“The Devil Goes North - Witch Trials in Finnmark”

Spooking time is not over yet. Norway's deadliest and most virulent witchcraft trials occurred in the country's northmost province, Finnmark. Concentrated in several panic periods throughout the seventeenth century, the hunts at Vardø claimed almost 100 lives—a full third of Norway's executions for witchcraft. This talk will explore the Finnmark trials and focus on the role folklore played in heightening their violence. The speaker will be Amber Cederström. She is the acquisitions editor at the University of Wisconsin Press, with advanced degrees in folklore and Scandinavian studies from Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This is a live presentation in Livsreise Auditorium.