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Norwegian witchcraft trials: a reassessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2003

GUNNAR W. KNUTSEN
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Oslo.

Abstract

Twenty years have passed since Hans Eyvind Næss published what remains the only complete study of Norwegian witchcraft trials. This article considers the work done since that time, and surveys the state of research on witchcraft trials in Norway. Drawing on a recent registration of all known extant witchcraft trial records in Norway as well as recent research, I show how there was a much higher degree of regional differences within Norway than Næss allowed for, as well as a much greater degree of diabolism (the charge that witches took Satan as their lord) in Norwegian trials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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