At the time of the witch hunt, Finland was a part of Sweden, and the hysteria spread there too. Just as in Iceland, witchcraft was mostly considered a male activity in Finland, and so most people accused and convicted of witchcraft and sorcery were men, contrary to the rest of Sweden.
There had long been prejudices about the Finns’ magical abilities, and in one trial record we can read about Erik Finne, a Finnish man living in Sweden, who had worshiped false gods. He had made a wooden sculpture and for three Thursdays taken it to a crossroad and smeared it with his own blood to make it come alive. Unfortunately, records of the verdict are missing.
During The Great Noise in Sweden, the hysteria effected Finland as well, with children starting to accuse adults – now mostly women – to have taken them to black sabbaths. However the authorities in Finland avoided the use of torture, and thus the amount of people convicted and executed were far lower than in the rest of Sweden. The focus of the Finnish trials was also if the accused had indeed done evil magic to hurt others – not association with Satan. Thus more concrete evidence were needed then merely being accused of being at a witches sabbath.
The Sami people was (and still is) living in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Just like the Finns, they were known for their magical abilities. But contrary to the Finns, the Sami were not Christian, but still had their own religion. This, of course, made them easy targets for witch hunts.
Many of those accused of witchcraft were “noajdde”, meaning shamans. In 1627, a known shaman, Quiwe Baarsen, was put on trial in Norway, accused of conjuring up a wind for sailor Niels Jonsen. Unfortunately, the wind had been too strong, and the boat had capsized and five people drowned. Quiwe confessed to conjuring up the wind – he did this often when asked – and he was burned at the stake for his troubles.
In Sweden, another Sami man, Lars Nilsson, was convicted after he was caught sacrificing to small statuettes of gods to bring his grandson back to life. He was sentenced to death, but the authorities postponed his sentence, since they wanted him to convert to the “true faith” first and die a Christian. According to records, at his execution, he commended his soul to Jesus as his saviour.
Many of the executed Samis were men, accused of sorcery for practicing their religion. But women were targeted as well. In 1665, Gunilla Jonsdotter, a Sami woman known for her healing abilities, was accused of killing the local priest with witchcraft. The logic was that because she could heal, she must know how to use her powers to hurt. She was sentenced to death, but actually escaped the punishment since she refused to confess, even when taken to the execution, and in Sweden there was a practice not to execute people who had not confessed to their crimes. It wasn’t always upheld, but Gunilla’s punishment was changed to whipping.
In the next post, we’ll explore how the hysteria finally ebbed and how the witch trials eventually ended.
Sources:
Harrisson, Dick. Häxprocesserna
Harrison, Dick. Ondskans tid