth Walker was a recurring character on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She is portrayed by L. Scott Caldwell.

Ruth was a witch and seer, as well as Rosalind's grandmother.

Throughout Chilling Adventures of Sabrina[]

Part 1[]

The Cunning[]

CAOS-Caps-1x07-Feast-of-Feasts-21-Nana-Ruth-Rosalind — Nana Ruth tells Roz about the Cunning

Ruth receives a visit from her granddaughter, Roz, who asks about their family's history. Nana Ruth reveals that she has a sixth sense: the cunning. It allows them to see what others can't. Nana Ruth's cunning started to manifest when she was Roz' age.

Roz and Susie go to visit Ruth. Roz asks how the Walker women get "the Cunning." Nana Ruth tells her that they were cursed by the witches in Greendale with blindness generations ago after one of their kin accused someone of being a witch. She doesn't know if the blindness brought on the Cunning or if it was something that was already there. Nana Ruth tells Roz that one thing is certain; she will go blind, but the Cunning will help her see things that will save her life.^[1]

The Greendale Thirteen[]

CAOS-Caps-1x10-The-Witching-Hour-07-Nana-Ruth-Rosalind — Nana Ruth warns Roz that the Thirteen are coming

Nana Ruth learns from Roz that the Cunning has started to manifests. She recounts what she saw and tells her that she suspects that Sabrina is a witch. She asks her grandmother if it was a Spellman who cursed them with blindness. Nana Ruth tells her no and that Roz knows in her heart if Sabrina is good or bad. But Roz says isn't sure anymore. Ruth instructs her to just look at Sabrina and she'll just know. Ruth then warns Roz that Sabrina isn't the witch she needs to fear because the "Thirteen are coming."

Ruth refuses to leave her home even as a tornado approaches. Nana Ruth informs Roz and Susie that it isn't a tornado coming, rather a group of vengeful witches and the Crimson Avenger. And so both Roz and Susie decide to stay behind with Nana Ruth. Susie says that she's staying because it's what her ancestor Dorothea Putnam would want her to do.

CAOS-Caps-1x10-The-Witching-Hour-84-Rosalind-Nana-Ruth — Roz sees a figure outside of the window

One of the Thirteen forces Ruth's door open. Susie takes the lead and explains that she is Dorothea's descendant, who gave them passage across the ocean when no one else would and who cut them down after they were hanged. Susie states that the Walkers are her friends, and the witch leaves. Ruth then informs them that the Crimson Rider has arrived.

Roz kisses her grandmother on the forehead before she covers her with a blanket as Ruth died during the storm.^[2]

Part 3[]

Demon Anatomy 101[]

CAOS-Caps-3x01-The-Hellbound-Heart-89-Principal-George-Hawthorne-Nana-Ruth — Hawthorne and Ruth torture the Fright Club

Roz, Sabrina, Harvey, and Theo go to Hell in search of Lilith. Inside a classroom they come face-to-face with Nana Ruth and Principal Hawthorne, who are much more demonic in appearance as opposed to when they were living. Hawthorne demands that they take a seat, and when they do, they are locked down to their desks. Nana Ruth claims Roz was the death of her. She blames Roz for using her cunning gift to help witches. Hawthrone decides to start with Roz for their "anatomy lesson."

Roz screams for help and begs for mercy as Principal Hawthorne prepares to use her for their anatomy lesson. Sabrina, Harvey, and Theo watch helplessly. However, before they can start, Lilith’s demon minion interrupts and informs them that Lilith no longer wants for the children to be tortured, but instead for Sabrina and her friends to be brought to her.^[3]

Part 4[]

Weird Woman[]

With help from Mambo Marie, Nana Ruth speaks to Roz one last time and reveals that they are not cunning woman but rather witches. But they couldn’t use that word because they were god-fearing Christian women whereas witches danced with the Devil and were burned at the stake. So, to protect themselves from the same fate, they called themselves cunning women.^[4]

Physical Appearance[]

Nana Ruth was an elderly African American woman with white hair and cloudy eyes from her blindness.

Personality[]

Nana Ruth was wise and brave. She learned all she could about the Walker women and used it and the Cunning to her advantage. And when she was confronted by one of the Greendale Thirteen, she did not blink in the face of death nor was she afraid. Nana Ruth could see beyond appearances and had no prejudices, as when she was among the first people to recognize Theo as a boy and use masculine pronouns in addressing him. However, Nana Ruth wasn't very fond of witches, thinking they were dangerous and responsible for cursing the Walkers women to blindness.

Powers and Abilities[]

Ruth Walker was a seer gifted with the "Cunning", a term she coined for seeing things that others can not, such as visions and ghosts. All the women in her family possess this ability, which doesn't manifest until after they start to become blind. After death, she appeared to Roz in a vision to explain that the Walkers were once witches too but with the rise of the Satanic witches, they hid themselves under the name of "cunning women" as they were God-fearing women and not Lucifer's worshipers. They also did this to escape the witch hunters.

Relationships[]

Rosalind Walker[]

Rosalind was Ruth's loving granddaughter, who she was extremely close to. In fact, she was closer to Roz than she was her own son, Thomas. When Roz came to Ruth asking about their family's history, she revealed the truth about the Walker women; that they suffer from a genetic blindness, causing them to go blind as young adults. However, in losing their sight, they acquire another ability — the gift to see things that others one can not, such as ghosts. She referred to it as the Cunning. Roz was initially skeptical until she began receiving visions of her own.