The Witchcraft Trials of Vardø

The Vardø witch trials are regarded as some of the most brutal, intense and dramatic witch trials in Scandinavian history. It’s hard to believe a small community in the far north of Norway would see many people accused and convicted of witchcraft. In total, 150 people were executed for sorcery in Northern Norway between 1621 and 1663, before legal security and administration became better organised in 1666 (a fitting date, really). It is said that at times there were no families in Finnmark who were not affected by the witchcraft trials, either as prosecutors, witnesses, or convicts.

Vardø Travel Guide

You can find more information about visiting the town of Vardø on our dedicated travel guide page.

Perceptions of Witchcraft in Northern Europe

The new law of sorcery and witchcraft for the union of Denmark and Norway was issued and announced in Finnmark in 1620.

At the time, Northern Norway was a place with lacking centralised law enforcement, so the local authorities had a great deal of power. These officials were typically not Norwegian but often men from Scotland, Germany and Denmark, countries with a history of witch trials. They brought their ideas of witchcraft and sorcery to the north, and it greatly influenced life in the Arctic. In Europe, religious experts often claimed that “the evil came from the North”, the home of the Sami people. Since the Sami people were not Christian and followed a shamanistic religion, they were also often considered to be practicing witchcraft.

The officials believed they had been placed there to correct the population according to the Protestant religion. They painted the Sami as magicians and disapproved of Norwegian women along the coast being home for months when their husbands were out fishing, suspecting them of committing adultery with demons.

Additionally, the Dutch and other European merchants would sail between Vardøhus and Russia to trade and warned their countrymen of the dangers of Satan, and it was believed the haunts and devils flew through the wicked winds of the north. Witches could conjure up mighty whirlwinds, poor weather, fog, thunder and lightning.

The ordeal of water is how many women would be tested if they were a witch. Basically, they would be tied up and thrown into water. If they sank, they were innocent and died. If they floated, they were a witch and were then burned at the stake.

The Three Waves of Witchcraft Trials in Vardø

There were three major phases of the Vardø witch trials: 1621, 1651 and 1663. Let’s break down each one and try to understand the historic significance of the witchcraft trials.

The Witch Trials of 1621

The witch trials of 1621 begins with a big storm in 1617 that sunk ten boats and killed forty men. The storm was completely out of nowhere and took the men by surprise. It clearly had an effect on the town.

The trial took place at Vardøhus Fortress in 1621. Mari Jørgensdatter, a woman from Kiberg, was interrogated under torture. She confessed that Satan had come to her in Christmas 1620 and asked her to follow him to her neighbour, Kirsti Sørensdatter. He asked if she would serve him, and she said yes. They went to Kristi and together the women flew to the mountain Lyderhorn in Bergen, over 1,600km away, to attend the Sabbath with the devil. On top of Lyderhorn they went to Satan’s Christmas Party with dance and drink, and then flew back to Finnmark, though Kirsti decided to take the long way home by sea. Lyderhorn is mentioned in many witchcraft trials as a place where the women would meet with the devil.

Mari confessed that the witches had caused the great storm, and that they had sexual intercourse with devils while the men were at sea. Another woman being interrogated, Else Knutsdatter, confirmed that the witches had tied a fishing rope three times, spat at it and untied it, after which “the sea rose like ashes and people were killed”. Else was seen in the company of demons and was exposed to the ordeal of water.

Kirsti Sørensdatter was confirmed by many of the women to be the leader. She was arrested when she arrived back from Bergen via ship. Kirsti was married to a wealthy merchant Anders Johanssen from Helsingør in Denmark, where it was said she learned sorcery from an old woman. Under torture, she confirmed everything. Kirsti was sentence to be burned alive at the stake on 28 April 1621.

That was the end of the first wave of witchcraft trials.

The Witch Trials of 1651

This phase in witchcraft resulted in the death of 17 women by burning. It centred around women having caused – or attempted – to have caused ship wrecks by use of witchcraft.

The Witch Trials of 1662-63

The final phase of witchcraft trials is considered to be one of the biggest in Scandinavia. Thirty women were put on trial, accused of sorcery and making pacts with the devil. One was sentenced to a work house, two tortured to death, and eighteen were burned alive at the stake. The trial centred around the belief that the women had been partying with the Devil. To be honest, the parties with the Devil actually sound quite nice. But that’s not the point. The parties took place on a mountain called Domen, which overlooks the town of Vardø.

It started with Dorthe Lauritzdatter was brought in to Vardøhus Fortress for questioning. Local man Lauritz Braas claimed that two of his servants, who had recently died, claimed to have been bewitched by her. Four witches led by Dorthe in the shape of a dove, eagle, crow and swan were to have opened their “wind-knots” over the sea to make a boat sink, but the plot failed because the crew prayed to God. Dorthe was burned at the stake.

The next was Ingeborg Iversdatter, who confessed during an interrogation on 26 January 1663 that she and Sølve Nilsdatter had celebrated Christmas on Kiberg. They had transformed themselves into cats and crawled under a gate to meet Maren Olsdatter and Sirgi Klockare, who were incarcerated for witchcraft. They broke into a basement and drank lots of wine while Satan held a candle for them. Sølve had drunk so much that Satan had a hard time getting her on her feet and back to jail. The priest of the fortress pointed out that this must have been the reason why alcohol disappeared from the basement. Sølve later confessed to the giant witches sabbath that had taken place on the Dovrefjell mountains in southern Norway, where witches had arrived in the shapes of dogs and cats to drink and dance with Satan.

Maren has a sad story. When she was twelve, her mother was executed for sorcery. She had been taken care by her aunt for several years before her aunt was also burned. Maren was interrogated and she claimed to have visited Hell, where she was given a tour by Satan. She later visited a sabbath on Domen, where Satan played dancing music on a red violin and gave the witches beer before following each of them home personally. The court asked her who she had seen there, and she gave the names of five women. All the women Maren mentioned were burned to death in Vardø on 20 March 1663.

The last accused witches were brought in on 25 June 1663. Maren told the court that she had been forced to lie against other people, denouncing them for witch craft. She said that the now-exiled Anne Rhodius had forced her to do it. The court sentenced Maren for having lied and to stay for some time in the work house in Bergen. However, it is likely she didn’t do that as there is documentation that she lived in Vardø after 1663.

The End of the Trials

The trials ended thanks to Mandrup Pedersen Schønnebøl, who was a judge.He saw the madness of burning people alive on the basis of rumours and opposed public opinion by destroying the legal basis for burning accused witches. In 1687, a requirement for judgements in witchcraft cases to be heard at parliament before a death sentence could be carried out became law. Norway’s last known witch execution took place in 1695.

Steilneset Memorial

In Vardø you can visit Steilneset Memorial, which opened in 2011 to commemorate the victims of the witchcraft trials. The memorial was jointly commissioned by the town of Vardø, Finnmark County, the Varanger Museum and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration as part of the development of the National Tourist Routes in Norway. The memorial was designed by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois and Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The long timber walkway has 91 randomly placed windows representing those executed, each one accompanied by a text explaining each person. The second building has a metal chair with perpetual flames projecting through its seat.

The attraction is open 24-7 and is free. When you step inside, be sure to look by the door. They have booklets with English translations of all the womens testimonies.