ABSTRACT
In Sweden, the intensity of witchcraft persecution was average compared to that in other European countries. 1 The witchcraft trials were to a large extent characterized by maleficium, minor offences, and few death sentences. Most of the trials took place in the southern part of the country. However, there are some exceptions, most famously the Blåkulla 2 trials, in which demonological ideas were central. Sweden was divided into three regions: Götaland in the south, Svealand in the middle, and Norrland in the north. The Blåkulla trials began in Dalarne, 3 a province in the north of Svealand, and spread to Norrland, Uppland, and Stockholm from 1668 to 1676. 4 During these trials, a large number of child witnesses testified that they were abducted to a witches’ sabbath at a hill called Blåkulla. The children denounced many adults.
