ABSTRACT
In Praetorius's geo-demonologies, the Daemonologia Rubinzalii and the Blockes-Berges Verrichtung, familiar German landscapes merge with equally familiar early modern mindscapes populated by giants and witches, demons, and elemental spirits. As Praetorius moves to the more specific discussion of giants and witches, he finds that, along with the exploration of their nature and activities, he cannot avoid addressing what the close proximity of the wondrous means for its association with the satanic. Interweaving geographical description, wonder, and witchcraft, Praetorius combines entertaining tales with learned explications on the nature of giants and witches and on their role in contemporary culture. Both the the Daemonologia Rubinzalii and the Blockes-Berges Verrichtung join demonology and topography in their description of specific as yet untamed landscapes in eastern Germany. The persistent interrelations between demonology and topography that characterize this tract lend experiential immediacy to the Rübezahl tales.
