Swedish Witch Trial Commission Ended Prosecutions

Today, Maundy Thursday, marks the day that Swedish Easter witches (påskkärringar) fly to the (imaginary) island of Blåkulla. While the occurrence and place of Blåkulla is recognized as a myth today, 17th century Swedish court documents, especially from the Swedish witch trials, paint a different picture, where “Blåkulla” was described as a real and awful place, and visiting was punishable by death.

What are the Swedish witch trials?

The Swedish witch trials were local trials against practicing witches, men, women, and children, although the majority were women, typically for the crime of celebrating with the devil. For example, in 1675, when 71 witches were killed and their bodies burnt in Sweden’s largest reported ” witch bonfire,” all but six were women. Geographically, the trials also included local areas that are no longer part of Sweden, such as Åland (now part of Finland).

While there were witch trials in Sweden already during the late 1400s (for celebrating the Norse god Odin (Swedish: Oden), for example), most of the witch trials took place during the second half of the 1600s, and then for charges of participating in satanic celebrations. It is also during the 1600s that the (imaginary) place of Blåkulla is repeatedly described in the court documents. In particular, Stora oväsendet (literally, “the big noise”) was a period marked by numerous witch trials taking place between 1667 and 1676 in Stockholm and northern Sweden and causing quite the stir and fright among the local population. During this period alone some 300 witches were killed. In total, thousands of Swedes were accused and tried as witches and about 400 sentenced to death.

What was the actual crime?

Trolldom och vidskepelse (witchcraft and superstition) was criminalized as a result of the religious practices and roles that were formalized into law during the Middle Ages.

Trolldom och vidskepelse continued to be criminalized in the Swedish Code of 1734. Specifically, the 1734 Missgärningsbalk, chapter 2, section 1 on trolldom och vidskepelse provided that

Den som använt sig av trolldom och skadat annan till kropp eller dess egendom mister livet. Om någon dör av gärningen skall mannen steglas och kvinnan halshuggas och brännas på bål.

Anyone who has used witchcraft and harmed another person’s body or property loses his or her life. If someone dies as a result of the act, the man shall be strangled and the woman beheaded and burned at the stake.
What was Blåkulla?

The place Blåkulla can be found described in Swedish local and appeals court judgements from the 17th century. The accounts and actual location of Blåkulla differ, but a common theme was for Blåkulla to symbolize the place where the witches came to party with the devil, and the court documents describe how the women brought children to Blåkulla.

How did the witches get to Blåkulla?

From the aforementioned court documents and witness testimonies, it appears most travel happened by flight or when the person was asleep.

Stockholm City has published an 1815 account written by Carl Gustav Walberg, which specifically describes how a person can get his or her ordinary broom to fly them to Blåkulla.

It describes a special ointment (made of raven gall and the brains of a hen, and other undisclosed ingredients, with no exact amounts specified) that must be placed on the broom, or if lacking a broom even a silk umbrella would do.

After that, it was enough to proclaim

“ Häraf och häran! Till Blåkulla fram!” Hereof and Hereto. To Blåkulla Onwards.

But according to the 1815 account, that short proclamation was now insufficient and had been expanded.

”Till gästabud fram [To a feast onwards]
Bland qvastar och dam! [Amongst brooms and lady]
För sötgröten nu [For the sweet porridge now]
Till Belzebubs fru! [To Belzeebub’s wife]
Mjuk och god [Soft and good]
Är min häst, min klenod.[Here my horse, my treasure.]
Rör speleverken [Stir the musical instruments]
Pling plang! [Pling plang!]
Ulla Winblad kom med i särken! [Ulla Winblad join us in the nightgown]
Klingeli, plingeli, klingeli, plang! ” [Klingeli, plingeli, klingeli, plang]”
Turns out, that today, some 200 years after the 1815 account, you don’t even need a broom. You can drive, bike, or walk; 27 places in Sweden are reportedly named Blåkulla.

How did the prosecution of witches come to an end?

In 1676, some 350 years ago this year, a royal Commisorial Rätt or kommission (Commission) was established in Stockholm to review the trials of witches (also known as stora owäsendet, literally “the big noise”) in Stockholm. (Kongliga Commisorial Rättens Rannsakning om Trollväsendet I Stockholm 1676 1677.) This followed a royal proclamation that a review was needed.

The commission declared that there had been insufficient evidence to convict the accused and that the many children’s witness statements had all been imaginary.

That did not mean that witch trials came to an end nationally. The last local witch trial was reportedly held in Leksand in 1757; in the end, the women were declared innocent and awarded damages.

And while less prevalently enforced, the crime “ trolldom ” (witchcraft) remained on the books in the criminal code until it was amended through the adoption of the 1864 Criminal Code (1864-års strafflag), which did not include a provision on trolldom.

Half of the 300+ people who were killed as witches during det stora oväsendet were from Härnösand, and the Swedish Church has since created a special memorial in recognition that those who were killed died innocent.

However, the legacy of the Swedish witches that flew to Blåkulla remains. To this day, children dress up as witches on Maundy Thursday and go knocking on houses in return for candy.

Where can I find additional information about the Swedish witch trials?

Online

• Swedish National Archive/Riksarkivet (häxprocesser)

• Stockholm City website: Häxprocesserna 1668-1676
  In print

• Bengt, Ankarlooo, Satans raseri : en sannfärdig berättelse om det stora häxoväsendet i Sverige och omgivande länder. (2007).

• Bengt, Ankarloo, Trolldomsprocesserna i Sverige. (1971).

• Karl Fahlgren, Till Blåkulla. Trolldomsväsendet i Västerbotten 1675-1677. (1966).

• Emanuel Linderholm, De stora häxprocesserna i Sverige. Bidrag till svensk kultur och kyrkohistoria. Första delen. Inledning. Bohuslän. (1918).

• Linda Oja (ed.), Vägen till Blåkulla : nya perspektiv på de stora svenska häxprocesserna = The journey to Blåkulla : new perspectives on the great Swedish witch trials. (1997).
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