Witches of the North: Scotland and Finnmark

Description

'Witches of the North: Scotland and Finnmark' is a comparative study of witchcraft persecution in Scotland and Finnmark, Norway. A wide range of quantitative and qualitative analyses based mainly on legal documents shed light on the witch-hunts in the two regions during the seventeenth century. Statistical analyses give information about tendencies in the source material in total. The qualitative chapters contain close-readings of trial documents, wherein the various voices heard during a trial are analysed: the voice of the scribe, the voice of the law, the voice of the accused person and the voices of the witnesses. The analyses combined provide a broad view of the historical phenomenon in question as well as in-depth studies of individual witchcraft cases. Acknowledgements ix List of Abbreviations xi List of Figures, Maps and Charts xiii 1. Introduction 1 Part I. Mainland Scotland 2. Mainland Scotland — Historical Background 43 3. Mainland Scotland — What Figures Can Tell 59 4. Mainland Scotland — Close-readings 100 Part II. Orkney and Shetland 5. The Northern Isles — Historical Background 149 6. Orkney and Shetland — What Figures Can Tell 161 7. Orkney and Shetland — Close-readings 178 Part III. Finnmark, Northern Norway 8. Finnmark — Historical Background 223 9. Finnmark — What Figures Can Tell 242 10. Finnmark — Close-readings 263 Part IV. Closing 11. Comparisons and Conclusions 323 Bibliography 369 Index of Old Names 385 Thematic Index 388 Index of Authors 391